Google, Microsoft and Facebook are just some of the few Forbes top listed brands that have decided to forgo the tagline.
Even brands whose taglines have helped propel them to greatness no longer see its relevance. Famous taglines like Nike’s, ‘Just Do It’ and Apple’s ‘Think Different’ have seemingly faded into disuse.
Reminder of a promise
Taglines still fulfil a very important role; it’s a quick and effective way to get across a brand message. In just a few words, it serves as a brand’s promise to its consumer, to help differentiate and build consumer loyalty.
A tagline can be a handy marketing tool for a new brand in need of recognition and share-of-mind. For instance, a new coffee roastery that opens up may have a trendy name or even an eye-catching logo, but it in a highly competitive market category, it will need to illustrate its differentiating qualities. Consumers will want to know what sort of experience they could expect and a clever tagline has the ability to remove all that guesswork and uncertainty.
However, there’s a growing school of thought that the tagline is a marketing tool of a bygone era.
Limited real estate
One reason could be that the mobile device has become the key real estate for today’s marketers. Thus, adverts and copy have been forced to become smaller and shorter. With 140-word limits or six-second video constraints, taglines seem to just consume space, which could diffuse the brand message. Furthermore, it crowds and clutters an already fragmented, chaotic advertising or branding space, plus the challenge of holding the brief attention span of today’s consumers. Perhaps in today’s hyper-social world, taglines have been replaced by the hashtag as a quick, trendy way to sum up the brand message.
Show, don’t tell
We live in a world where culture has created a substantial shift in power from company to consumer. The way companies communicate is being dictated to, and ordered by, the consumer. In the words of Nike’s vice president of digital sport, Stefan Olander, “Nike’s relationship with its customers has transformed to the point where they are demanding Nike not to state, ‘Just do it’, but rather ‘Help me just do it’.” Consumers expect companies to walk the talk, rather than fling around a catchy tagline – ‘Show us, don’t tell us.’ Consumers are driving brands to dig deep and ensure that a genuine and valued brand promise is being delivered.
Use it where it matters
It appears that when it comes to taglines no specific protocol can be called upon for reference or good practice.
Taglines have evolved from a steadfast brand statement and consumer guarantee that were used on every piece of advertising and design lock-up, to something more genuine and subtle. When it is needed, it should be used. It is an asset that should be utilised sparingly and effectively, perhaps as a hashtag, or a rounding-off message; a simple reminder of the brand purpose or a cover photo on social media, but not something that is pushed onto consumers at every given opportunity.
What’s more, taglines alone are not enough to command the marketing stage anymore and so its nature has to change. Brand diversification and a tagline used cleverly will help a brand remain top-of-mind to deliver on an emotional and unique brand promise.
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