Most popular products today are defined by their taglines.
"To boldly go where no man has gone before," is a popular tagline associated with the Star Wars series. But a tagline can also be an advertising slogan associated with a product or products creating an easily identifiable brand, such as the infamous advertising campaign developed by Nike with, "Just Do It." One thing holds true for all popular taglines, it gets and keeps your attention by making a simple statement that is easy to remember.
History
Short statements used in advertising go as far back as 4000 BC when messages were written to promote political candidates, farm products and services. These "taglines" were written on walls, papyrus, rock and makeshift billboards. The downside at the time was that only a select population was actually able to read, so this early advertising slowly fell by the wayside until the early 17th century.
Theory behind the Tagline
The advertising or branding theory behind using taglines is that these short statements should reel you in and convince you to make a purchase and ultimately stick with the brand. According to Kenneth Clow, author of Integrated Advertising, Promotion and Marketing Communications, there are six phases that a consumer goes through when deciding whether or not to purchase and consistently use a certain product; awareness, knowledge, likes, preference, conviction and purchase.
Types of Taglines
Taglines are essentially succinct statements or slogans used in advertising to create product identity; they need to be short and easy to remember. Descriptive taglines provide clarity to a brand name that does not speak for itself. "Got Milk?" identifies the California Milk Processor Board. How about the tagline, "It's the real thing," from Coca-Cola. Taglines can be descriptive, provocative, motivating or witty. These short phrases are meant to encourage you to make a choice, develop brand loyalty, motivate you to choose one product over another and can also convey a message about quality.
Branding
Businesses pay thousands of dollars to advertising agencies to come up with catchy, memorable, and short and snappy taglines. Advertising branding campaigns are often built around a simple tagline. Remember, "Finger-lickin' good," the infamous Kentucky Fried Chicken tagline, established in 1952. According to corporate FAQ's, McDonald's has a long list of advertising programs from 1975 to today where the company established numerous taglines in numerous countries to promote brand awareness.
Tags: associated with, easy remember, used advertising, were written