Be it just in logo design or a full think-tank project, if you choose to do your branding development with Husk we’ll always ask if your company has a “tagline”.
You may have heard the terms swirling around with other marketing jargon like “mission statement”, “company values”, “brand promise” and “slogans”. It’s a lot to think about, and many people may mistake them for the same thing – let’s break each one down, shall we?
Internal communications branch into Vision and Mission Statements.
1// Internal comms are, as the name suggests, company-centric elements. You’ll see them in places like company guidelines, staff conference presentations or that poster plastered in your crew lunchroom – they communicate to your organisation what your company is about, and where it’s heading. Your customers generally do not need to know about these.
1a// Vision statement – “The big dream”
A future-orientated phrase. A broad, holistic view of what your brand wants to ultimately achieve or grow into, it should motivate your people and influence decision-making.
Example of Disneyland’s vision statement: To make people happy.
1b// Mission statement – “The goals”
A short paragraph that gives “legs” to the dream, a list of objectives and “how tos” to make the vision a reality. What services do you offer? What products are you creating?
Example of Disneyland’s mission statement: To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.
2// External comms contain Taglines and Slogans. Instead of the above, these are for marketing or customer-facing situations. They should inform potential clients on what your company is about, and inspire them to champion your brand and use your services.
Remember that the best taglines and slogans are customer-focused.
2a// Tagline – “The MVP”
This is the one that’s often associated with your logo and company collateral. A concise phrase that defines your company in a customer-centric manner. By customer-centric, we mean “how does your company address and solve the pain-points that your customer has? How do you inspire them to a certain feeling?” This is the “Apple: Think different” and “Nike: just do it” statements that will become as instantly recognisable as your logo.
Example of Disneyland’s tagline: The happiest place on Earth.
Tip: This might be a bit obvious, but try not to have the same words in the tagline as the brand name. Eg. if your brand & tagline is “Green Computers – Eco-friendly computer solutions”, the keyword double-up on the word ‘computers’ sounds a bit repetitive.
2b// Slogan – “The marketing chameleon”
A “battle cry” that is unique to a particular advertising campaign, service or product. Because of the transience of campaigns (the need to be new and on trend with current events), these statements tend to be less long-lasting. Some refer to these as “product taglines” instead of “company taglines”.
Example of Disneyland’s slogans from some of its campaigns:
“Where dreams come true”
“I’m going to Disneyland”
“Where the magic began”
“Happiest homecoming on Earth”
Tip: Know that your slogan is part of a set of elements in your marketing campaign: things like art direction (colour, photography, illustrative styles), personality and copy-writing all contribute to a particular advertising push. So design a campaign with both copywriting and art direction in parallel, you’ll find that the visuals help you say a lot (e.g. a well-constructed design will already convey professionalism, so you won’t need to say you are “professional”, unless that is a particular angle in your campaign).
Conclusion//
With Husk, we start with helping you define your brand essence and USP (unique selling proposition), and then help brainstorm your tagline. If your company is at a certain size and requires more clarity with staff internal communications, then the brand work must align with and be an extension of your existing strategy, vision and mission. For stronger marketing pushes, we look into campaign designs which involve slogan design and art direction. If you want assistance with any of the above, don’t hesitate to email us – keen to help!
