I stumbled across some new research on taglines and slogans on Brandchannel.  Tagline Guru, an agency dedicated to taglines and slogans, has released its analysis of more than 150 corporate taglines debuting in 2009, aiming to “discover the most frequently used words in this year`s taglines, and whether they reveal how companies are strategically recasting their brand message to forge a closer connection with their customers.”

Do you think you can name some of the top ten words used in new taglines? I got five of 10.

The most commonly used words or concepts (alphabetically):

1. believe
2. far/further
3. future
4. imagine/see
5. innovate/innovation
6. more
7. new
8. save/savings
9. together
10. you

This info would be more interesting with some historical perspective. For example, I would like to know if numbers eight and 10 have recently cracked the top 10, or are they perennial favorites.

Paola Norambuena, Interbrand’s head of Verbal Identity (ed. yes, that’s really his title), says that keeping on top of commonly used taglines is important for two reasons:

• First, it can highlight how companies are responding to shifts in the market
• Second, it highlights what to avoid. Using only popular words creates lack of distinctiveness

Norambuena notes that different words aren’t enough to create distinctiveness. The same idea can be expressed in dozens of ways. Take, for example, Target’s “Expect More. Pay Less.” It feels very similar to Wal-Mart’s “Save Money. Live Better” and even similar to Home Depot’s “More Saving. More Doing.” In the current economy, we know consumers are looking for ways to save, but what in the taglines truly drives differentiation?

Keep in mind that brand identity and equity consists of much more than a tagline. That’s why I wonder if these monster brands worry much about overlapping taglines/messages. They are simply tweaking and reinforcing what they’ve already come to stand for in the mind of the consumer. And what they’ve come to stand for is the sum total of many types of inputs.

When choosing taglines, most companies explore options along a continuum of “descriptive” to “timeless.”  There are arguments for both, especially if taglines and slogans are to be applied at the corporate, divisional, and product levels. (The only universal rule is to never invite lawyers or accountants to these meetings.) Four51′s current tagline is On-Demand Smart Catalog Technology. This is mostly descriptive. A tagline like “Think Ahead. Stay Ahead” is timeless. In other words, it’s hard to imagine a time when this tagline would clash with the company’s strategy and goals.

Parting thought: remember that the burden of telling your company’s story doesn’t rest solely on the tagline. Don’t try to make it do too much. It can’t. It needs help from the compelling content on your website, the skill and friendliness of your customer-facing employees, and the professionalism of your reps.

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