No More Tagging

Taglines were once popular phraseology that convey a brand’s ethos. As recently as 2020 Pepsi’s ‘That’s what I like” its first new tagline after two decades set out to be an emotional trend-setter. But, do we really need taglines? Here’s our take on how taglines are getting redefined, evolving more flexible and dynamic brand expressions.

Be who you are
Global brands today are moving away from taglines and focusing on strong positioning statements, which allow for greater flexibility and dynamism to push for what the brand wants to say. It’s time for brands to shrug off the pretentiousness, stop over-promising, and instead, become champions in their spaces and stay relevant in people’s hearts and minds.

The cool brands
In the digital space, the brand narrative unfolds with greater freedom giving credence to the brand’s personality, by giving them the power to ‘be cool’ or ‘different’ with the flexibility of verbal and visual brand messaging. Whether it is a brand delivering rigorous advocacy or a brand that communicates in emojis and memes — the ultimate aim is to celebrate who you truly are.

Contextual and quick-impact communications
Brands need to stay relevant and create clear differentiators in the crowded market space. While legacy taglines like L’oreal’s ‘Because we are worth it’s celebrated their 50th iconic year in March 2021, in most cases this sort of sloganeering would distract in a banner headline or a six-second video.

In this evolving space, we recall O’Brien (2019) who notes that there are multiple advantages to simplifying a logo and removing names and slogans: it allows for “telegraphic simplicity” which is very useful in the “small and rapidly moving space of a device-dependent world”.

PMNCH

Our rebranding for PMNCH showcased the organization’s advocacy stance by using the words ‘PMNCH + for’ as a dynamic brand positioning statement. The new logo has the ability to manifest varied expressions based on the organization’s multiple objectives - PMNCH for women, children, and adolescents health; Together for change, Networks for impact, and United for health rights.

View the full project here.IIAD

Our new visual system for the Indian Institute of Art & Design (IIAD) was inspired by the positioning statement we created for the Institute, ‘Bridging Gaps, Building Bridges’. Icons and visual language were developed from this statement and this gave the brand a unique space in the design education space to set itself apart from its competitors.

View the full project here.

Reach out to our team of brand strategists and researchers to create an impactful brand strategy for your business at [email protected].

Written by Antara Dey
Edited by Sujatha Shankar Kumar
Illustration by Era Namjoshi
Images by Lopez Design Team
Layout by Ajay Sharma

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Indian Institute of Art and Design

BRAND STRATEGY - CONTENT - DIGITAL - WEB