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Having a brand strapline helps your business to stand out, be remembered, and grow in affection. However, it can take time to craft your strapline, so here are a few guidelines to help you get started.

What is a brand strapline?
The late and great brand consultant Alina Wheeler (author of “Designing Brand Identity”) says, ‘A strapline (or tagline) is a short phrase that captures a company’s brand essence, personality, and positioning, and distinguishes the company from its competitors.’
It’s important to invest time and love crafting your tagline so it does a great job of differentiating your brand.

Why is it important to have a brand strapline?
There are at least five reasons to use a brand strapline for your business:
➡️ To harness an emotional connection – straplines help attract target clients, and confirm that your business is a great choice for them.
➡️ For memorability – when a brand strapline sticks in the mind, it’s easier to remember a business. Sometimes it’s the first thing that customers mention. Think of the tagline ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’; the advertising campaign has created a memorable, amusing example of what happens when you don’t.
➡️ To capture your brand essence – a strapline perfectly conveys what your brand stands for. For example, ‘The happiest place on Earth’ captures the essence of ‘fun family entertainment’ at Disneyland.
➡️ To expresse your brand personality – this should happen whether your tone of voice is serious, smart, or witty. ‘The ultimate driving machine’ captures BMW’s attention to detail for ergonomics, engineering performance, and the joy of driving.
➡️ To convey what makes your business stand out – what makes it different and difficult to copy. No other sports company has matched the power of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ tagline, for ordinary people or professionals.

Are there different types of brand strapline?
Yes, there are more than three types of straplines, some easier for small businesses to use than others.
1️⃣ Descriptive
A descriptive brand strapline describes what your business does, which makes it easy for customers to understand your service, product, or brand promise.
• Descriptive straplines are particularly useful if your business has an abstract or evocative brand name. This is because they help customers to understand what your business does.
• They’re also useful if you use your name for your business – for example if you’re a coach, interior designer, fashion designer, lawyer, or accountant.
• Descriptive brand straplines work well for small businesses because they’re a great way to get your message across quickly, succinctly, and clearly. For example:
– ‘Financial advice made simple’ is for Sterling North financial advisers. In this case, plain, jargon-free speech is vital in a market sector where building trust is essential
– ‘Create space to enjoy’ is for Clutter Clear Solutions, a decluttering consultant. This line helps capture the feeling of freedom and emotional satisfaction achieved from decluttering a personal space.
Notice that both straplines benefit from being emotionally evocative as well as descriptive.

2️⃣ Imperative
Brand straplines with a call to action are emotionally engaging, because they create a sense of involvement and inclusion. This means they can feel personal, dynamic, and motivating.
• A call to action helps your customers imagine the pleasure of using the brand, or the satisfaction afterwards. This also works well for small businesses.
• The most famous example is probably ‘Just Do It’ from Nike. This call to action works superbly for all types of athletes, from beginners to world-class professionals. It creates an inclusive tone that supports the brand personality.
• ‘Have a break, have a KitKat’ is another call to action that’s stood the test of time. It’s been used since 1958 in the UK, and no doubt will continue as long as it stays relevant to customers.

3️⃣ Superlative
Probably harder for small businesses to use. The idea is to help your business appear best in class. I love superlative straplines because they make me smile, they’re powerful and amusing, and they tap into the sheer joy of life.
• They’re smart because they make it difficult for your competitor to compete in precisely the same area, and are difficult to disprove.
• What could be a better example than ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ or ‘Probably the best lager in the world’?
• A small business example is ‘Totally Dependable’, which we developed for MyFM, a facilities management business with a big brand promise. In this case, reliability is essential, desirable, and differentiating.

How do you craft your brand strapline?
The foundation is to know your brand, understand your clients, and be aware of your competitors. There are no hard rules, but these guidelines should help get you started:
⭐ Shorter straplines usually work better, because they are easier to remember. Even the lines we think of as long, are succinct: ‘Probably the best lager in the world’ is seven words. ‘Have a break. Have a Kit-Kat’ is six words.
⭐ Be different from competitors. This is both common sense and essential, because you don’t want to help people remember other businesses. Neither do you want your strapline to be bland or generic.
⭐ Keep your strapline relevant to your business and target clients. L’Oreal’s ‘Because you’re worth it’ started as a campaign slogan for hair colourants. It’s also a reminder that it’s worth investing in products that give a better transformation.
⭐ Making your strapline easy to say also makes it easier to remember.
⭐ Be positive. Knocking the competition rarely works, and might even draw attention to the competitors. The exception is ‘We try harder’, which worked well when Avis was No 2 in the market, and avoids negative connotations.

Straplines summed up
It takes time and effort to create the best version of your strapline. This is why big brands invest time, energy, money, and love in all aspects of their brand strategy. However, this doesn’t mean that big brands have a monopoly on brilliant, engaging straplines. Remember, smaller companies can create a great brand strapline too!

Lynne Stainthorpe
Brand Strategist, Big Idea Brand Marketing
Let’s revitalise your brand
Lynne works with coaches, consultants, creatives, and therapists to make brands human, relevant and distinctive. She will ensure your business stands out, grows affinity, and creates impact.
Lynne helps you get to the heart and soul of your brand, finding out what makes it different, and getting to the essence of your 'why buy from me' messaging. You’ll have a standout brand you love and that your clients adore, with a brand personality that makes you feel proud of your work, along with the confidence to accelerate your business growth.