Branding 101: What is a Tagline?

Taglines are tools. They should tell your audience what you do. Or, they should set an expectation about the quality of what you do. If your company or product name accomplishes one, your tagline should do the other.

What is a tagline?

A statement or motto that succinctly defines or represents an organization’s mission.

A short, dramatic series of words or sentences that summarize a brand or product’s emotional and functional benefits to the marketplace.

A variant of an advertising slogan typically used in marketing and advertising.

The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that would sum up the tone and premise of a company, or to reinforce the target market’s memory of a product or service.

Consider what you really want to communicate with your tagline.

Ask yourself:

Who are your clients?

What benefits do you give your clients?

What feelings do you want to evoke in your clients?

What action are you trying to generate from your clients?

How are you different from your competition?

Resist the temptation to say something catchy. If your tagline does not perform at least one of the functions noted above, catchy can’t help you. Enlist a professional. Tagline development is a process. It requires experience at the craft. As important as your logo and company name (possibly more), don’t leave this to chance. 

Lastly, stay away from rhymes. Rhyming is as dead in branding as it is in poetry.