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“A tagline is a short phrase that captures a company’s brand essence, personality, and positioning, and distinguishes the company from its competitors.”

As defined by Alina Wheeler in Designing Brand Identity

Here are a few techniques for helping to think through and develop stronger copy. (Inspired by Richard Redznak’s COMD2300 class):

1. Alliteration

Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (such as wild and woolly, threatening throngs) —called also head rhyme, initial rhyme. Any two-word phrase can be alliterative. (Tongue twisters)

Examples:

  • ‘Sheep should sleep in a shed’
  • ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper’
  • ‘Black bug bit a big black bear’

Commercial Examples:

  • American Airlines
  • Dunkin’ Donuts
  • Coca-Cola
  • Best Buy
  • Krispy Kreme

2. List of Three

List of three: Develop a list of three words that help to describe your concept/product/theme.

Examples:

  • AirPods: “Wireless. Effortless. Magical.”
  • U.S. Marine Corps: “The few, the proud, the marines.”

3. Contrasting Pairs

Contrasting Pairs:

Examples:

  • iPad: “Like a Computer. Unlike any computer.”
  • M&M’s: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”

4. Additional Readings: