by Rich Davis | Tips & Advice - Advertising Slogans & Taglines
Many not-for-profit organizations don’t make use of taglines in their corporate image. This can be a big mistake even though charitable companies are not in the business of making profit; they should be in the business of differentiating themselves from others in the non-profit sector. With current tough economic conditions, it is important to emphasize what you do and why the kind American public should hand over their hard-earned dollars to you rather than someone else.
A tagline or slogan, as they used to be called, for a nonprofit organization helps your audience connect with the effort and impact that your charity has on others. This is the same regardless of whether your charity is working hard for a better world or simply offering a helping hand to the less fortunate in your community.
Whilst great care may have been taken in deciding upon the name of your non-profit organization, it is easy for it to sound a little dry. A good tagline will strengthen the emotional bonds of what you are working so hard to achieve.
A Slogan is a Mission Statement
It will deliver your organization’s mission statement in a hard hitting way which is tough to ignore and this is sometimes needed to maximize the impact for non-profit organizations. Sometimes it isn’t even clear from the name of the charitable organization of what it is they are doing. If this applies to your organization then a tag line will help explain your actions and motivations.
Lots of people don’t have too much time or money to donate and so a tagline will give the public an opportunity to connect with your organization. If it can help them feel inspired or motivated then they are much more likely to donate to your cause or volunteer some of their precious time.
The tagline will give them something to remember about their interactions with your not for profit organization, whether it is a monetary donation or time spent actively working on a project. It will also help them remember you the next time that they want to help out.
Slogans Create a Sense of Purpose
Taglines aren’t just useful for your making external connections with the outside world, they can also be really useful for internal use too. Having a good tagline helps your staff and volunteers rally round the effort and galvanize themselves for the common cause of why they are working together. It’s always good to remind people what their purpose and why exactly they are there.
Just like any other type of organization, having a good tagline is vital for a nonprofit entity in the modern world. Set up a slogan writing contest centered on your organization’s mission statement today. That way you can have dozens of creative writers trying to create an effective slogan based upon your mission statement.
by Rich Davis | Tips & Advice - Advertising Slogans & Taglines
1950s taglines don't compare to current ones.
Originally, back in the 1950s, taglines were known as “slogans” by the ad agencies. Sometimes they were also known as the corporate catchphrase, marketing lines or trademark lines. These days they go under the term of ‘tagline’, the terminology may have changed but the basic facts are is that a short and often catchy phrase is used to inform your customers and potential customers what it is you can offer them.
The fact that the terms for a tagline have evolved over the decades raises an important point. Nothing lasts forever and just as slogans have been replaced by tag lines then so it is worth considering whether your tag line is now outdated.
A great and effective tagline will demonstrate the soul of the company with its personality, attitude and connect with people on an emotional level. However what used to connect with people years ago may not connect with people in the same way now. Even worse, it could give your company an inaccurate though detrimental appearance.
Taglines and Customer Relationships
Taglines are a great way to build a relationship with your customers and their effectiveness builds over time. However there will come a time when it feels tired and will need to be changed, perhaps as an overall change in company image and identity. If your company is at this stage, don’t worry, it is totally natural and many of the biggest brands have changed their taglines a number of times in the last 50 years.
What was cool then, isn’t always cool now. A business needs to change with the times, especially if your business is in a fast changing new-age sector such as IT, Communications or Design. Your taglines like everything else should change with the times.
A bad or outdated tagline is worse than having no tag line at all. In fact it could deter customers and drive them into the arms of your competitors.
A new tagline gives you the opportunity to re-vitalize your business. It will allow you to both build on the old but also attract the new. That means you should consider staging a slogan contest to generate a new tagline today. It can revitalize your relationship with your existing customers and build bridges to new ones.
A new tagline is one of the most important points of contact between you and the public. You wouldn’t hire a receptionist who couldn’t convey a professional and friendly image to visitors and people phoning your office so equally it is important to make sure you get the right tag line. These few words will be your professional image to the world so make sure you pick a good one and if necessary pick good people to do create the tag line. It and your company deserve the best.
by Rich Davis | Tips & Advice - Advertising Slogans & Taglines
A tagline is important because it captures the essence of your business. It should be the explanation and summary of what your business does, what it’s mission is, your promise to your customers and your branding. It can be a big ask to fit all of this into a sentence or even just a few words.
As a mission statement, your tagline must be clear to your audience. Don’t be too clever otherwise your prospective customers will make their mind up in a second that they will go elsewhere.
Next up, your potential new customer is looking at your website or your logo and they are wondering what is in it for them? A good tagline will make them a promise of what they can expect from you and what you can deliver to them.
Straplines should Reflect Your Business
Perhaps most importantly, your tagline should reflect your business image or brand. Your company slogan is perhaps the biggest and often the only opportunity to differentiate your company for everybody else’s. Sometimes this can be achieved by just setting a mood that encapsulates your business.
If your company has a fresh new attitude then the tagline is the place to say it. Consider what it is that your company is selling and what type or customer you are hoping to attract. Are you the sole business in the sector, do you have a new or all-encompassing solution?
A tagline for a charitable or environmental organization needs to convey a different message than to a law firm or corporate bank. Whereas a charity or environmental organization will want to emphasize its caring mission, a law firm or a bank will try and demonstrate their reliability and trustworthiness.
Study the Competition
Before deciding upon a tagline, check out your competition’s slogans. See what they are doing and if you are in the same business sector as them try and do it better. Make sure you compare any tagline from a slogan contest to your competition’s.
It’s important to keep your tagline simple. Think of any corporate tagline in any business be it leisure, finance, automobiles or whatever and the thing they all have in common is that they are short but sweet. If you get it right then not just your prospective customers but even the whole world will remember your company slogan.
Finally, when you think you have your tagline or strapline, do a little market-research even if it’s just with your family and friends. Check that they like it and it projects the message and image which you are providing.
by Rich Davis | Tips & Advice - Advertising Slogans & Taglines
Enter a contest to figure out the best strapline for you!
Most business owners are familiar with the concept of aslogan and atagline but not a strapline. The dictionary definition of a strapline is that it is a subheading in an article or advertisement. Yet for advertising and marketing purposes a strapline is a slogan that is used to identify a brand.
In other words, it is a method of branding or creating a brand. Straplines your fingers do the walking.”
In some cases a strapline will contain the brand name, in others it will not. A difference between a strapline and a conventional slogan is that strapline is designed specifically to promote the brand itself. It tells the customers what the brand is and exactly who it can help them.
You’ve probably seen or heard: “There are things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard.” That establishes the idea that MasterCard is simple, convenient, easy to use and it can be used just like cash.
Straplines Convey an Idea
A great way to think of a strapline is that it conveys the idea behind a product or a service to the public. When you sit down to write one or hire a slogan writer create a strapline ask yourself how can my product or service help or benefit the customer. What can we do for the customer that she cannot do for herself?
For example, Joe’s garage might use “Fastest service in town” or the only car repair service next to the light rail station.” Those are benefits the customers will be interested in it.
Such straplines have to be used as part of a logo or under the main slogan. You will want the public to associate that benefit with the name of your organization.
If you want the public to know what your service is and how it will benefit them. You will have to create a strapline that achieves that purpose. The strapline can serve as your slogan or in addition to your tagline.
Straplines vs. Slogans
Even if you have a really great slogan you should think about creating a good or even a great strapline for your company. Despite what some people think it will not detract from your slogan. It’ll enhance your marketing efforts by providing two ways of getting the message about your brand out to the customers.
A slogan writing contest can enable you to create highly effective straplines. Try commissioning such a contest to create a great strapline today.
by Rich Davis | Tips & Advice - Advertising Slogans & Taglines
How do you announce the return of an iconic brand that vanished from shelves because of corporate mismanagement? That’s the challenge facing slogan makers for Hostess Brands as the company prepares to bring back the ever popular Twinkies and other sugary snacks.
The legendary snack foods nearly became extinct because of a nasty labor struggle last year. Hostess’s new owners are trying to prepare the public for the return of some of its favorite treats with a host of new taglines. The revamped marketing slogans are colorful but can they really sell CupCakes and Twinkies again?
The marketing slogans include: “The clock is ticking. And when it reads septuplet zeros, the greatest treats the world has ever known will triumphantly return.” “Twinkies, CupCakes and other American snack icons that the people decided they just couldn’t live without.”
One-Shot Slogans for Special Events
Hostess’s latest batch of catchy slogans is an interesting use of taglines that many business owners don’t think about: the use of a tagline to generate hype to promote a special event. The special event in this case being the re-launch of the Hostess brands and the return to store shelves of the junk food.
The idea here is to make an everyday event the launch of some new snack foods into something special. The slogans are designed to add to the excitement around it and generate anticipation.
These are one-shot slogans because they will only be used once for the Twinkies comeback then abandoned. Unlike some catchphrases they are designed to last or create a permanent image. Instead they are designed to drum up a little quick publicity and help consumers notice that the products have returned.
How to Use One-Shot Slogans
If one-shot slogans work for Twinkies they can work for your business or product as well. The Hostess taglines have achieved their purpose some of them have been repeated in news articles which makes the re launch seem like an important event.
Next time you have a special event or a change at your organization why not create a one-shot slogan to promote it? Today’s slogan writing contests enable almost anybody to create a catchphrase quickly for a small amount of money.
If you’re planning an event such as the opening of a new location, the launch of a new product or your company’s anniversary sale why not promote it with a tagline specially commissioned for the occasion. The phrase can make the event seem more special and hopefully generate a little extra publicity.
The phrase can also help the public forget about negative or unpopular news about your products or company. Hostess is trying to help the public forget about its labor troubles and bankruptcy with the new taglines. It’s also hoping that the hype will lead to news coverage and increased sales.
If you want to create a special event for your organization try a slogan-writing contest. Whether it’s your group’s bake sale or a move to a new location you can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary with a really good slogan.
