Here at United Label, we understand that company branding and marketing goes far beyond the label printed on a package–it starts much earlier. Which is why we’ve continually providing resources to our customers to help them engage in better advertising and grow their businesses.
In this series, “All About Taglines,” we’re going to dive deep into that very subject: taglines. A memorable, relatable, and inspirational tagline can elevate a brand and make it easy to acquire and retain customers. It goes hand and hand with your logo–but it is not your logo.
So what is a tagline, and how is it different from a logo?
A tagline is a short message that communicates a brand’s identity, mission, and purpose in an engaging and creative way. It sums up the brand in a way that consumers can easily understand. In another article, we’ll dive deeper into the difference between a tagline and a slogan, but for now we’ll use the two idea interchangeably.
Brands in the same category or niche would have similar products or services. While there may be nuanced differences in what they offer, those may be lost on the consumers without a distinct brand identity. A tagline helps communicate that uniqueness to the audience and differentiates your brand from the competition.
Communicating trust and product benefits
A good tagline can make customers trust your brand and prefer it over others. As it communicates your benefit and the purpose of your brand, it will become more credible for your target audiences.
Unique selling proposition
In addition, taglines also communicate your unique selling proposition (USP). Customers don’t have the time to go through your brochures or read your website. They want your proposition to be delivered succinctly, and good taglines can do that.
Keep in mind that a tagline isn’t the entire customer journey; you still need to sell the customer on your product long-term, and sales cycles vary from five minutes to five months. But the tagline is often the first part of that sell.
Internal communications
Although you may not realize it, taglines are not just created for consumers. They’re also designed to motivate internal stakeholders like employees and business associates. In fact, all company branding works for both external and internal customers. The people who consume your product as well as the people who make your product will engage with the brand, the logo, and the tagline. So make sure it’s a good one!
But what about logos?
A tagline is different from a logo which is a visual representation of your brand identity. A logo is a combination of the brand colors, design elements, illustrations, and mascot if any.
A logo with a tagline becomes the primary visual identity of a brand that’s communicated across all touchpoints, from storefronts to the website to advertisements to other collaterals. See the incredible Coca-Cola example: “Delicious and Refreshing” above. It’s simple, it’s memorable, and it’s effective.
Next Steps
In the next article in this series about taglines, we’re going to take a look at some of the best company taglines we’ve ever seen, and talk about how and why they’re so effective. And in the third and final article in the series, we discuss different methods and strategies of creating effective taglines–and how you can do it for your own company.
But in the mean time, if you’ve already written a great tagline and you’re ready to print some labels for your product or packaging, reach out to us today and we’ll give you a free quote on your project!