To Tagline Or Not To Tagline?

Is That The Question?

I’m deliberately paraphrasing Shakespeare here because my next line will be: THIS is absolutely NOT the question. Or more accurately - not the first question you should be asking if you’re looking at how to evolve or improve your brand. A tagline should be the very last thing that emerges from any branding or marketing campaign process if it emerges at all. It’s just like writing a book - you start with a theme or big idea, develop an outline, write and edit (and repeat as required) and only then - when the book is finished - do you give it a name or title. And I’m willing to bet that the great book titles emerge or become obvious as the content or narrative is developed, because they are then derived from the book’s essence or big idea. That’s how we should all think about taglines - not as something we need and certainly not as a starting point, but rather a possible exclamation point or memorable shorthand for what a product, company or service stands for.?

So why am I writing about this? I’m not anti tagline. I’m tagline neutral. Like Switzerland. Who, by the way actually has a tagline: Switzerland. Get Natural. I’m not kidding - Google it.

I’m writing about this because I get the question so often: Do we need a tagline? Should we have a tagline? Or worse, I see “tagline” as a required deliverable in client brief or RFP alongside things like visual identity, message strategy, value proposition and other deliverables, all too often stated as a requirement. This is not an approach I would recommend as it presupposes many things - most of all that a tagline is something your brand must have to be more successful. That might be true but it might not for a variety of reasons that I’ll try to address here.?

But first, why is there so much focus on taglines? Because when successful, taglines are usually memorable, relevant, authentic and timeless. BMW - The Ultimate Driving Machine. Nike - Just Do It. Target - Expect More. Pay Less. These are all great examples of enduring taglines. I actually don’t know how each of these came about, but if I were to guess I doubt that they were conceived concurrently with the brand. It’s more likely they were actually campaign themes that resonated and then took root because both the brand and the offer were successful and became highly associated with these phrases. They became part of the brand’s vernacular in a natural way over time. And when managed well, an asset like that is very valuable and useful. But by managed well, I mean used in a way that benefits the brand, but doesn't get in the way of ongoing marketing or other forms of communications.?

Learning From Big Brands

Nike might be the best example because while Just Do It has been in use for decades, we have seen numerous Nike ads and campaigns come and go, and for good reason. The Nike marketing folks clearly understand how to use their tagline as a signature element — a sign-off if you will - to remind everyone what Nike stands for - the athlete in all of us (granted, some of us more than others).

A contrary example is Apple. Certainly an enduring brand, but to my knowledge, they have never adopted a defined tagline that was used consistently over a long period of time. Some will say that Think Different is or was their tagline, but it is fairly well documented that this was a campaign introduced in 1997 that ran until 2002. It certainly did capture the essence of the brand, and during that period was likely used occasionally as a pure tagline. But like most campaigns it had a shelf life, and Apple never saw the need to adopt that phrase as an enduring tagline. Why? I personally don’t know, but suspect it was because they felt they didn’t need to. Taglines can be limiting and lose meaning as companies or brands evolve. And Apple has certainly evolved — going from a personal computer brand to one that now transcends that narrow classification to include music, media, television and numerous other categories. What I think makes the Apple brand so enduring is their commitment to Steve Job’s big idea of creating products that are designed from the user’s perspective and a culture that blends technology and the liberal arts. And since most of their competitors did not share this ethos, Think Different makes sense. But not necessarily forever.

GE is an example of a brand that does seem to always use a tagline to reinforce its essence of practical innovation. From We Bring Good Things to Life (1979-2003) to Imagination at Work (2005-2020) and more recently, Building a World That Works, the company has taken an evolutionary approach and seems to use a tagline to connect the dots across its diverse portfolio of businesses — from lightbulbs to aircraft engines. None of these examples are right or wrong, but rather, what works for each brand.

What About Higher Ed?

In higher education where I focus most of my time, taglines are still finding their way within the marketing and branding landscape. They are both desired and scoffed at and even made light of via lists of examples that sound disturbingly similar or generic. To be fair, with over 4,000 four-year colleges and universities — most offering very similar things — you’re bound to get some common themes. Phrases like A Better Future Starts Here or Dream Big are common. But you have to remember that higher education is still mostly a regional business when it comes to marketing. Some brands — Harvard, Stanford, Princeton for example — have national awareness and cache, but for the most part, colleges and universities don’t attempt to be equally known across the country. So a school on the east coast and a school on the west coast that are similar in terms of size, offer and experience could easily have similar messages and never overlap in the marketplace. While there are some national brands in higher ed, it’s not like Coke and Pepsi.?

And differentiation is still very challenging in this category exactly because so many schools do look alike on the surface. I’m not making excuses — just pointing out that this market is still evolving and being disrupted in many ways so its use of branding and marketing strategies and tactics — including taglines —? is still rather nascent compared to, say, consumer products or retail. Like I did above, I will share a few tagline examples from higher education that I think are interesting and instructive.?

Purdue University does not use a fixed tagline. Rather, they have a big idea or language that expresses their core brand essence — persistent innovation together. The big idea is most commonly expressed as The Persistent Pursuit of the Next Giant Leap. But this phrase is not locked up with their logo or used as a strict signoff for all or most branded communications. Rather, it is part of a language that sometimes focuses on “the next giant leap” for more institutional innovations, while at other times emphasizes “the small steps” or “the persistent pursuit” to reinforce the individual or collaborative team efforts to pursue innovations. It’s a big idea with a few different expressions to support the flexibility needed for a complex enterprise like a land grant university.??

Drexel University, on the other hand, is relatively faithful to the line Ambition Can’t Wait. But like Apple’s Think Different I believe that this line was born as a campaign theme or tagline that launched in 2016 with the original goal to raise awareness of the university beyond its Philadelphia backyard. But as often happens, when a campaign resonates with its intended audience and is used over a long period of time it can become synonymous with all aspects of the brand. This is generally a good thing and an example of organically and authentically landing in the right place — tagline-wise — versus forcing something new that can either confuse stakeholders or polarize them into a love/hate scenario right away.

Providence College is another more recent example of an institution that defined a brand essence or ethos to convey its unique blend of faith and education. The basic phrase For Those Who Seek describes the kind of students that do well at Providence — their best-fit student mindset, let’s say — but has the flexibility to answer the question: Seek what? Seek Truth. Seek Community. Seek Justice. And Seek More are just a few examples. The people of Providence College — sometimes called Friars for their mascot — are also seekers.?

In summary, there is no formula here that will work for all brands or all institutions, and honestly, no rules for what is right and what is wrong. But the overall takeaway is this: like a logo or a mascot, a tagline is a tool that should be arrived at in a logical and natural way that is authentic to the brand it is meant to amplify. It is neither a requirement, nor should it be disdained or dismissed.?

And finally, my favorite tagline? Well it’s for a product I love: Glerups wool slippers made in Denmark who use the phrase Our Passion is Felt. If you know you know.?