It happens often in our business. We work with our clients to create branded content strategies that can be adapted by audience and channel so that the brands we represent have the absolute best chance to connect with their fans and prospects on their terms in the channels, traditional and non-traditional, that they use to consume information. The flexibility and fluidity of message is paramount and so is careful attention by us, the brand stewards, to assure that our messages are relevant and compelling.

Then there are always the questions. Is this a campaign line or a platform for our new campaign? Do we need a tagline? What purpose does a tagline serve in a communications environment that is so diverse in its forms and function?

I read an article recently by Denise Yohn, brand consultant and author of what Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate The Best From The Rest. In her article, Ms. Yohn provided a series of thoughts on this oft talked about subject that I believe are appropriate to consider when the discussion of brand taglines surfaces in our agency or in the offices of our clients.

  1. More and more big brands are opting to leave off the taglines and focus on campaign lines that appeal to segmented audiences and channels.  Nordstrom, one of my favorite brands, doesn’t use a tagline.  Starbucks, even Nike in some cases, are leaving the all-encompassing tagline behind.
  2. The folks who compile data history on tagline recall will show that many of the most memorable happened before 1980 when communications were simpler and the channels more limited. Ms. Yohn argues that “single brand taglines have less value in a communications landscape where there are more fluid and variable applications.”
  3. The nature of how products and services are positioned is also changing. A brand is a position in the customer’s mind. Often times in the past, this was a product differentiation that was expressed in a tagline i.e. “Where’s The Beef?” “ Today that differentiation often centers on values and personalities.  These differentiators can be difficult to convey succinctly,” says Ms. Yohn.
  4. Last, and I think the most important point is that in the past taglines have often been declarative statements.  In essence, the brand is giving you a command. “Just do it.” “Think Different.” “Fly The Friendly Skies.” Today’s consumer does not want to be told what to do. “Rather as cultural power shifts from companies to consumers, it no longer seems appropriate for brands to issue imperatives.”

Still, I do believe there are great opportunities to leverage taglines as invitations to engage with a brand, as an encouragement to consumers, or perhaps as a concise way of expressing a company’s mission statement. Maybe it won’t be around 50 years from now,  but who wants to predict what communications will be like anyway in 2063?