Do brands still need a tagline in the age of TikTok, influencers, and activations?
The answer is yes, but not for the reason you may think.
Who needs a tagline? They’re a relic from the past. In our social-first world, brands today need activations, Influencers, viral posts, provocative collaborations much more than some 1980’s theme line approach. Many people in marketing feel this way. And it holds some truth. That said, do taglines still have a place in the mix? Historically, taglines were designed for recall, simple, repeatable phrases that burned a brand into memory.
The real value of a tagline today isn’t recall. It’s strategic discipline.
Brands often chase tangents trying to get the next like and share, so they tend to more easily waver from their core strategic message. A tagline keeps a brand on point. Here’s how:
1. A tagline is strategy you can remember. This requires a crystallization of that strategy into a single phrase. If it can’t translate into a tagline, it probably isn’t clear enough.
2. It forces you to make choices. Things need to be prioritized, discarded, aggregated. You can’t say it all in a tagline. What’s most important wins. And that’s a good thing.
3. A tagline conveys the tone and personality of the brand. There are two parts to any communication: What you say, the message. How you say it, the tone and personality. They should align. For years, BMW has been “The ultimate driving machine.” The line itself feels like German engineering. Clean, declarative, precise.
4. Taglines are a prime example of a pure, unadulterated message from the brand out to the world. You choose exactly what you want to say. That happens less and less these days with influencer spin, consumer wants, and retailer pressures.
5. A good one aligns the company. In large organizations, messages drift. Agencies interpret things differently. Social teams experiment. Retail partners adapt messaging. A tagline provides a strategic north star everyone can rally around.
Today, you have more marketing weapons at your disposal than ever before. That said, a tagline still has a place. A tagline isn’t decoration. It’s compressed positioning. In an era of endless content, that kind of clarity may be more valuable than ever.
