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Taglines Tell The Tale By Elizabeth Goodgold Food and beverage marketers can employ taglines to assist them in delivering the right message to consumers. If a brand name, for example, doesn’t instantly capture the essence of the product, a tagline can help. Consider, how NutraSweet’s "no calorie sweetener" embellishes it positioning or how Tiger Sport’s "the ultimate energy food bar" tagline reinforces its position as the elite bar for extreme athletes. And, if a tagline can’t help the name, then the marketer has failed twice. Remember Good Seasons’ "you make if fresh, you make it best"? This tagline is a few well-chosen words that make it clear why the product is better than bottled dressing. But, what is tagline? A tagline is the group of words that follows your brand name. They explain your unique selling proposition and are such a natural outgrowth of the brand positioning that the two are inextricably linked. Food and beverage marketers can employ taglines to assist them in delivering the right message to consumers. If a brand name, for example, doesn’t instantly capture the essence of the product, a tagline can help. Consider, how NutraSweet’s "no calorie sweetener" embellishes it positioning or how Tiger Sport’s "the ultimate energy food bar" tagline reinforces its position as the elite bar for extreme athletes. And, if a tagline can’t help the name, then the marketer has failed twice. Remember Good Seasons’ "you make if fresh, you make it best"? This tagline is a few well-chosen words that make it clear why the product is better than bottled dressing. Some of the best taglines simply restate a product’s narrow focus. Given the niche targeting of new products, this approach is right on target. Tyson’s tagline "we’re chicken" is a simple but effective tagline as his Gerber’s "babies are our business." Unfortunately, however, Gerber only places its tagline on the bottom of the box thereby missing the opportunity to shout its message across thousands of shelf facings. Other good taglines are very benefit-driven and specific. "100% juice for 100% kids" by Juicy Juice goes beyond merely meeting the FDA requirement for juice content. Domino’s Pizza’s "thirty minutes or less" exploits its quick delivery guarantee from other pizza makers. Many food manufacturers fall victim to the rampant generic tagline flu. From Edy’s ice cream’s "What could be better?" to Harvest Natural Bread’s "that’s eating smart," no ownable benefit is identified. Compare Dannon Yogurt’s "love it for life" to Yoplait Yogurt’s "C’est si bon. It is so good". Since Yoplait first introduced its product as yogurt with a French accent, the French and English tagline promote its positioning with cachet. Moreover, it also helps them justify a slightly higher price. Taglines work especially well when introducing a new product. Pringles with Olean are "the fat free potato crisp". When Pedialyte was first introducing its product, the tagline "oral electrolyte maintenance solution" with a teddy bear helped communicate that it was an electrolyte replacement fluid targeted to children. A good tagline has longevity. Unlike slogans, which change with the ad campaign, a well-chosen tagline can last almost forever. Sara Lee, for example, would have been wise to stick with the memorable "nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee," for its cheesecake versus switching to the somewhat crude and out of character "heck, you don’t need a fork." The lesson here is: find a good tagline and stick with it. Use it consistently throughout all of your communication from print to TV to web advertising. Even employ it in seemingly meaningless communication such as voice mail greetings, fax cover sheets, and internal communication. Above all, use it on your packaging. It’s an opportunity to speak with thousands of potential customers every day. Unless marketers correctly and consistently use effective taglines, they are missing out on a critical element in their communications mix. Elizabeth Goodgold is President of The Nuancing Group of San Diego and Chicago. She specializes in creating and refining brand refining brand identities. Food & Beverage Marketing, November 1998. Reprinted with permission.
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