Straplines, statements, propositions and promises: Brand statements explained

You'll no doubt be familiar with some well-known brand straplines (referred to as taglines in the US), perhaps the most famous examples being Nike's 'Just Do It' and Guniess's 'Good Things Come to Those Who Wait'.

Your brand strapline is what is known as a customer-facing statement, meaning your audience will see it in places such as your website, in advertising and of course with your logo. Your website and brand identity are what is referred to as your external brand.

However, there are many brand statements and declarations that are not customer-facing, because they make up part of the internal brand. Your internal brand is the foundation of your brand that encompasses your purpose, vision, mission and brand values, the fundamentals that provide clarity and direction as you create an outwardly facing brand identity and messaging system.

In this article I'll discuss straplines as well as a range of internal brand statements, you can understand the important differences between mission and vision statements, value propositions and brand promises...

Let's begin with the ubiquitous brand strapline, one of the most memorable and recalled aspects of any brand identity.

To find out more about internal brand values, and how they can shape brand behaviour and perceptions, read my article here

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Straplines

After your company name and logo, the most common brand element your customers will likely recall is your strapline. 

A strapline is a short and memorable summary of your company's service offerings and benefits. It can be considered a distillation of your positioning statement and should be used to aid brand recall. It is what is known as a customer-facing statement, often displayed on websites, business cards and with your logo. 

Several years ago, meat snack Pepperami capitalized on a simple yet clever dual-meaning strapline 'Perpperami: It's a bit of an animal' which featured an animated advertising campaign showing a crazy, angry and destructive animated Pepperami character subjecting itself to all manner of nastiness. By using the strapline 'It's a bit of an animal' the company manages to simultaneously reference the advertising campaign, the taste of the product (spicy meat), and the fact that a Pepperami was, at one time, quite literally 'a bit of an animal'. 

The tagline for The Identity Bureau ‘make yourself known’ also works in two ways. If you’re a company looking for a name and identity design you can ‘make yourself known’ at The Identity Bureau, meaning you can come to us to develop your brand identity in order to become noticed and create recognition. Alternatively, if you’re looking for branding services you can ‘make yourself known; by contacting me and alerting me to your predicament. 

In our recent rebrand for Auto Classica we developed the strapline ‘car storage for the driven’ as a nod to the kinds of vehicles Auto Classica stores (high-end performance cars) and the mindset of the customers that Auto Classica serves. 

Creating a memorable strapline can be challenging, and often companies will simply distill the essence of their positioning statement into a basic strapline. This can work quite well if you're a niche company but can prove challenging to get right. 

Good straplines require a combination of memorability and projection of the customer's desired outcomes, and can often benefit from some wordplay and a sprinkle of knowing humor. Although at the start of our list, the strapline will be developed towards the end of your brand strategy. 

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Good straplines require a combination of memorability and a projection of the customer's desired outcomes, and can often benefit from some wordplay and a sprinkle of knowing humor.

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Well known straplines

Nike - Just Do It

McDonalds - I’m loving it

Skittles - Taste the Rainbow

Kit Kat - Have a break. Have a Kit Kat

Tesco - Every Little Helps

BMW - The ultimate driving machine

MasterCard - There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s Mastercard

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Positioning statements

At its core, the positioning statement simply states what you do and who you do it for, e.g We deliver Product X for market Y. However your positioning statement can expand beyond this core information. It explains your point of difference, what you help your audience with, and in what way you alleviate their specific pain points. In our recent brand identity design for Wendy Walton we developed her positioning statement as part of our Brand Strategy Workshop.

Your positioning statement should essentially tell the broader story of why your brand should be remembered, in a sentence that distills your audience, your offering, and your point of difference.

You can use this template as a basic guide to constructing a positioning statement. 

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1 We

2 help target audience

3 who suffer these pain points

4 Achieve / experience these benefits

5 To achieve these outcomes

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Here is a fictitious example of an accountancy firm that specialises in working with hair salons. We'll call them Smartheadz Accountants 

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1 Smartheadz Accountants

Helps (target audience) 2 busy hairdressing salons

make better 3 financial and business management decisions

allowing them to 4 spend more time working on their hairdressing

businesses instead of time-consuming administration,

helping them to achieve 5 better business growth and improve their work/life balance.

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‍Another fictitious example a swim school for kids, let's call them Aqua Heros

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1 Aqua Heros 

helps (target audience) 2 anxious parents of children with low swimming abilities

by 3 teaching and developing confidence in their young children to allow them to become confident, strong swimmers in a small, hands-on swim class 

allowing 4 both parents and children to have confidence in their swimming abilities 

helping them to 5 be more relaxed on holidays and in other situations where their kids are
near water

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Positioning statements don't always roll off the tongue like a strapline does, and for this reason, they are not customer-facing statements, they are an internal brand statement. The core purpose of a positioning statement is to provide clarity for internal stakeholders and marketers as they shape the perception of their brand in the minds of their audience. When you define your brand positioning, you define your audience, competition and unique selling point, and therefore your positioning statement is your brand positioning summarised in a sentence.  

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When you define your brand positioning, you define your audience, competition and unique selling point, and therefore your positioning statement is your brand positioning summarised in a sentence.  

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Value Proposition

The value proposition is the actual value that your company or service provides its customers. Do not confuse your value proposition with words that describe how you would like to be perceived or litter it with words that describe a personality. Traits like 'Integrity, 'honesty' or 'respect' are not direct tangible benefits, they’re simply expectations that any customer would have of any company.

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Do not confuse your value proposition with words that describe how you would like to be perceived… Traits like 'Integrity, 'honesty' or 'respect' are not direct tangible benefits, they’re simply expectations that any customer would have of any company.

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How do your brand's features measure up against the competition and how do those features translate into value for the customer? Let’s assume you are a manufacturer of mobile phones, with a focus on sustainability. Your point of differentiation is your phones are upgradable, have interchangeable parts, and are 100% recyclable, with a decreased environmental footprint. What's more, customers can change the phone battery without having to send the phone to a specialist. 

How do these features of your mobile phone offer your customers value? The answer here could be, that the customer gets to use the phone for a longer period (it is repairable and does not have built-in obsolescence). It may save the customer money and is kinder to the environment and the planet. It may also provide the customer with peace of mind and a clearer conscience. If that sounds familiar, it is, have a look at the industry disruptors Fairphone, here. 

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Unique Selling Proposition 

What is the stand-alone reason your audience would consider using your firm? ‍

Your Unique Selling Proposition will be born from your key points of differentiation. These points of differentiation can include: 

• Audience niche (you only work with a certain industry)
• Specialism (you are the experts at providing a certain solution, or advising on a certain deeper area of expertise) 
• Price (you attract clients because you are extremely competitive on price when compared to others in your industry
• Thought leadership (you write and publish a lot of helpful content that differentiates your firm as active thought leaders in your field)
• Values (your brand values and purpose align with your audience’s values, and as such this is attractive).

Develop your Unique Selling Proposition around the single reason your clients should choose your firm over your competition. Why should they choose your company, and how are you meaningfully different from the competition? 

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Brand Purpose

Aside from commercial intent why do we do what we do? TO answer this question, look at your internal brand values, such as your brand mission and vision, and try to articulate what drives the motivations behind your business. 

Another way you may look at brand purpose is to ask 'what cause can our brand contribute to that can positively impact someone or something? 

This may be a difficult question but the answer does not have to sit on an unnecessarily high or complex moral plane. Your bigger picture purpose may revolve around inclusivity, human rights, education, supporting others, or striving to produce a more environmentally conscientious product to that that is currently on offer. 

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Brand Promise

The Brand Promise can sometimes be confused with your value proposition. Where the value proposition speaks of the value you will give your customers when they use your product or service, a brand promise speaks of the experience your audience can expect when they work with you. 

Although a brand promise is a customer-facing statement, often this promise is implied in your brand behavior, messaging, and strapline. Not every brand articulates a brand promise to their audience, although they should deliver on the principles of that promise through their everyday actions and the service they provide. 

An example of a powerful brand promise comes from Nike. You’ll be familiar with their strapline ‘Just Do It’ and their brand promise reads “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world”. 

Note the astrix‍, which explains: 

if you have a body you are an athlete. From the world's best sportspeople to the occasional joggers, and even those who do not exercise at all. If you have a body, Nike says, you are an athlete, and they aim to inspire you. 

The Brand Promise is, especially in Nike's case, what success looks like for the customer when they engage with the brand.

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The Brand Promise is, especially in Nike's case, what success looks like for the customer when they engage with the brand.

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To write your brand promise you need to look at your company values, vision, mission, and audience. Some of these will carry more weight than others, depending on the sector you work in and the audience you serve. 

Whichever part of your company ethos that influences your brand purpose the most, will ultimately influence how you approach your brand promise. 

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Brand Mission and Brand Vision

The difference between Brand Mission and Brand Vision can be confusing if you are new to these terminologies. Brand Mission is related to the now and every day and is the answer to the question 'What are we committed to today in order to achieve our vision for the future?' Your brand mission focuses on the everyday commitments you make to your audience and how you deliver the services you promise to them. 

Brand Vision is about the future commitments of your brand and its ambition. It is the answer to the question 'Where does my brand aspire to go, what does it aspire to be, and/or what impact does it aspire to have?' Your Brand Vision should be the documented ambition that you have for your brand, and your Brand Mission is the thing you do every day to build a bridge to arrive at that future (vision) state. 

Another way to understand this is your Brand Mission is the everyday Committed Action. Your Brand Vision is the future result achieved by repeatedly delivering on said Committed Action over months and years. Remember; Mission is now and Vision is future. Here are some examples for context: 

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Brand Mission is related to the question 'What are we committed to today in order to achieve our vision for the future?' Brand Vision is related to the question 'Where does my brand aspire to go, what does it aspire to be, and/or what impact does it aspire to have?'

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Examples of Mission and Vision Statements

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Tesla

Mission statement: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.
Vision statement: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

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Ikea

Mission statement: Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.
Vision statement: To create a better everyday life for the many people.

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‍Amazon

Mission statement: We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.
Vision statement: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

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Further reading

If you're looking to define your internal brand statements, and provide clarity for your team, contact me about my brand strategy workshops.

For more information about our Brand Strategy Workshops, click here.

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