Prospective buyers of your company are busy people and some don’t have the luxury of an attention span.  That’s why you need a company tag line to cut through the noise and get their attention.

Taglines narrow down your company into one well-crafted, compelling phrase or sentence.  The tagline is the “who we are” – for your customers and for your positioning with those customers. A tag line distils the essence of your business so that your point of difference is summed up in a few words in a way that resonates with your target market segment. The tag line tells your target market why they should actually care about your company.  Not only does it always go next to or underneath your logo, but it should naturally be the final sentence of your elevator pitch and company story.

A good tag line sums up your business to a prospective purchaser.  It shows them that you can express the meaning of the business in words that convey your brand and also emphasise your point of difference.

Functional Tag Lines

This is the “catch all” department of tag lines.  Functional tag lines come from the basic mission of your company and focus on your point of difference and competitive advantage.  If your company occupies a niche or is extremely different to your competitors, then a functional tag line might be the best.  These tag lines are logical and descriptive.  So, for example, if your company just sold financial products, your tag line might be “We Know Money” (AIG).  If you were a popular airline, it might be “The World’s Favourite Airline” (British Airways).  If you sold food, it might be “Finger Lickin’ Good” (KFC).  In each case, these tag lines are simple and functional, yet assert some sort of pre-eminence as a point of difference.

Aspirational Tag Lines

These tag lines move away from the functional and concentrate on the emotional.  They seek out a deeply held emotional need or want, then promise to fulfil it.  If you look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you will see “self-actualisation” at the top of the pyramid – and aspirational tag-lines tap straight into this.  So for example, “Sheer Driving Pleasure” doesn’t say much about four wheels and an engine, but says a lot about the human longing for pleasure (and how it can be satisfied with four wheels and an engine).  Another car tag line is “The Power of Dreams” (Honda).  Again, not much about four wheels and an engine, but plenty about dreams of power and glory with a sound track of Formula One engines (well, before the 2014 season when the engines were muffled under the new rules).   One of the most enduring and powerful aspirational tag lines is “Just Do It” (Nike).  It is confident, a little impatient and cuts through procrastination to empower achievement.

Tag Lines Aligned with a Category

These tag lines are not functional and they eschew the emotional in favour of simply lining themselves up with the thing that they sell.   What they seek to do is make their brand name synonymous with the category so that if you think of the product, you think of them.  So if you think of a credit card, you might think of “My Life, My Card” (American Express).  If you think of a sound system, you might think of “Better Sound Through Research” (Bose).  If you think of internet software, you might think of “Empowering the Internet Generation” (Cisco).  Another nice one is “Everyone’s Private Driver” (Uber).

Conclusion

A powerful tag line does two things: it conveys the value and uniqueness to your customers and it conveys this value and uniqueness to potential purchasers of your company.  In a few short words, it tells prospective purchasers what you have that they don’t – and that is why they need to pay high multiples to acquire you.