Why tagline matters for a brand?

𝗞𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗛𝗼 𝗝𝗮𝘆𝗲.

𝗗𝗮𝗮𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗶𝗻.

𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗜𝘁.

You just thought of four brands, right? No logos needed.

That's how powerful a 'tagline' is.

Just look at what one of those taglines actually did.

Back in 2004, kids made up 95% of Cadbury's sales in India.

Today, Cadbury owns 70% of India's chocolate market.

Diwali. Weddings. Every time someone passes an exam in India.

Same product. Same wrapper. Just one new tagline.

For 200 years, traditional sweets (mithai) were what people celebrated with in India.

But in 2004, Ogilvy gave that moment to "Cadbury Gifting India", with five Hindi words.

"Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye" doesn't actually talk about chocolate.

It names a moment.

The exact moment you decide you want something sweet.

Once Cadbury owned that moment, their chocolate didn't have to fight mithai.

It just needed to be on the shelf.

Mondelez India's revenue shot up from Rs 1,000 crore in 2004 to Rs 11,000 crore in 2023.

You see the same strategy everywhere.

De Beers Group, 1948. "A Diamond Is Forever."

Before that line, only 10% of US engagements involved a diamond ring.

Within one generation, that jumped to 80%.

Surf Excel, 2005. For 50 years, every detergent had basically said, "we get rid of stains."

Surf came along and said, "Daag Acche Hain" ("Stains are good"), turning stains into a parenting win.

Now it's Unilever's best-selling detergent.

Nike, 1988. "Just Do It." Doesn't mention shoes at all.

Their revenue went from $877 million to $9.2 billion in just ten years.

Fevicol doesn't describe glue.

Even so, its parent company, Pidilite Industries Limited, grew from Rs 500 crore to Rs 12,000 crore, all thanks to that one line.

The rule is simple.

A tagline that describes the product? People ignore it.

But a tagline that names a moment? That compounds for twenty years.

Here's how to test your own.

Put your tagline on your closest competitor's product.

Does it feel wrong?

If not, you don't have a tagline. You have a slogan.

And slogans don't actually change market share.

Same chocolate, same packaging, five new words, 22 years of growth.

That's what a tagline is for.

Now it's your turn.

Which Indian tagline from your childhood do you still remember?

✍🏻 Mantra Joshi

Spotted a wrong number or something out of date? Tell me and I'll fix it.