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By Dick Maggiore and Mark Vandegrift

Position Not Marketing Tagline

Don't Ask Me For A Marketing Tagline

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Abridged Transcript:
I'd like to turn your attention to the topic of branding, dispelling some common notions about what branding is, and what it is not.

For starters, it is not a marketing tagline.
A logo is not a brand.
A name is not a brand.
An identity system is not a brand.

A brand is not an icon or symbol.
A slogan or tagline is NOT a brand!

If I accomplish one thing today I hope it's never to ask your agency to give you a marketing tagline! Ask them to give you a position.

The marketing tagline, or slogan or whatever you want to call it, ends up being a byproduct of that endeavor.

A brand's value doesn't come from the marketing tagline. It comes from the meaning it symbolizes.,

It's "Make meaning and make money," not "Make taglines and make money."

All the things just mentioned - a logo, an identity system, a mark or icon, a slogan - are features of a brand, tools that help us identify the brand, but they are not THE brand.

So, what is a brand? A brand is the customer's gut feeling (impression) about a product, service or company.

Continuing with definitions for a moment, let me give you a useful, concrete definition of positioning.

Positioning is simply concentrating (focusing) on an idea or even a word that defines (differentiates) the organization (or product, service, or person, etc.) in the minds of its prospects.

Lorraine Kessler is Innis Maggiore's Principal Client Services & Positioning Strategist.