Tag lines that stick: here's how to create an effective brand summation line. How long should it be? Is it the same as your brand positioning? How often do you need to refresh it?

• Author: Mathes, John
• Position: Branding

We live in a sound bite world. Thousands of messages delivered through hundreds of media bombard our daily lives. Snippets from a variety of sources such as news, marketing, family, friends and entertainment all compete for our attention. Our brains are overloaded. As a bank marketing executive, you should be concerned. Consider all those precious marketing dollars you spend trying to increase your customer base by attempting to create awareness for your brand.

Couple this noisy static with the evolving of the financial services world into a commoditized marketplace, and you might begin to wonder how you're ever going to separate your bank from the fray.

Well, you start with a well-defined brand--a brand that differentiates itself from the competition with a clear positioning that captures the culture, heritage and distinction of the institution.

But, the branding exercise doesn't end with the positioning. Once developed, that positioning should be translated across all of your customer contact points in a relevant and consistent manner. Your marketing, advertising, signage, in-branch experience, even the way your associates answer the phone and speak to customers, should all embrace the language of your brand.

While the language of your brand can be robust, there needs to be a summation line that quickly and succinctly expresses your positioning. Better known as a tag line, this expression must break through the clutter, communicate your differentiation, be memorable and be forever attached to the name of your organization. The tag line is a hardworking collection of words that should give you that "aha" moment every time you see or hear it.

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Just do it

There seems to be a lot of confusion in bank marketing circles about the differences between a brand positioning and a tag line. The...