Understanding how to create a tagline starts by first understanding what separates a great message from one that’s unlikely to resonate with your customers. While there’s a certain ineffable quality to the best taglines—that “you know it when you hear it” feeling—there are three things all great taglines have in common:
They’re clearly stated
Good taglines don’t mince words. They use an economy of language to convey their intended message. This clarity is part of what makes them feel trustworthy and human.
They convey a benefit
Either directly or by immediate inference, effective taglines communicate a key benefit that defines their brand and/or differentiates it from the competition.
They’re sticky
There’s something about a powerful brand tagline that’s creative or clever enough to be unshakably memorable. It lingers in the minds of customers long after they read or hear it.
A novel tagline that communicates a key benefit is integral to the brand experience of some of the world’s most successful companies. And while a little creative inspiration and unconventional thinking go a long way, creating a tagline that resonates with customers isn’t magic. As with most creative endeavours, the better prepared you are going into the process, the easier it is.
I have studied hundreds of company taglines over the years and have learned a few things along the way that will help you find the phrase that best fits your brand.
The following four-step process will put you in the best position to create a tagline not soon to be forgotten:
Understand your brand (and your competitors)
In all good branding, the first step is ensuring you have a good understanding of the business at hand.
When it comes to creating brand taglines, that understanding includes both the brand itself and its competitors. And the best way to glean these insights is with a brand audit.
Start by auditing your brand—what we call an internal brand audit. Collect and review an array of your brand assets, including your brand guidelines, website copywriting, and marketing materials. The goal is to ensure you clearly understand your brand’s positioning and personality. Compile a list of brand attributes, the benefits you offer customers, and key areas of competitive differentiation.
For the external portion of your audit, make a list of your top competitors in the marketplace. Review the taglines and positioning of each to get a sense of the competitive landscape and identify opportunities for differentiation.
Brainstorm tagline ideas
If there is magic in the tagline creation process, brainstorming is where it happens. But, as with luck, magic tends to shine on those who are prepared. In brainstorming ideas, refer to your list of brand attributes, benefits, and key differentiators from Step 1.
It’s also important to think and write in the appropriate brand voice. Spending time with the messaging and brand personality in the assets you collected in Step 1 is a good way to familiarise yourself with the brand voice.
From there, it’s just a matter of having fun with tagline ideas. Rhyme, alliteration, repetition, reversal, and double-entendre are each literary devices that are effective in the creation of memorable taglines.
But plenty of world-class taglines don’t draw on any of these tricks. Think about some famous taglines that have stuck with you over the years and use those as inspiration. Generate a long list of potential tagline ideas and move on to
Step 3.
Refine your list
Working through your long list of tagline ideas, determine which have potential, which do not, and which need a little help. The goal is to whittle your list down to a shortlist of three to five candidates. The more editorial eyes involved in this step, the better. Commission the help of colleagues, peers, and officemates from other departments. It’s always useful to get as many objective, third-party opinions as possible in making your decision.
Once you have some consensus around the top candidates, take the time to work on the grammar, style, and cadence of each. After you’ve got a shortlist of candidates that have each been polished up to perfection, it is time to move on to vetting.
Vet your final contenders
Vetting a tagline against trademark conflicts is just as important as vetting a brand name. There’s nothing worse than getting excited about a final idea only to find out six months down the road that it’s already being used by a similar company.
Activate the winning tagline
Once you’ve decided on an idea that ticks all the right boxes, it’s time for the fun part: introducing it to the world.
A new tagline is the perfect opportunity for a marketing campaign or other brand activation initiative to build awareness around the idea and solidify its association with your brand. It’s often useful to write a narrative that unpacks the idea and how it relates to your business.
25 Tagline Examples
The world’s most successful brands have famous taglines that seem effortlessly unique. These are the types of brands whose voice is recognisable even without an accompanying name or logo. And like any good story, a great tagline resonates with people on a deeply human level.
Here are 10 tagline examples from some top brands:
- Save money. Live better. (Walmart)
- Let’s go places. (Toyota)
- A diamond is forever. (De Beers)
- The ultimate driving machine. (BMW)
- The happiest place on earth. (Disneyland)
- There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard. (MasterCard)
- When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. (FedEx)
- High performance. Delivered. (Accenture)
- Ingenuity for life. (Siemens)
- Bridge to possible. (Cisco)
Last line
The ultimate measure of an unforgettable tagline is its performance in the marketplace. Snappy messages that infuse their brand with profound meaning and unforgettable personality are priceless. But they’re hard to come by.
