The Essential Guide To Writing Straplines

Straplines have been around for so long, it’s easy to lose track of their relevance to the modern brand.

Although not strictly necessary – when used well and consistently, slogans can be a company’s secret weapon on the road to building a memorable and dynamic brand.

A marketing powerhouse made up of just a few well-selected words or phrases, straplines have the power to inspire strong brand loyalty among consumers and thus enhance company brand equity exponentially.

When that all-important intention to purchase moment comes around for your customer, a brand’s strapline can make the difference between them choosing to buy your product/service, or choosing to take their business to one of your competitors instead.

But developing a strapline with substance is often harder than it may sound. There are various types of taglines you can employ to enhance your brand experience – three of which will explore later on. Each serve a specific purpose and suit different industries.

However, the most important factor when looking to adopt a strapline is that any promise made must be delivered upon by your brand itself. Short and sharp at around five words in length, a strapline must convey the essence of your brand in one brief handful of words.

Here at Poole branding agency CuCo, we are regularly asked to develop new straplines for clients. So, what is the secret to getting it right? The most effective messages are simple, yet substantial. Often accompanying your company name and logo, a slogan offers consumers an additional piece of your brand story for them to buy in to.

A great marketing strapline should sum up what your brand stands for in just a few words.

It should:

• Represent your brand’s value and ethos
• Appeal to and engage your audience
• Be short, snappy and highly memorable

Let’s explore the three main types:

#1 Descriptive straplines

This type of strapline is to the point, practical and matter-of-fact. In a few short words, it is able to get across exactly who you are and what it is you do as a business. It doesn’t hold an abundance of excitement or flavour, but what it does do is offer a highly informative view of the company. A descriptive strapline would be most beneficial for a smaller businesses because of it’s ability to showcase the company’s services in a clear and direct manner. However, a handful of larger establishments have also given descriptive straplines a try, and found they serve them very well when executed well.

For example:

Hub Property Care – All trades under one roof

Harrison Heating – Central Heating Service

HSBC – The world’s local bank

Innocent – Little Tasty Drinks

#2 Aspirational straplines

At the opposite end of the spectrum, an aspirational strapline highlights a company’s values of ethos. Often used by larger companies, aspirational straplines offer a sense of lifestyle and excitement to their customers. These straplines are beneficial because they have the capability to begin telling your brand’s story and start the customer brand experience. This variation of strapline is the most successful when utilised by well-established companies who hold a global presence.

Examples include:

Nike – Just Do It

Tesco – Every Little Helps

Skittles – Taste the Rainbow

Apple – Think Different

Max Factor – The Make-Up of Make-Up Artists

#3 Combination straplines

In-between descriptive and aspirational straplines, is a combination of the two. This type of strapline still informs the customer what your company offers, but also ads a flavourful and insightful twist into your company.

Well-known examples would be:

Subway – Eat Fresh

eBay – Buy It. Sell It. Love It.

NatWest – Helpful Banking

Of course there are other types of strapline not covered within these three categories. For example, other companies incorporate their name into their strapline – e.g. ‘You can do it if you B&Q it.’ The idea is to present a brand and service offering as one.

We will be going into greater depth on our branding agency blog about exactly how to define your business purpose and craft the perfect strapline in due course. However if you would prefer a branding agency to do the hard work for you – call us on 01202 911959 or email email hidden; JavaScript is required to discuss strapline development for your business.

Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to create a totally new tagline for your business, or an established company looking for fresh creative ideas, the branding agency team at CuCo are always on hand to apply our marketing expertise to your branding or web design brief, whether you’re based in London or Poole.