Slogans or taglines; what do you call them?

Often when recalling a Brand, we’re prompted by one or more of a few things: example, the name, the logo, a character, a sound, or the slogan or tagline.

It’s commonplace that slogan and tagline are terms used almost interchangeably, but some functional differences enable the use of both in different capacities; let us first explain their respective compositions, at least as is classically intended.

Essentially, a well-constructed slogan or a tagline is a simple collection of words, designed to convey a particular point about its master brand.

But what’s the difference, if any, between the two, and how are they typically deployed in Pakistan? Well, a slogan is most often used to perpetuate a time-specific or product-centric message for a particular campaign. That slogan may be extended onwards to multiple campaigns too, but it is rarely a complete definition of what a brand represents to its customers. Some brands create multiple slogans in a hierarchy for each product category to highlight the value offered to customers. Slogans may also be used to create customer expectations and contribute to building a marketing-specific narrative.

Taglines, too, are a compact, composition of words. Albeit, these are also conceptually more than just words and can benefit a brand, when done well. For starters, a tagline should be a holistic representation of what a brand represents. As such, some brands use a tagline in conjunction with their logo, to create a representative statement for the brand itself.

When considering the brand-building process strategically – as we do at Brandeeq, the fickleness and randomness of slogans and taglines, as has become common practice, is part of the problem. How does one create the best version of a thing that has become so interchangeably used with something else? Ultimately, that’s not good for building distinct brand assets.

At Brandeeq, we offer an alternative but better offering, which we call a ‘Brand Promise.’

To the unfamiliar, a Brand Promise may at first just seem like a renaming of a slogan or tagline. However, it is not.

A Brand Promise is a written commitment to your customers before they even go through with purchasing your products, services, or technologies. It will be one of the very first touchpoints for the customer to make sense of what you stand for, as a brand. And when done well, it may serve as another brand asset to sharpen brand recall. But perhaps most importantly, in its own, small way, it can be the first step to the beginnings of trust for your brand.

Creating an effective Brand Promise requires a brand owner to answer the right briefings questions. Then, on the part of Brandeeq, its in-depth research, creative writ, customer personification, operational understanding, and scalability assessment are collectively considered alongside other brand assets. All such must then be coupled with a keen understanding of the complete branding process to allow coherence between the prospective Brand Promise and other elements of the brand’s identity. As apparent, the process is much more complex (unless you don’t want it to be effective) than otherwise imagined. Linguistics is only one of the many elements of the creative process.

For startups and new businesses, an effective Brand Promise could make the difference in the most important reason for establishing a brand at all: which is that your customers remember you by when it’s time for them to make a purchase.

Foremost, professional help may be sought to ensure a feasible Brand Promise is employed by the Brand the first time around, as frequent changes put credibility to question. Alternatively, we advise due diligence in all the mentioned processes. If you so desire, our team at Brandeeq may provide any required assistance.