First thing first. Maybe we should clarify what a Tagline is! Pay-off line or Tagline is a word element that accompanies a company Logo and summarizes in one sentence the essence of that company. It’s basically a short line of text that is placed under the official logo and that becomes an integral part of the logo itself. The tag-line is an element of incredible importance because it establishes the brand identity and incorporates (or it should be) the brand’s philosophy.

How to Write an Effective Tagline

An effective and catchy pay-off line must have some important characteristics to be great:

• The message should be brief and snappy
• Make it simple, understandable and memorable
• Summarize the brand’s philosophy
• Focus on company’s quality/benefit
• Give positive feelings
• Make it unusable by competitors
• Strikes a chord of the user

Common Tagline Mistakes

So now you know the basic element to create a winning pay-off lines, but you need to know which are, also, the most common mistakes:

• Lack of personality:  taglines should always reflect the personality of the brand.
• Imitating other taglines: small business owners love to do this, but is almost never a good idea.
• Cliché: you have to avoid words and phrases that are trendy and overused jargon.
• Too many words: as long taglines aren’t as memorable.
• UnTrue: don’t make false promises, unless you want to run them off.

Let’s see some examples of successful tagline:

Vodafone – Life is Now

Nike – Just do it

Nokia – Connecting People

Apple – Think different

McDonalds – I’m lovin’ it

Sector – No limits