July 27, 2020
What makes a great tagline?
Taglines and slogans for corporations and brands are a handful of words that appear under a logo. Usually, they're useless and peppered with vague phrases like quality, excellence, world's best, the global leader, or making widgets since 1901, or a personal favorite, 500 years of combined experience.
So, here are over-arching suggestions (not rules) that we use.
The line should resonate with your audience as a benefit and internally as the truth. You can't tagline your way out of a marketing problem. If your service is smoking cessation, you need to move the humidor from the waiting room to the back room.
If possible, work in an emotional hook. Nike's "Just do it' mantra speaks to the aspiration of real athletes and the couch potato versions. And Arby's campaign "We Have All the Meats" speaks to the dreams of hard-core carnivores right in the gut." It says, don't come here for pita and hummus. The aim of product taglines, which should not conflict with the corporate line, should express the marketing strategy and a tangible benefit, for example, P&Gs line for Tide' Tide's In - Dirt's Out" and Best Buy's aggressive slogan Best Buy's "Try it out before buying it on Amazon."
When in doubt, make the tagline literal, "Empowering People to Improve Their Lives" from Acadia Hospital." Granted, it could be more interesting, but it does a great job of telling us what the brand is all about.
Rhythm is another tool for driving a slogan's message home, like Iambic pentameter. Think of the opening theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, ta ta ta duh.
So, here's the gauntlet we run our taglines through.
- Is it relevant to the brand?
- Does it touch on a patient's or doctor's emotional needs?
- Can you say it quickly out loud? Can you see yourself shouting it?
- Is it sing-songy or cute? (Those don't wear well!)
- Is it original in your hospital or medical device category? Can you trademark it?
- Are you comfortable with using it as the lead slide of a presentation?
- Is the line competitive, and does it differentiate you from your competition?
- Does it ring true? Can you back it up with facts, qualitative research, or simple observation of your medical device?
- How would others ridicule your name?
- And, will it pass a multicultural test? Is the meaning mangled when translated into another language, and will if offend minorities or other groups?