Verbal identity

Member lesson

Taglines and endlines

Lesson 4 of 10 in Verbal identity.

Tagline or Slogan [Which Brand Strategy Tool To Use] · Brand Master Academy
Lesson

A tagline is a long-term asset and an endline is a campaign device, and confusing the two produces both a weak campaign and a tagline nobody can live with. Just do it has run for decades. Most campaign lines are retired within two years, correctly.

voicewho the brand isthe sameeverywheretonehow it sounds in each momenta welcomean errora receiptbad newsseriousplayfulthe tone changes with the moment. the voice never does
A brand's voice stays the same everywhere, while its tone changes with the moment: playful for a welcome, serious for bad news.
A bakery front has an old carved stone plaque under its emblem, a worker on a stepladder pasting a new poster over a torn one, and a small hanging sign showing a loaf.
A bakery keeps a carved plaque that has lasted for decades while a worker pastes a new poster over last season's. A tagline is meant to last, and a campaign line gets replaced.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    You put a candidate tagline under a competitor's logo and it reads perfectly well there. What has that told you?

    • The line is strong enough to survive being copied
    • The line is a category statement, so you have paid for wallpaper
    • The competitor sits too close to you, and the positioning is the real problem
    • The line will translate cleanly, since it does not lean on your own wordplay
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A line locked to the brand, intended to last years.”

    • Back of pack copy
    • Tagline
    • Tone
    • House style
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The line closing a campaign. Shorter-lived by design.”

    • Endline
    • Community management
    • Lexicon
    • Naming convention

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