The secrets of great taglines
They are memorable: a good tagline is bold, brief and packs a punch.
They engage: a tagline offers readers a way in to contribute or solve the problem the organisation is working on.
They are meaningful: a reader should be able to understand immediately what your organisation does or stands for.
Makes your organisation stand out: a reader should want to support your organisation over others because the tagline highlights what the organisation does differently.
Links to the organisation’s goals: even if the tagline does not spell out the goals, it should reflect what the organisation is attempting to achieve.
What to include
- Use you. It directly addresses the reader. It is a call to action.
- Use active verbs: They involve the reader, taking him or her on a journey with you to solve the problem.
- Include the problem your organisation is trying to solve. Be visual and specific.
- Keep it simple: Keep it to one idea and keep it brief.
What not to do
- Develop a tagline by committee. Good ideas are watered down and strong ideas are often vetoed. Work with a group of three, at the most, and put the top three ideas to a group for a vote (not an edit).
- Be vague: if it does not spell out what your organisation does, don’t use it.
- Steer clear of verbs ending in – ing. There is no sense of energy or collaboration with –ing.
A good starting point for developing taglines
- Answer the question ‘why’: This will help clarify the benefits the organisation brings, how people can become involved and reinforces the organisation’s leadership role.
- Be aspirational: allow the reader to consider what the world may look like if he becomes involved.
- Single words are often a good way of commanding attention and action.
- Use imagery – The Look Out, a website for the Domestic Violence Resource Centre, uses a lighthouse to connect the words with action. MediaWise ran a workshop to finalise the name of the website and tagline.
- Repetition can be a useful device as can humour.
- Rhyme can be evocative as can alliteration. The Esso tagline “Put A Tiger in Your Tank” is memorable for the latter.