From “maybe she’s born with it” to “just do it” a strap line, can be just about anything, as long as, in theory, it represents your brand. So if you can have almost anything you want, why is it that company strap lines, even for massive global conglomerates, are still really annoyingly bad??
Why are there so many catchphrases and slogans that leave customers either confused or are often easily forgotten?
One reason for this can be because of what a slogan promises about your brand and its position within markets, which often results in brands choosing wishy washy lines that can cover a number of different elements. Although brands may not be tying themselves down by having lines such as these, if they add nothing to the users experience, then there is little to no point in them being there at all.
Your strap line is meant to evoke an emotional response in the audience, and brands are always trying to feign this emotional connection and consequently have come up with strap lines that are bland, annoying or just down right confusing.
Sky introduced their “believe in better” tagline a number of years ago, but when I see it, it doesn’t really give me anything. With no reference to the services provided by Sky or anything the customer should hope to receive, the strap line doesn’t really mean anything. Just because Sky “believe in better” doesn’t mean their going to do anything about it, and that you’re going to see any of the benefits!
The strap line given to us by Currys isn’t much more inspiring, “we can help”. I should hope so! There is no detail about what the business is, and what they do, it could pretty much be applied to any business, anywhere!
Simplyhealth.co.uk achieved what I think to be one of the most bizare attempts at a strap line “we can be bothered”. Although the business is saying that they are happy to help, in a round-about way, using ‘bothered’ just reminds me of a moody adolescent from an irritating comedy sketch.
To avoid your strap line becoming one of the emotionally vacuous voids that are lurking about nowadays, think about why you need a strap line and work hard to create on that is relevant and informative. If you can achieve these, then maybe throw in some entertainment, as long as it still makes sense!
Here are Xposures tips for creative your very own strap line for your brand.
1. Keep your slogan relatively short, around 3 to 6 words, no more than eight words as it needs to be concise, quick and memorable. I mean, how many of you really remember the infamous Nyquil catchphrase “Nighttime sniffling sneezing coughing aching stuffy head fever so you can rest medicine.”
2. Choose your angle, you need to know what you want people to think about your business, so that you can present that image to them, clearly and consistently.
3. Do you want to represent lower prices? Asda presented this idea with “Always low prices” and Curry did the same with their irritatingly catchy “Always cutting prices”.
4. Do you want your audience to know that you have knowledgeable staff? Comet has used this theme with “We live electricals” and the AA represented this with “Just AAsk”.
5. Is your strap line merely there to reflect what you stand for? Tesco’s “Every little helps” illustrates the company’s helpful and money saving message, “vorsprung durch technik” is Audi’s strap line meaning progress through technology.
6. Do you want your strap line to represent the product or service quality that you deliver, “Reassuringly expensive” was Stella Artois controversially successful campaign and Microsoft brought is “Your potential, our passion” representing themselves as the vehicle for human creativity.
7. Try writing 10 or 12 words that represent your business, and then write another list that represents what you deliver to your customers. Use these words along with some information about what your business actually does to create the best strap line that you can, for your unique brand.
Remember to consider, before coming up with anything, could a bad strap line really cause lasting damage for your business, or whether it could be a draw in. If it is truly terrible however, you need to remember that bad strap lines generally fade and are forgotten.
Here are our top 10 long-lasting strap lines in decending order that have remained popular despite their differing quality.
10. “We go the extra mile” Halfords
9. “Guinness is good for you” Guinness
8. “Who gives you extra” Halifax
7. “The ride of your life” Peugeot
6. “It’s good to talk” BT
5. “No FT, no comment” Financial Times
4. “Wake up happy” Hotels.com
3. “Beanz meanz Heinz” Heinz Beans
2. “I’d rather have a bowl of Coco Pops” Coco Pops
And our particular favourite, a timeless strapline, evoking a really emotive reaction in each advert, print or broadcast.
1. “There are some things money can’t buy, but for everything else, there’s MasterCard” MasterCard