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(Article first published in Dec '08. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)
We all hear a tagline at some point every day of our lives and we have our favourites or simply those that we remember; "Coke Is It!" (Coca-Cola), "Don't Leave Home Without It" (American Express), "They're G-r-r-r-r-eat!" (Kellogg's), are just a few very famous taglines that have stood the test of time and have become very well known.
However, taglines are not just for big companies. They can be extremely useful for any company, large or small. But before you go and write your tagline, you need to understand what a tagline is.
What Is A Tagline?
The technical explanation of a tagline is a "descriptor that creates a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a company, brand or product, or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product". What this basically means is that a tagline is a short and sweet way to give a message about your company or product.
We recently came up with a tagline for a Bathroom supplier. It became obvious after some discussion with them that their approach of being able to fit the bathrooms they supply meant that they get closer to the needs of their customer and this means that they take personal pride in how delighted the customer is with their new bathroom and so strive harder to make them happy. The tagline had to represent this and "Love Your Bathroom!" was born. This tagline achieves the goal of giving a message that if you buy a bathroom from them you are going to love it, but it also asks a question - "Do you love your bathroom?" if you don't then maybe it's time to get a new one!
Similarly, we came up with a tagline for a telephone systems supplier. They are a communications company whose main goal is to provide the best after-sales service and support. The tagline we came up with was "Keep Talking..." This says to a potential customer that as a communications company they want you to keep talking, with the best technology and service, but most importantly they will keep talking with you to make sure that you have the best service and support they can give.
Hopefully by now you are beginning to see the value of a tagline, so let's look at how you come up with one.
How To Come Up With A Great Tagline?
- Think About What You Want To Say
You might want to promote a product or service or even your approach to doing business. Whatever it is, think about what is going to help you to drive business today and in the long-run and use that.
- What Are You Going To Say?
So I'll use my company as an example. When I first started out I wanted to target small to medium businesses that didn't have marketing expertise of their own, but needed it. So we chose "Your Marketing Starts Here". In essence it's short and punchy and describes what we do.
- How Do You Structure A Tagline?
Taglines don't have to be clever or works of literary art, but could simply be practical. Avoid making statements that you can't live up to or prove, for instance if you say "The Best Restaurant In Ireland" then you better make sure that you can back it up or it's going to hurt you not help you. Try to make it short and to the point.
- Do You Need More Than One Tagline?
Sometimes a company targets different business sectors. In my case I started to target larger businesses that have a different requirement to small and medium companies. So I came up with a second tagline that gives a different message. "Business Marketing That Works" tells you that we are a company that believes in results more than focusing on pure design.
A great tagline isn't going to turn your business around overnight, but it can help to make you more memorable than your competitors and therefore help your long-term success.
Franco De Bonis has worked in the field of sales and marketing promotion since 1990 and was most recently the global marketing manager for a major international technology company before setting up DG Group in January 2007.
DG Group is dedicated to delivering all the marketing solutions any company may require. Whether it's a website or leaflets and brochures, or even some product packaging; DG Group will manage the whole project and even provide guidance along the way.
The content in this section is the original creation of DG Group and is protected by copyright. You may use this content on your site or in other materials providing you acknowledge DG Group as the author and include a link our site.
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