Slogan vs Tagline

[roald]

Continuing discussion from What does "Powerful, Versatile, Predictable" mean to you? - #45 by Marialena.S :

I am a little confused …

Right now there are two slogans …

The business-focused CMS

Powerful. Versatile. Predictable.

Do ClassicPress want to use both?
If not, do you want to combine them into one?

Or, for example of a light sarcasm … add another line…

The name ClassicPress is chosen as the business name - now is the time to get a great single slogan that positions and says it all.

[anon71687268]

I don’t think of “The business-focused CMS” as a slogan so much as a subtitle (or similar). The slogan is only “Powerful. Versatile. Predictable.” At least, that’s how I’ve seen it all along.

[roald]

Well - this is why I am confused

[timkaye]

I am with @anon71687268. I have always read this as title, subtitle, slogan.

[anon71687268]

I wonder if we’re all talking about / thinking about this the same way.

From 29 Companies With Really Catchy Slogans & Brand Taglines

As we mentioned in Entrepreneur.com’s definition above, a slogan identifies a product or company. So does a tagline, for that matter. Where these terms differ is in how they position a company in its industry.

• A slogan encompasses a company’s mission, what it stands for, and even how it’s helping customers in the individual campaigns the company might run. Slogans can therefore be longer than taglines, as you’ll see in the list below.
• A tagline is a catchy quip that evokes an image of your brand in the minds of your customers. Taglines enable people to make lighthearted associations with your business: “When I see [tagline], I think [company].”

Note: this is not my wheelhouse; my previous post was my personal interpretation.

[ozfiddler]

Well that’s totally confused me. I just looked at that article with various examples of slogans and taglines and I really can’t see any difference.

[anon71687268]

This is how I’m seeing it, even though the tagline isn’t necessarily quippy.

Slogan: The business-focused CMS.

Tagline: Powerful, versatile, predictable.

[ozfiddler]

Yes. But they gave 27 examples in that article. All those are either using a slogan or a tagline.

It’s not like…
Nike
We sell trainers
Just do it

I’d be interested to see some good examples where someone has used both effectively.

[anon71687268]

I included the link because I wanted to include my source; it was TMI. I was meaning to highlight the fact that there is a difference between a slogan and tagline.

[ozfiddler]

@anon71687268

TMI

No, not TMI at all… it was interesting actually. It made me realise that it’s hard enough coming up with a good slogan or a good tagline. So much harder to come up with a good combo of both.

I think that’s the point that people have been making - we have a slogan and a tagline but they don’t sit well together.

[anon71687268]

Maybe that’s why it has been so difficult to distill it down into a final text. Some of us are thinking in terms of taglines, others are thinking in terms of slogans… and others are trying to combine the two.

[timkaye]

As I said, I don’t see them as a slogan and a tagline. I have always thought of those terms as synonyms anyway.

I see title, subtitle, slogan/tagline. The difference between the latter two is that the subtitle explains what ClassicPress is, whereas the slogan/tagline says what it does or provides.

[roald]

I believe that the slogan is the permanent mental mark for any company.
A slogan marks the ground for companies such as “The Real Thing” by Coke or Das Auto by Volkswagen, Timex - Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking.
You do indeed have a limited space to say what you want, or do… the shorter the better…

[BlueSkyPhoenix]

Not trying to split hairs here – to Tim’s point of Title/Subtitle – I think that’s understandable because he’s in the academic world. Generally speaking however:

Taglines are intended to endure over time. They are more of a brand statement.
Slogans change more frequently. They are more of a marketing statement. You can see a well-illustrated discussion of slogans here, but these points from the article may help clarify:

Taglines

• A tagline is about the business itself, and should stand the test of time (it doesn’t change).
• Taglines represent the tone and feeling you want for your products or services.
• It is often part of your company graphics and it stays with you all the time.

Slogans

• Slogans are intended to be less long lasting and more flexible.
• They’re often used in advertising campaigns. (they changes over time).
• Slogans are often used only for one product, or one campaign.

Given these definitions, I do think that we’re looking at two taglines here. So – which is the better one? or do we need to do something different entirely?

[Marialena.S]

Way too many words and descriptions.

I think that the following will do more effectively the job.

ClassicPress- Stable, Secure, User Friendly CMS

[timkaye]

Fair point, Michelle!

[ozfiddler]

Given that we have just seen the latest version of Jetpack now quietly adding suggestions to your plugin search screen, I’m starting to think the slogan should be something like “ClassicPress - take back control of your CMS”.

[Marialena.S]

I don’t think that there are that many website administrators out there, who are going to admit that they have lost the control of their CMS!

[roald]

Hire a proper pr agent who will guide you to a best properly executed plan. I love CP but most people are developers and not pr people - simply :-))

[timkaye]

LOL! I work with PR professionals on a weekly basis. The idea that you just hand it over to them for them to come up with a plan is just not an accurate depiction of how they work.

In fact, the first thing they’d want to do is set up some focus groups. But why pay for that? This forum is, essentially, a focus group. In other words, our process is following precisely what the PR pros do.