It’s Valentine’s Day, so what’s more appropriate than those three little words: I love you.
Ahh, how sweet.
Very important words, you will agree.
Other short-yet-important phrases many people will have experienced at some point in their lives include:
Will you marry me?
Just GO to SLEEP – as expressed by exhausted parents of small children everywhere
You’ve passed
Not Guilty
It’s all clear
Businesses’ Three Little Words
Many businesses know the power of a short phrase. Technically known as taglines, or slogans, do you recognise these sets of Three Little Words?
- I’m loving it
- Good with food
- Exceedingly good cakes
- Just do it
- Never knowingly undersold (although paraphrased in my household as a child to ‘never knowingly underpriced’)
(McDonalds, Co-operative, Kipling cakes, Nike and John Lewis in case you had a moment then when your brain didn’t join the dots)
Of course, three words isn’t a prerequisite for a good tagline. Some are shorter:
- Simples
- Think Different
(Compare the Market, Apple)
Some are longer:
- You either love it or you hate it
- Once you pop, you can’t stop
- Because you’re worth it
- Does exactly what it says on the tin
- It keeps going, and going, and going…
(Marmite, Pringles, L’Oreal, Ronseal, Energiser)
There are some which include the name of the product:
- Have a break, have a Kitkat
- Cats like Felix like Felix
- Beanz Meanz Heinz
- That’s why mums go to Iceland
- Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline
- The future’s bright, the future’s Orange
(no prizes for guessing whose tag lines these are…)
The fact that these tag lines will remind you of the company who uses them means that their advertising has been a success. They’ve got their words, their logos, and their brandname out there into the public consciousness, and therefore if you’re out and about and fancy a something to eat, you might remember that KFC meals are finger lickin’ good, and head there. You might not, but they’re hoping you do.
Writing taglines
Getting a tagline right is an art. It can take many attempts to find the right turn of phrase to say what you want, without accidentally saying something you don’t want, or worse yet, saying nothing at all.
In a previous job I interviewed different people across my organisation for the staff newsletter I edited. I asked them for three words to describe themselves, or a three-word phrase. This was widely regarded as the hardest question on my list, and more than one person went home to consult with a spouse!
It can take easily as long to write a good tagline as a whole blog post – and I speak from experience!!
For instance, my own, though not a global brand yet, is
Hopefully that says that I can help you improve your business’s words, not just their website, flier, Facebook or whatever, but all of them, if necessary. It also doesn’t limit your view of my business to just copywriting, (I also edit and proofread). Making it into ‘Smarter words for your business or charity’ might be more accurate, but it’s a bit cumbersome, and I hope people will infer that I can help them too, if they happen to be a charity in need of my services. Using ‘your’ business, rather than just ‘business’ helps to make people think I can help them, I hope, rather than just some random other business. And by using ‘smarter’ I’m trying not to discourage people. Putting ‘cleverer’ might imply that they are thick, which is clearly not a message I want my customers to take away!
Do you get the picture?
So, if you need help with a tagline, or even something a little longer, do drop me a line, and we can mull over some possibilities together!