How to Create Taglines — Marketing Strategies For Beginners — Session 11

Various taglines used by brands across the globe

Alternative terms for tagline:

• Tag
• Ending
• Theme line
• Strapline
• Pay-off
• Slogan

These terminologies might differ but, they all mean the same thing!

Should the Ads and taglines write themselves?

A tagline has the most important function within the development of the campaign. It helps to harness and support new executions. So, when you find that the executions are coming easily that means you are on the right track. With one tagline in place one can place numerous executions!

Assignment: See how quickly you can come up with more executions. Do the same with your existing brands.

The Invisible “=” Sign

The Tagline is the usually the last thing communicated in an Ad. Therefore, a good way to evaluate the tagline with imagining with an “=” sign. In other words, the tagline is a total expression of the campaign.

Reminder: A common mistake to write catchy, corporate or attitudinal sounding taglines which do not express the campaign idea. The tagline should not repeat the words in the headline.

Another unproductive situation would be a good tagline exists but, is not expressed in an AD.

TACO Bell Tagline — Think outside the Bun (More than play on the words it openly positions away from the competitors)

Types of Taglines

There are basic five types of taglines:

Summation: ‘Sums up’ the campaign idea. It is a natural progression of the message being communicated.

Explanation: Explains the campaign idea. In other words, if you cover the tagline, consumer won’t understand the product. Eg: Nakshatra — Heera hai sada ke liye

Proposition: This is a no frills (without any extra features) tagline that is an approximate repetition of the product benefits. Eg: fast, long-lasting, juicy. Ofcourse this not consist of any single adjective. Equally, this tagline can include USP. Eg: Volkswagen — Parking made easy.

Brand/Umbrella: This is more of a client driven line that sums up the brand, rather than the campaign idea. It’s a serious, worthy, corporate positioning statement often used for non-advertising purposes. If added to a campaign it would try to replace the original statement or tagline. For a Brand tagline to work well, it has to be like an umbrella — broad enough to encompass current and future ideas.

Invisible: This is literally a non-existent/negligible tagline. This is mostly used in a one-shot ad rather than in a campaign. These kinds of taglines do not exist during the creative process but, are like a summation of the original tagline or are extremely reduced message of the pre-existing tagline.

Which comes first?

There is no right or wrong order in terms of the creative process. Ideas, campaign and taglines can be thrown in or out of the mix whenever. The end result is what matters!

Ideally, start with an idea first (whether it’s a single execution or a campaign thought!) The important part is brainstorming the execution idea.

Working tagline vs Final Tagline

A perfect tagline is not written right away. It is a work in progress. The working tagline is like a working title in a movie or a book. The working tagline should someway express the brand/product.

Final Tagline

The final tagline is a tweaked or reduced version of the working line. This doesn’t mean fewer words.

Reminder: There might be a scenario where it would be virtually impossible to create a final tagline better than a working tagline

Eg: Mastercard — There are somethings money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s mastercard.

Final taglines usually are short and catchy! For example, Nike went from ‘Just do it’ to ‘I can’ but, the alarming part is it’s not about what’s shorter but, what’s better!

Examples of working and final taglines:

Product Name and Tagline in one

These include

• Must have the brand name
• Describe the function of the product
• Be very short and catchy

Examples

• Budweiser (This Bud’s for you!)
• The Future’s Bright, The Future’s Orange (Orange Telecommunications)
• The one and only Wonderbra (Wonderbra)
• These times demand The Times (The New York Times)
• Have a break, Have a Kit-kat
• Whatever it is, you can get it on eBay (eBay)
• Pure Genius (sounds like Guinness)

Note: If you can convince an obnoxious, cynical, drunk guy you can convince anyone!

Rhyming Taglines

These kinds of taglines are poetic, colloquial or catchy. But they work only when they express a relevance to the product and/or what it’s trying to say.

Examples:

• If anyone can, Canon Can (Canon cameras)
• Why slo-mo when you can fly-mo (Flymo Lawnmowers)

Question Taglines

There are no rules in campaigning so, most taglines are not questions does not mean they can’t be!

Examples:

• Where do you want to go today? (Microsoft 1995)
• Got Milk? (California Fluid Mild Processor Advisory Board)
• It is. Are you? (The Independent, UK 1987)
• Are you a cadbury’s fruit and nut case? (Cadbury UK 1995)

Exercise: Create 10 more executions for simple, tag-free for Technology offerings of any company.

The Taglines — Atleast the ones you remember — Cont.d

Tagline Reductionism

Why say something in 10 words when you can say it five? Or three? Or two? Or even one?

Eg: Nike — Just do it became ‘I can’ *This was dropped because the predecessor was much better functioning.

Budweiser — The Genuine Article became ‘True’

Heineken — Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach became — Only Heineken can do this

Note- Taglines need not be at the end!

Headlines into taglines

It’s not only a line of body copy that can be used as a tagline. In the past, headlines have been used as taglines as well.

Eg: Where’s the beef? — Wendy’s — Interestingly this was dropped at first and then became the brand tagline.

When working on headlines, it is too broad and general but, this can work as a tagline as well.

Eg: Lemon — Volkswagen

The World’s Favorite Tagline

British Airways older tagline was, ‘The world’s favorite Airline’ now changed to BA Better World. The one mentioned before, dryly mentions that BA lands in more international locations per day than any other airline but, turns it into something reassuring, compelling and aspiring.

Worst Taglines

The one which do not have even a connect with something that is being explained.

The Dying tagline?

Aside, from the debate that nobody read the body copy anymore, there is decline in remarkable, memorable and sustainable taglines. The concern is not only towards creation of campaigns but also towards brand definition.

Reasons:

1. Mergers and Acquisitions
2. Industry politics
3. Demands from clients**
4. Young teams are too focused on sales and awards in short term rather than selling the brand in long term.

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