Yes. Your brand does need it. Maybe not at first, but ultimately you will need to decide upon what tagline will represent your company.
A tagline is a catchy phrase that helps customers to distinguish one brand from another. Using only a few words, it speaks for the brand’s personality, core principles, and positioning. It is like a logo, just in the form of text.
Let’s say you are seeing a white poster in front of you. In the middle you see the words “I’m Lovin’ It”. Probably you don’t need a yellow color or a huge letter M to understand what brand I am talking about. So, it is just as important to have that short phrase as to have a logotype. Maybe even crucial.
Slogan vs. tagline
Some people use the terms slogan and tagline interchangeably, yet they are not the same thing. While the tagline represents the company, a slogan is used to distinguish products, services or advertising campaigns.
For example, The Old Spice tagline “If your grandpa hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist” is rarely apparent in advertisements, yet known to be the representing phrase of the company. The latest slogan of the brand “Smell ready for anything” replaced other ad-related phrases such as “Smell like your own man, man” or “Men have skin too” used in 2019 and 2020 commercials.
So, while there are no obvious differences, one is long-lasting while the other is intended to be used for a short period.
From slogan to tagline
A slogan could potentially become a tagline. Actually, a better part of the taglines in the market once was slogans representing the ad campaigns.
Remember the “Just Do It”? Nike’s tagline, inspired by the last words of a murderer before his execution, was created for the 1988 campaign of TV commercials. Dan Wieden felt the need to create a slogan to unify the elements of the advertisements, and “Just Do It” fit perfectly.
After the sales exploded and the company became well known globally, people started to associate the phrases not only with the campaign, but the brand itself. So, the slogan became a tagline that is still used today.
McDonalds is no exception. The catchy jingle and the tagline originated from “I’m Lovin’ It” song by Justin Timberlake, released in 2003. Before that, phrases like “You deserve a break”, “We love to see you smile” and others were employed in commercials yet didn’t live much past the new millennium. The new slogan was intended to attract the younger audience, hippies, as the CNN news presenters said at the time.
And it did. And it is, also, still used today. Not as a slogan but as a tagline.
What a good tagline or a slogan is?
There are no strict rules for the tagline or a slogan creation, only that it has to be memorable and should be in line with the brand’s vision.
Some specialists say that it should be 5 words or less, yet the representing phrases of businesses vary in length. For example, Nike has a short tagline, while the Old Spice’s one consists of 9 words.
Keep in mind that global brands are perceived differently than start-ups. If Coca-Cola had a really long tagline, it does not mean that your brand should too. Coca-Cola might have a huge advertising budget, so the audience could potentially see the commercials every single day, building the tagline’s memorability. Your company’s poster might be seen by that one person only one time, so it has to be catchy and unforgettable on its own.
The tagline or a slogan could pose a question or state a fact. For example, the California Milk Processor Board’s tagline “Got Milk?” asks the consumer if he has milk at home, making him think about milk and, possibly, crave it. M&M’s “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” slogan instantly arouses the feeling of chocolate melting on your tongue.
It could also motivate the audience to act. Ford’s tagline “Go Further” and Microsoft’s “Be what’s next” talks about the future and inspire the consumers to seek more from their lives, achieve goals, and move forward. Even being as vague as they look, the statements work.
In addition, a good tagline or a slogan is simple. Do not overcrowd it with hard-to-read and hard-to-pronounce words – your customer has to be able to retell it to a friend or accurately remember it when standing in the line in the supermarket.
Be clear in what you want to tell the world about your product, service, or the brand itself. The saying “less is more” works well too, when developing a representing phrase.
