Tagline Thinking: 5 Ways to Create A Competitive Advantage

One way to find out how a brand wants to be perceived is to check its tagline.

A strong tagline needs to be relevant and meaningful to the target. A good one, like Wal-Mart’s “Save money. Live better,” is helpful in defining who you are as a brand and what you’re famous for. Such taglines communicate a brand promise that helps to separate a brand from competitors.

I started ruminating on the subject of taglines (and “tagline thinking”) and how it applies to radio after passing this while on a walk around New York’s Upper West Side.

 

Barney Greengrass’ tagline “The Sturgeon King” makes it clear how this business wants to be perceived: “Royalty; the Undisputed Leader in all things Sturgeon.”

Not every business or station has a tagline of course.

However simply embracing “tagline thinking” will strengthen any station, talent or brand now and in the future.

Whether you’re a tagline owner or tagline thinker, here are five actions that will give your station, personal brand, or business a competitive advantage:

 

Always refer to your brand in the way you want it to be perceived

By making “The Sturgeon King” a de facto part of their name, Barney Greengrass is able to consistently position its brand as the acknowledged category leader. “The Sturgeon King” also infers leadership in every sub-category as well: from availability to innovation.

However a formal tagline isn’t necessary when striving for a perception.

What is necessary though is knowing exactly how you want to be perceived as well as what it takes to make that perception a reality.

 

Never stop earning your tagline

We all know that customer retention is critical. But it’s getting harder.

A 2015 Accenture study found a near 50% increase in the percent of customers willing to jump brands from just 10 years earlier.

As A&O&B’s online perceptual Roadmap 2018 pointed out, 13% of country stations’ partisans self-reported that switching to another country station would be “fairly easy.” Another 45% said it was “not easy but possible” that they a competitor could lure them away.

There are multiple “right strategies” for keeping brand loyalists loyal with many specific to their particular industries.

However two are applicable to stations and almost all brands: 1) “surprise and delight” and 2) meeting expectations without compromise or hoop-jumping.

As Matthew Dixon and Nicholas Thoman write in the “The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground in Customer Loyalty,” businesses that excel at delighting customers “are effectively building a moat” around their customers that keeps competitors at a distance.

And Warren Buffet reminds us, “Don’t just satisfy your customers—delight them…Anybody who has happy customers is likely to have a pretty good future.”

Create a formal plan to keep track of how you are doing in terms of earning your tagline or perception. Review the number of times you’ve surprised and delighted listeners. Estimate the percentage of the total listening experiences that have met or exceeded fans’ expectations. Cite new innovations that have added to the enjoyment of the station.

 

Be aggressive in proving your tagline

Always keeping brand promises to customers is the obvious first step.

But to expand your base of listeners or customers requires continually seeking high profile opportunities to communicate the truth of your brand’s tagline.

Showcase your strongest brand assets as well as end-users’ positive brand experiences.

Put listeners in the center of your story at every opportunity.

Aggressively share validation. This includes listeners’/end-users’ positive brand experiences. These enhance and reinforce brand and tagline credibility as well as your standing with current listeners and customers.

 

Employ creative solutions to overcome or neutralize obstacles that could threaten your brand, brand promise, tagline, or rank

Leverage assets (especially unique ones) to increase listener/consumer dependence on your brand, thus lessening competitive shopping.

At the same time, be fanatical in protecting the brand from anything internal that may challenge its promise to listeners or customers.

 

Regularly review station/brand compliance with your own taglines and promises as well as those of competitors

What is a competitive advantage today could be irrelevant (or even a liability) tomorrow so it’s critical to regularly review your tagline and promise against the current environment. This will allow you to double-down on brand assets that drive satisfaction and loyalty while continually presenting competitors with new challenges they must overcome if they are to compete with you.

 

Barney Greengrass has been successful for more than 100 years so it obviously has a lot going for it besides a slogan.

Still, few would dispute that holding a strong position in the mind of a listener/consumer is a valuable asset.

 

What five ways are you presently supporting your brand name/promise/vision?

Can you power-up your current efforts or find new ways to prove your claims?

How else can you, your station, or brand be “royalty” like the Sturgeon King?

 

Related: Creating Buzz

^{Brain Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash}