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Taglines Help Business Create Identity, Seize Positioning By Jennifer LeClaire, an L2S contributing writer A good tagline is one way to keep ahead of the competition, says Elizabeth Goodgold, president of The Nuancing Group, a marketing firm specializing in positioning and branding issues for restaurants, food manufacturers and retailers. A tagline is the name for the descriptive words paired with the business name or brand, such as UPS' "Moving at the speed of business" or Tyson's "We're chicken." "With thousands of 'me too' products and companies, taglines are an opportunity to seize your positioning in the consumer's mind," says Goodgold. "Taglines are important to all sizes of business because they help create a brand identity and eventually build brand awareness. After marketing your company with a tagline, people will soon think of your company when they hear the tagline," says Kris Bondi, principal of Communications Network, a San Francisco-based strategic communications planning and development firm. She says taglines help companies differentiate themselves from the competition. Beth Tracy Gamble, principal of Massachusetts professional consulting firm Tucker Street Associates, says taglines are important because they allow more "room" to explain what a company does. "It gives the company an opportunity to make the name and the business more memorable." She says a good example is NineCo., producers of an online gaming site, with a tagline that reads, "Wasting your time since 1996." "That says it all," insists Gamble. "It is funny (which is appropriate to their business), and encourages people to talk about their company." "In a carefully crafted tagline, the key point of difference between you and your competitors is either overtly stated or strongly implied. This strategy reinforces your positioning and preempts your competitor from using the same idea," says Goodgold. "Remember: The goal is to own a unique benefit in the customer's mind." She says a relative handful of brands are so well-known that companies can focus their taglines on a benefit their product or services offers without directly referring to the product or service itself. "Since everyone knows what Ford Motor Company makes, the company can use 'Built to last' as its tagline, stressing durability without mentioning cars or trucks. Kellogg clearly makes cereal, so its tagline of 'More, please' for Cracklin' Oat Bran need not mention the product but only how delicious it tastes," explains Goodgold. But Goodgold stresses clarity for lesser-known brands targeting an audience who may have never heard of the company. "Good examples include Timken: 'Leader in bearings and steel' and PK Ware 'The data compression experts.' Bondi says business owners should look at what message they want to project and think of a short, three-to-five word phrase that captures that idea. "Since taglines are often at the end of a commercial or at the bottom of an ad, they act as your P.S., the last best hope to propel your message," says Goodgold. "With all the other messages out there today - on Web sites, at airports, on the backs of chairs at sporting events, almost everywhere you look – a company can't afford to overlook this very effective marketing tool. Properly employed, a good tagline will focus an audience on your company and its unique point of difference." Office.Com, November 26, 1998. Reprinted with permission.
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