The most memorable taglines in the world are so famous, they’ve basically never changed, like Nike’s “Just Do It”. Others have shifted as businesses have evolved, like TOMS, which owns the trademark for “One for One”, but currently uses “The Original One for One Company” in their marketing after a slew of copycat business models. Still others take a more ‘campaign’ approach – even if that campaign lasts for decades at a time, like McDonald’s encouraging you to “Look for the Golden Arches” in the 60s to the annoyingly catchy “ba-da-ba-ba-bah” jingle and “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign from the 2000s until now.
Not every slogan needs to strive for the awareness and glory of these well-known catchphrases of course. All a good tagline really needs to do is be unique, memorable, and easily understood.
What Makes a Good Tagline?
There are a few things great taglines have in common, regardless of what ‘style’ of tagline they are.
To the Point – The shorter the tagline, the easier it is to remember. Don’t complicate things by trying to share every aspect of what a company does. Focus on the one key thing that’s most critical to communicate.
Consumer-Oriented – A tagline is not a company mission statement. It should excite potential customers about what the brand is offering; not be designed to motivate employees.
Legally Defensible – In other words, don’t try to go head to head with Disney’s “The happiest place on earth” by using “The most magical place on earth”. Not only will the company likely get hit with a lawsuit, they’ll also be mixed up in the marketplace.
Easy to Say – Never underestimate the power of a lyrical phrase. Avoid words that are tricky to say or spell, or words that aren’t part of everyday language.
Provides a Point of Differentiation – Every business exists for a reason, whether it’s to introduce something new or introduce something better. A tagline is a great opportunity to highlight what makes a business better or different than anybody else in the marketplace.
Makes You Smile – Taglines should typically evoke feelings of happiness or joy, whether they’re clever or simply offering a positive brand promise. While not every tagline will resonate with every person, a good tagline goes beyond simply stating the facts, to make you feel something.
Types of Taglines
While powerful slogans have many common elements, they also take a variety of forms. Here’s a number of different directions that can be used to create catchy taglines. Keep in mind, some tagline strategies are more appropriate for different companies than others.
Aspirational
Pretty much every brand out there is setting out to make their customers’ lives better. An aspirational tagline showcases exactly how they’ll do that. It might be demonstrative – who wouldn’t want to be an “Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Covergirl”? Or it might be motivational, like adidas’ “Impossible is nothing”, which casually suggests performance and perseverance…with the right gear. Aspirational catchphrases are one of the most common because they’re loaded with positivity and really drive home the brand promise.Examples of Aspirational Taglines
- Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline. (Maybelline)
- A diamond is forever. (De Beers)
- Save money. Live better. (Walmart)
- The best bed for better sleep. (Casper)
- That was easy. (Staples)
- Red Bull gives you wings. (Red Bull)
Positional
A positional tagline highlights where a brand fits in a wider industry landscape. It can be used in one of two ways. If a company is a market leader or the first to market, they may highlight that they’re “The #1 provider of ___product or service___”. Other ways to express this might be “The world’s leader in…” or “The first company dedicated to…”, or “The original…”.Conversely, companies that aren’t number one in a category may use a positional tagline to their advantage, by identifying themselves as an alternative – perhaps even a better alternative – to the market leader, or even an entire product category. Avis famously capitalized on their market rank behind Hertz as the top dog in rental cars to claim, “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder.” The resulting “We try harder” tagline was so powerful, the market-share gap between the two brands went from 32 points to just 13 in under five years.
Examples of Positional Taglines:
- When you’re only No. 2, you try harder / We try harder. (Avis)
- The Un-cola. (7UP)
- Think small. (Volkswagen)
- Probably the best beer in the world. (Carlsberg)
- The Most Trusted Name in News. (CNN)
Calls to Action
Company taglines are typically different from an advertising slogan – in many cases brands will use both in a single campaign. An ad slogan is usually a catchy headline or call to action. But some brands actually meld the two in a way that encourages you to take an action involving their brand. These memorable taglines are often tied to food companies, but not exclusively.- Got Milk? (California Milk Processor Board)
- Open Happiness. (Coca Cola)
- Belong Anywhere. (Airbnb)
- Betcha Can’t Eat Just One. (Lay’s)
- See What’s Next. (Netflix)
- Don’t Leave Home Without It. (American Express)
- Taste the Rainbow. (Skittles)
Relationship Building
Powerful slogans go beyond capturing the imagination – they seek to build relationships with prospective customers. Motivation, encouragement, or the idea of we’ve been there, we see you, we get it are all key to this style of catchphrase.These powerful slogans are similar to aspirational ones, but they really focus on adding a human element to the brand. Imagine the brand personified: What would be the one key message they’d want to tell someone?
Examples of Relationship Building Taglines
- Because you’re worth it. (L’Oreal)
- There’s some things that money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard. (MasterCard)
- Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. (State Farm Insurance)
- We’ll leave a light on for you. (Motel 6)
- When you’re here, you’re family. (Olive Garden)
- You’re going to like the way you look, I guarantee it. (Men’s Wearhouse)
Higher Purpose
Many brands exist because their founders believed they were, in some fundamental way, ‘making the world a better place’. While that adage has reached tongue-in-cheek parody status in Silicon Valley, it’s still a fundamental motivation for many businesses. TOMS “One for One” is a well-known example where the company’s vision essentially supersedes its product offering. They’re telling people: When you buy from us, you’re contributing to a greater cause.This tagline strategy is best-suited to brands where their reason for existing goes beyond product. Whether they’re helping society from a place of common good or looking to change how the world operates in a fundamental way, these are big, bold, ambitious taglines.
Examples of Higher Purpose Taglines:
- Think Different. (Apple)
- Loans that change lives. (Kiva)
- Imagination at Work. (GE)
- We move the world. (DHL)
- Fashion Freedom. (Universal Standard)
Descriptive
Sometimes you just want people to know what you do. In an era where companies increasingly use non-descriptive names, sometimes it’s necessary to lean on the tagline to do the work for you. This trend dates back to the rise of tech companies, like Amazon – an unexpected choice for a book shop. That’s why their tagline was the simple, memorable, and descriptive, “The earth’s largest bookstore.”Descriptive and aspirational names can somewhat go hand in hand, as they’re often very benefit-focused. But descriptive names tend to focus a little more rigidly on exactly what a product does, and less so on what impact it’ll have on a customer’s life.
Examples of Descriptive Taglines:
- America’s Diner is Always Open. (Denny’s)
- Save money, without thinking about it. (Digit)
- Fresh handmade cosmetics. (Lush)
- It tastes awful. And it works. (Buckley’s Cough Syrup)
- The quicker picker upper. (Bounty Paper Towels)
- The ultimate driving machine. (BMW)
Clever
Wordplay can be a fun way to get people to remember a tagline. Puns and turns of phrase lend a lighthearted sense of humor to a brand, and are particularly favored by upstarts that are looking to disrupt an industry or stand out in a crowded field.These taglines are great for companies aimed at consumers. They’re probably less suited to established brands or those seeking to make headway in professional business settings.
Examples of Clever Taglines:
- Two great tastes that taste great together. (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups)
- Shave time. Shave money. (Dollar Shave Club)
- Nothing runs like a Deere. (John Deere)
- Every kiss begins with Kay. (Kay Jewelers)
- Seafood differently. (Red Lobster)
- Master your classes. (Course Hero)
Experiential
An experiential slogan basically demonstrates a feeling you’ll have when engaging with a brand – oftentimes happiness, joy, or elation. But proceed with caution. Experiential catchphrases are typically only used by brands that have a long history of brand equity. In other words, you still knew what McDonald’s was when they introduced “Ba da ba ba bah”.A new brand probably can’t deal with a jingle-driven “slogan”. But not all experiential taglines have to be quite so abstract. They can be simple phrases or expressions of delight that still speak to the experience of a brand.
Examples of Experiential Taglines:
- Mmm! Mmm! Good! (Campbell’s Soup)
- Ba pa pa pa ba pa pa pa, the joy of Pepsi (Pepsi)
- Snap, Crackle, Pop! (Kellogg’s Rice Krispies)
- It’s finger lickin’ good (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
- Zoom zoom (Mazda)
- It keeps going and going... (Energizer Batteries)
What You Should Know About Crafting Catchy Taglines
When to Create a Brand Tagline
The best time to create a tagline is after a brand has identified its UVP, or unique value proposition. The UVP is what makes a brand better or different than anyone else in their category – including companies that create new categories, like Uber and Lyft did for ride share services.Brand catchphrases should ideally be developed before a logo is crafted, because the two can potentially go hand-in-hand. The logo can build on what the tagline is saying for a more compelling and memorable effect.
Can You Change a Company Tagline?
You can always change a company tagline. Many of the taglines outlined in this guide are not actually the current slogan for a business.Memorable taglines are often designed to help a brand raise awareness about some aspect of their operations. In some cases, once they’ve done that, it may be time to move onto a new message. For example, Denny’s used to use “America’s Diner is Always Open.” In recent years, they moved to “See You at Denny’s.” Both taglines use an inviting premise, but the newer one is less focused on a ‘service benefit’ and more geared towards a call to action.
You can also ‘test’ taglines and see how they perform with a customer base. For example, Nike actually used “I can” for a brief period in the 90s to test the waters on what they hoped would be another blockbuster slogan... and well, as you can imagine, they went right back to “Just Do It” shortly after.
Is There a Difference Between a Slogan and a Tagline?
The short answer is yes. We’ve used slogan, tagline, and catchphrase interchangeably in this guide, but traditional advertising lingo separates the two. Taglines are typically used across all advertising campaigns and are tightly linked to a company’s brand identity. A slogan, in contrast, is usually tied to a specific, shorter-term campaign that hones in on an element of a product, service, or company.In modern advertising however, these two concepts are increasingly conflated. Some companies will use their tagline as their advertising headline – like Skittles, which pairs ‘Taste the Rainbow’ with any other number of ______ the Rainbow messages. Others will run campaigns stripped free from a tagline altogether (even if it’s still used on corporate materials, a website, or associated with a brand on a higher level).
In general, it’s expected any brand would start with a tagline, and add slogans to their brand portfolio as they develop campaigns. When considering taglines for a brand, be sure to understand whether a tagline or slogan is the objective.
Can a Tagline Be Trademarked?
Yes, taglines can be trademarked - if they’re successful in the marketplace. There are two qualifiers to trademarking a tagline. One, it needs to be distinctive and different from anything else in the marketplace. So “World’s Best Coffee” is probably not going to cut it when you have dozens of coffee shops claiming the same thing. Two, it needs to have acquired what’s known as ‘secondary meaning’ with your audience. Secondary meaning refers to a slogan being linked to a specific brand, beyond the actual words within the tagline.Despite how seemingly generic it sounds, McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” has been trademarked because it hits both targets. The slight grammatical shift from ‘loving’ to ‘lovin’ makes it unique. And the words themselves are so strongly linked to the brand, if you threw this phrase in conversation, people would probably think you’re hungry for a burger rather than expressing admiration for someone or something (unless that something was McDonald’s).
If trademarking is a concern, you’ll definitely want to run some searches to ensure no one else is using the same tagline, or anything similar to it.
Quick Guide on How to Create a Brand Tagline
- Focus in on the UVP . Start by identifying what makes a brand unique or different. Is there a mission statement, business plan, or elevator pitch you can review? Employ the ‘lifeboat method’. If there’s only room on your life raft to save one idea about the company, what is it?
- Research the competition . Run some basic Google searches to track down what other competitors in this space are saying about themselves creatively. Don’t be afraid to look in other geographic markets too - you never know where a brand’s future may lead.
- Identify keywords . If there is a key word or phrase that really needs to be in there, that’s a great starting point - but not our only course of action. You can take those keywords and explore other ways of saying them. By the same token, you’ll also want to create a ‘blacklist’ of words you don’t want to use.
- Brainstorm! Pick any of the tagline styles featured in this guide and try to come up with 1-2 ideas for each approach that makes sense for the brand. Or forget the styles (at first) and go with your gut. Once you’ve jotted down a few ideas you can revisit this guide to see if there’s a way to evolve your ideas to align with some different tagline styles.