The moderator was Daniel Iyam and the Lead Discussant was Eizu Uwaoma, the young and intelligent Founder & Lead Strategist of Hexavia. He started business at 21 and has gone on to achieve quite a lot! He runs the Hexavian Masterclass across different states in Nigeria and has consulted for many businesses.
Moderator:
Hello Eizu, welcome to Let’s Talk Marketing
Eizu Uwaoma:
Hi.. #GoodEveningOnceAgain
Moderator: Thanks for joining us. Today we are talking about ‘Taglines and How They Affect Brand Positioning.’
Let’s start with a clear definition of the following terms:
A. Taglines
B. Brand Positioning
C. Brand Positioning Statement.
Eizu Uwaoma:
Hnmmm.. well, first of all, they are all brand elements used to effectively execute and deliver a predefined and well-crafted brand strategy. First of all, a tagline refers to a brand’s catch phase. It’s a summary of its entire brand essence in a few words, say Create (Nike -just do it, Hexavia- Go Further Ahead!)
Moderator: Nice plugin. Go ahead please (Smiles)
Eizu Uwaoma:
.. as for brand positioning, it refers to a conceptual place you want to own in the target consumer’s mind — the benefits you want them to think of when they think of your brand. For what you do, strategically find and map out the people that need you and you’ve found the business. Brand positioning is important because the first rule of building a brand is to try not to sell to everyone. Don’t try to sell to everyone, define your market and be the best in it.
Like Tyler Perry did with creating movies centred on blacks and the Christian community, like GTbank did with a bank that captures young people, and younger executives.
While as for Brand Positioning Statement
It’s a brief marketing statement that describes your competitive advantage. That is your product and why it is special in that spot it has taken in the marketplace
Moderator:
So there is a clear difference between a tagline and brand positioning statement?
Eizu Uwaoma:
Definitely!
Brand positioning statement as the word sounds may be a collection of sentences, but taglines are usually less than even a sentence, it is even sometimes called a tag phrase. Like Share a Feeling by Coca-Cola
Moderator:
Great. Now let’s tie A and B. In what ways does A affect B? That is, Taglines and Brand Positioning
Eizu Uwaoma:
Both A and B to the lame man can be described as just words or literature, but its deeper than that. It encapsulates the entire DNA of the brand. They are even more than brand and marketing concepts, they venture into corporate culture and operations because if well crafted, delivered and constantly communicated, it can influence how all stakeholders (customer, employee, investor, community) interact and use the brand.
Moderator:
You have clearly stated how important a tagline can affect the brand positioning. I will like to know, can a company really do well in the long run without a tagline? Especially if the company name is memorable.
Eizu Uwaoma:
Yes, sincerely a company can do well without a tag line. Especially when a lot of other touch points that may not even be brand related is gotten right (maybe management, operations, HR etc). But a tagline will definitely make the success easier from all spheres too. Great taglines and brand positioning statements are key, same as other brand identity concepts and tolls. These forms of identity helps shape employee and consumer perceptions and decision-making behavior. A great brand aligns with your business’s larger market strategy and consumers needs. Strong brands cast a vision and communicate the unique value of the brand in a crowded marketplace.
Moderator:
Great!
Here is a follow-up question.
Can a company have two or three taglines? Let’s say for specific products?
Is that possible?
Eizu Uwaoma:
Well, anything is possible but it will create clumsiness
Moderator:
Have you seen instances where that happened?
Eizu Uwaoma:
For easy top of mind, one organisational wide tagline is best
Yep yep, maybe the entire Coca-Cola company, sprite, coke and even Fanta sometimes seem to have different taglines at different points
Moderator: (In response to the above)
Exactly!
And I was also thinking changing of company tag lines along the way like CNN did.
Eizu Uwaoma:
Yes certainly.
Moderator:
When will you say it is necessary for a brand to change their tagline?
Does it dilute your brand essence or something?
Eizu Uwaoma:
At the different points of their organisational or product life cycle, during rebranding or as a response to a market force/crisis/opportunity or any strategic change
In response to (Does it dilute brand essence) If not properly managed, yes. Maybe not dilute in all cases but can change the brand essence and even alter the brand’s DNA and in turn the consumers’ neural pathways to how it perceives or interact with the brand
Moderator:
Great!
Just to remind. Contributions and questions will be open from 7:30 pm
Moving on swiftly. Long vs Short Taglines. Which do you prefer and why?
Eizu Uwaoma:
Definitely, it should be very short, easy to remember. It’s called KISS (Keep It Short and Simple).
Moderator:
Hmmmmm
Are you saying somewhat long tag lines don’t do well?
Eizu Uwaoma:
It has to be easy to remember
f it must be long, then it must have a trigger?
Moderator:
Trigger?
A little more explanation
Eizu Uwaoma:
Okay as example, once upon a time, a Rolls Royce had the worst tagline kind of statement that states” at 120KM per hour, the only thing you’ll hear will be the sound of your Rolex”
But there is a trigger, the Rolex watch, what it means is self-explanatory still
Moderator:
😀😀😀😀
Eizu Uwaoma:
People who love cars know that for a car, A V8 engine should naturally be noisy, especially when it’s on top speed, like the Range Rover HSE, SUVs and Sports Cars. A Rolls Royce Phantom is a V8 but its brand promise says “at 120KM per hour, the only thing you’ll hear will be the sound of your Rolex (remember, original Rolex Wrist Watches don’t tick), now that’s brand excellence and the two mentions is a complementary BrandAssociations, synonymous with luxury, just like Gala and Lacassera is synonymous with quenching hunger in Lagos traffic
LOL
Moderator:
Great explanation
The floor is open!!!
Audience (Analyst Consult)
Thank you Eizu. For service oriented organisation eg Microsoft I can’t say this is their tagline, but they are regarded as a top brand, to what extent does taglines influence the brand identity or positioning of a service oriented company?
Eizu Uwaoma:
It does help as it is suggestive intentionally of how they want the brand perceived
Moderator: (Inline with the above)
Absolutely. Brands can control narratives even in what they don’t do.
Eizu Uwaoma:
Yep Yep
Moderator:
Okay, whilst we wait for more questions.Let’s jump into dissecting your all time top five taglines and those elements that make them stick out?
Eizu Uwaoma:
For me, the all-time great talk EA will be … number 1…. hmmm.
Very sexy, even females think so, the tagline says “The more you play with it, the harder it gets.”..wow!
the viral joystick advert
the viral joystick advert
No, it’s not what you think. “The more you play with it, the harder it gets.” This was the business slogan and brand tagline for the 90′s gaming console company, Sega Genesis. #BrandTagline
(By the way, Sega sold out millions of games plus “Mortal Combat” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” and had a large market share index with their consoles in the 90s from that line. And if you played any of those TV games you’d know the truth in their slogan”.
“The more you play with it, the harder it gets.”
What a slogan!
2. The second one for me will be Virgin Nigeria when they resumed flights to PH., it simply said, “Who Says There Are No Virgins in Port Harcourt?”.
3. I love the Nike, “Just Do it”. It may be cliche yet very powerful. It’s an antidote for the challenge of procrastination. Th actual slogan is just the end point of a concept that advises that “Today Is The Tomorrow You Spoke About Yesterday, Stop Procrastinating, JUST DO IT”.
My top 5 tagline favourites?
4. The 4th one for me will be by M&M’s Chocolate: It only “Melts in your mouth, not on your hand.”5. Saddleback Leather: “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”
5. Saddleback Leather: “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”
Moderator:
Interesting!!! Love ’em, Nike does it for me too. Three powerful words!!
Audience
Hello, Eizu. Nice examples. Please, could you tell the difference between a tagline and a slogan? I know one is at liberty to change either often? Which is it? Or have the two actually. Which is best to stick with?
Eizu Uwaoma:
They naturally should be the same thing
Audience: A brand like Zenith has a tag line that says – ‘in your best interest’. It sounds a bit arrogant but doesn’t seem to affect their performance or perception that much. So my question is – Would you consider this a good tagline from a brand positioning point of view?
Audience: For example, I know a bank which has both “People. Service. Technology” and “In your best interest”. Which is which?
Eizu Uwaoma:
Their tag line is In Your Best Interest.
Audience
But they have two. You can research this.
Eizu Uwaoma:
I will rather call the other one key touch points, I am sure they might have another name for it…
Audience
Hi Eizu, one thing I’ve noticed about great tag lines are that they appeal to the emotional not the functional. Do you think Nigerian companies reflect this in choosing their tag lines? Case in point is the bank tag lines shared above. Does use of emotional taglines make them stick more in the memory of consumers?
Eizu Uwaoma:
Definitely!!! brands should play more on an emotional turf than functional turf
And some Nigerian brands just don’t get it. Brands should stop trying to sell cognitively but emotionally.
Emotion is powerful. The more you care about something, the more likely you’ll share.
Ensure that your message and product invokes an emotional trigger (passion, humour, arousal, anger, love etc). It’s the best way to sell, MTN and Coca Cola just has a way of getting that right
Moderator
We would have time for a few more questions from members.
In the meanwhile, let’s flip it. Company tag lines you think are maybe not horrible but are just not doing it. (Thanks to Nike for doing it.)
Audience (In response to the above)
Some taglines are at best jingles, Daniel! 😂😂 For sake of professionalism I’d rather not mention them.
Moderator
😀😀😀😀😀
Eizu Uwaoma:
It takes more than a tagline my brother, you can have the best tagline but if the brand promise isn’t delivered you are just talking
Moderator
What do you think of a horrible tagline and a great brand promise
Which will you rather
Just saying……
Audience
Brand promise has it for me
Moderator
Personally, I think brands need to match their tagline with Practical Value : l mean show people the tagline in practice and not just in words so that they can test or experience it ( I call this for premiums), maybe it could be as simple as making for example your restaurant’s tagline as not just a statement but backing it up with an architecture that shows a see-through to show the large crowd effectively being served while the air duct of the kitchen is connected outside to tempt their aroma, a display of your testimonials or as a free tip to having a great wedding if you’re an event manager.
Eizu Uwaoma: (In response to “Brand promise has it for me” )
True
But how horrible can a tagline be? lol
Moderator
We are gradually coming to the end of today’s chat
Last question from me.
On a general note. Tips to writing great taglines?
I know you have distilled some already
Audience
Tagline creation comes from the brand itself
Eizu Uwaoma:
KISS- keep it short and simple, connect emotionally, make it almost timeless, ensure it tells a story.. as a matter of fact, a tagline should be written with … as it starts to show that it has a longer story, I mean create either a deep, engaging or exciting narrative and ensure that it carries your brand with it as the tagline
Moderator:
Thank you for sharing with us Eizu Uwaoma.
