The Trouble With Taglines Why This Catchy Phrase Can Lead You Astray and What You Can Do About It

Guest post by: Kim Castle
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One of the most powerful components of a brand’s message is the summation of a brand’s position in the marketplace, the promise it offers, and the value it means to your customers; wrap that in a catchy turn of phrase in as few words as possible and you have yourself a tagline.

The trouble is… you need a great tagline to penetrate the overwhelmed mind of your customer and set up permanent residence in their psyche.

The trouble is… a great one is hard to create.

In a sense… taglines are magically delicious.1

WHAT MAKES THEM SO GOOD

In a nutshell, taglines are an evocative and inspiring call to action that is specific to a specific business and sets a foundational tone for the business or product. They take away all guessing from your customer’s minds.

Web usability expert and author of Don’t Make Me Think, A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability says, “nothing beats a good tagline” even on the web.

Typically they take one of eight forms:

• An imperative call to action: Just do it.™ (Nike)
• An emotive call-to-action: When you care enough to send the best. (Hallmark)
• Link a product feature with an abstract need: A diamond is forever.™ (DeBeers)
• Single word benefits: Live. Love. Eat™ (Wolfgang Puck)
• A direct tie to brand experience: You’re in Good Hands With Allstate™ (Allstate Insurance)
• A promise: When it absolutely has to be there overnight.™ (FedEx)
• The pain of not using the product: Because so much is riding on your tires. (Michelin)
• A clever tie to the name: Every kiss begins with Kay. (Kay Jewelers)

However, just knowing a form does not make the magic. The form is just an empty shell without first defining the meaning of the words you actual use.

You also need a decision process to determine which form works best for your business.

Want to know the secret?

The magic is not in the actual words. It’s in a process to arrive at those words and put them in the right order.

Most business owners rush to craft the clever words before they even define the words and what they mean. It’s like wondering what kind of camera you should take with you to Mars when you haven’t even designed the rocket ship to get you there.

The lack of a process keeps business owners guessing for their tagline ‘out there’ in creative land.

In my near sixteen years in the brand business, I have developed a skill for writing these illusive creatures. Not just because I’m a brilliant copywriter. Not just because I’m clever— although several years as a stand-up comic surely helps.

My ability to craft the perfect unique tagline for a business is because I am able dive into the heart of a brand and bring up the gold. I’m able because of the heart of the brand is in it’s core values and core promises which is derived in the language portion of the BrandU® branding process.

Here are examples of recent taglines I have created for clients once they have gone through the branding process. (Note these taglines are legally protected by copyright by each client.)

Together making thirst history.™
(Water 4 Life brings great water to the people that don’t have it.)

Bringing out the real you.™
(The Reveal System is a natural way to lose weight fast.)

Scientific Keys for Living Well.™
(The Feng Shui Advantage uses the ancient Chinese science of energy.)

Clarity All the Way to the Bank.™
(BrandU® is a process to develop business ideas into a mon*ey-making marketable brand.)

Notice these tagline they communicate more— they have a deeper resonance. The reason: each word has a precise reason for being used and the process to arrive at those words addresses the four-dimensions of being human.

Sound complicated? It’s not. It’s a process.

So… the next time you find yourself looking ‘out there’ for the catchy summation of your brand’s position, promise, and value… stop. Remember your customers and multi-million dol*lar business deserve more than a guess. You deserve clarity all the way to the bank.™

© Castle Montone, Limited

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The High Price of Gas Four Ways the Idea of Your Business Can Cost You Everything - By Kim Castle

About the Author: Kim Castle

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With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com.
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The Trouble With Taglines Why This Catchy Phrase Can Lead You Astray and What You Can Do About It

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