Thoughts on taglines or descriptor lines
First. I believe the amount of time people spend on developing or thinking of taglines is nuts. Yes. They are important but in the scheme of things I would envision if you are analyzing your time (or people’s time in general) by billable hour, the amount of time invested in this type of thing is … well … not a good investment.
Second. Here is why I think the time invested is out of whack. In general, here are the guidelines for developing a brand line.
- If the company/brand name is more aspirational/inspirational, or less descriptive, like Nike’s company name, err on the side of aiming for a more descriptive tagline telling people what the company offers or does (like Nike’s original line of “superior performance athletic shoes”).
- If the company/brand name is more descriptive of the product/service that is being offered then the tagline can assume a more aspirational feel & direction.
- The exception: when a company has achieved such a strong awareness that it has achieved a brand status, meaning that people know what the company actually does/offers, a tagline can take on more of an aspirational aspect (use Nike as an example when it shifted to “Just do IT” after they had attained 90+% awareness).
Third. The main rule of the road for descriptor/tagline development:
When the logo/name of company and tagline are stand-alone, make sure people can tell you exactly what that company does or offers. In other words, don’t be tricky or creative and lose an opportunity to be clear about who and what you are. And this is REALLY important when you come out of the starting blocks. Look. You can always change later. Upfront be clear. Making people guess (and you don’t have enough money to answer their guessing) is a silly investment.
Why? Anything other than meeting that main rule translates into having to invest a lot of money, and time effort, to educate people.
There you go. All these “inspirational taglines” and such are kinda silly. Do other things to inspire people. Plus. I am also a believer that a tagline can change. Almost as often as you would like (as long as it stays in the same sphere of character). There you go. Tagline 101.
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Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, discovery, dreaming is not just for kids, education to enlighten, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, exploration not ROI, facebook, failure of imagination, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, freedom of choice, generation of measurement, generational ideation, generations, global collaboration, global respect, Hubble, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagination, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, insights, insights are about truth, insights don't exploit, it has become uncool to do simple things in business, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, making the simple complicated, marketing, maslow and marketing, maslow needs, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, meeting the challenges of concentration, more honest online, most people cannot recognize simple solutions, most things in life are not black or white, mtv europe awards, NASA, NASA budget shrinking, net enabled education, no one believes in simplicity anymore, online friends, only few find the way, organizations, predictions, project global generation, pursuing the way, quality versus quantity online, quotes, rare to make complicated simple, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, ROI versus imagination, self actualization, short term concentration capabilities, simplicity has gone the way of the dodo, simplicity takes remarkable effort, six impossible things before breakfast, social media, strategy, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, Stuff I Like, success of ROI, telling the truth, that i will be tomorrow, there are a lot of insights, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, to slay a dragon you need to believe in dragons, trendwatching, truth, truth in marketing, truth should be simple, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, use your imagination, web based global education
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Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a global education kids initiative, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, beating the system, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, educating using the net, education and collaboration, education is not always equal, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, every child deserves a chance, free your mind, generation after millennials, global collaboration, global collaboration and learning, Global generation, hope in learning, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagining a better education system, impacting kid's education, jared leto, jared leto free your mind, leadership, learning, learning by lurking, lessons, life lessons, many good kids fail, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, mobile technology impacting education, mtv europe awards, next generation of thinkers, peace on facebook, pop up schools, pre school global education, project global generation, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, respect, responsibility, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, teaching kids globally, that i will be tomorrow, the economist e-communication and society, the global generation, The wire and education, there are excuses for not getting an education, this i am today, truth, twitter triumph of humanity, UNESCO children out of school, using cell technology for education, web based collaboration education, web based global education, young children collaborating online
Posted in Rants and Observations, project global generation | No comments
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Tags: action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting organization thru actions, aiming high, architects of fate, art of staying, brand, builders versus renovators, business, business lessons, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, company of adventurers, creating positive touchpoints, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, difficult lessons, dynamic beyond our own purposes, easier to recognize when you don't suck, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, finding your way is tough, going with your gut, greatest danger is aiming too low, leaders and character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, managing perceptions, michelanglo, most things in life are not black or white, oblivious to sucking, one foot in history one foot in future, only few find the way, patty griffin, pursuing the way, quotations, quotes, reach for the stars, respect, responsibility, safer to stay then go, seek out events without fear, smallest actions contribute, stay or go, stop on a high note, stop when you suck, strategy, strength of character to make change, stressful decisions, Stuff I Like, suckedness, sucking is like quicksand, that i will be tomorrow, thinking too much, this i am today, thrive on dreams and possibilities, transformational people, trapped by fear, truth, what do you do when you get what you want, words
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Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
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Tags: architects of fate, be who you are, being distinct, boundlessness of friendship, brand, branding, business, Business Thoughts, character, choices we make or do not make, communication, creation means destroying something, destroying the personal baggage you carry, doubt, ee cummings, embellishment, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, fear, fear of choices, fight the hardest battle to be yourself, gain some new identity aspects, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good people, hope, identifying who you are, inaction, intentions, just this once, lacking hope, leadership, learning, lessons, lies, life, life lessons, managing perceptions, motivated by a desire to achieve, organizations, personal creative destruction, quotations, quotes, reason for being, relationships, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, see your own reality, self truth, serious life decluttering, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, smallest actions contribute, stand for something within yourself, strategy, Stuff I Like, there is no formula for good choices, trust, truth, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, words
Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | 1 comment
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January 25, 2012 - 8:55 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, astonish people, being soft in business, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, character, communication, decision making, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, enlightened conflict, generations changing behavior, hard choices, hard decisions, knowing what is right is not enough, kodak, leadership, learning, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, life, life lessons, making changes personally, making the hard choice, marketing, moral fiber, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, quotations, quotes, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, right is right, soft choices, strength of character to make change, that i will be tomorrow, this i am today, truth, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
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