New Brand Taglines More Innovative, May Surprise You

Do you think you can name some of the top ten words used in brand taglines? Take a few guesses, we will wait...

Ok. Ready?

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."

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

Some of the brand taglines noted include Airbus ("New standards. Together."), Buick ("The new class of world class.") and Home Depot ("More saving. More doing.").

Paola Norambuena, Interbrand's head of Verbal Identity, tells brandchannel that keeping on top of commonly used taglines is important for two reasons:

First, it can highlight messages that companies are focusing in on, which can indicate shifts in the market, and how they are responding – but this type of information can also be found in good solid analysis of socio-economic trends. The second use, and one that is most helpful, is to highlight what to avoid. Overused words, or tags that sound too similar, are effective only in desensitizing the audience, because we feel like we’ve heard it before. Using only popular words create lack of distinctiveness, and lacks creativity.

The last entry, "you," has certainly been a notable one of late. There is the HTC "You" campaign (video above), Yahoo's "It's Y!ou" push, video-game Tekken 6's gratuitous "What will you fight for?" promotion and Pepsi's "'What's your way?" effort in India.

Norambuena believes research like the Tagline Guru study can provide brands with useful direction:

If we’re seeing a rush on particular words or terms, a study on most commonly used terms will help identify how companies can create some distinctiveness – and not just around words, but in ideas. 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?

So, your thoughts?