Today I’ll talk about brand slogans, or tag lines and the role they can play for building your brand.

First of all, what is a tag line?

About.com gives us this definition, “A slogan or phrase that visually conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the advertiser wishes to convey. Generally, a theme to a campaign.”
But in fact, tag lines are not only short-lived advertising phrases that are associated with promotional campaigns. Some of the most successful examples can show you that tag lines can be inherent to your brand, and play a key role in building it. For that matter, let’s call them brand tag lines.

Some of the most successful brand tag lines have extremely strong associations with corresponding brand names. If I ask  you, whose tag line is Just Do It, most of you will know that it’s Nike’s.

Other popular ones are:

• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands (M&Ms)

• Think different (Apple computer)

For more examples, check out this article.

I am not suggesting that you absolutely need a brand tag line! Or, at least, not immediately after you’ve launched your company. A tag line can evolve as your business evolves. The best moment to start putting a brand tag line underneath your logo is when you’ve understood what brand values are inherent to your funky business. This is when a good tag line can work wonders and reinforce your brand.

If you feel that you’d like to give your brand a little boost with a tag line, where do you start? Well, first of all, you don’t even need to think in terms of the products you sell because even this might change in the future. I mean, don’t put a tag line, “We sell shoes” next to your shoe brand logo. Apart from being simply boring, it will lock you in the shoe business, and you won’t be able to get your brand extended into bags and umbrellas a couple of years down the road.

A brand called Innocent (they produce smoothies and juices) has come up with a tag line, Little tasty drinks. It’s a bit more interesting than simply saying, “We’re into drinks”, but it still locks them in, well, drinks. But okay, not every brand thinks in terms of those possible brand extensions, right?

Little tasty drinks: Innocent's tag line

So, what are some general principles you should keep in mind to give your brand that extra sparkle with a nice tag line?

• Keep it short. Please! I’ve seen whole phrases that took up half of page — this usually looks simply ridiculous
• Base it on your company’s brand values, not  necessarily products you sell
• However, it’s okay to give some clues about what your business is about
• Think twice before throwing in too many cultural references to the tag line — they might work well in one geography, but won’t serve you right if your company grows and becomes international. Stick to universal values instead!
• Share your passion in a tag line, it will be likely to get noticed

For more info, check out an article on Entrepreneur.com and the Hall of Fame of the site AdSlogans.

Related posts:

1. Give your brand a funky chat up line
2. Learn to speak the language of your brand
3. Brand partnerships