Taglines of the Top 100 Companies in the World – BMB

“The Ultimate Driving Machine” to “Finger Lickin’ Good.” Here are the taglines of the top companies in the world.

A couple of readers were asking for guidance on taglines. Frankly, I don’t know much about slogans or taglines; I have worked for over a decade helping big brands with their retail marketing, and taglines are typically used in advertising.

An exhaustive look into what brands are doing in 2020 would be a great place to start to learn about state of the art in taglines. So I compiled a list of all the slogans brands are currently using in their advertisements.

Note that I am researching from the American / Canadian market and may vary by region. So if you are in another country and something does not sound familiar, then the brand may have a different regional strategy.

What is a tagline? A tagline is a 2-word to 8-word phrase shown before, after, or beside the brand at the end of an advertisement. The marketers behind a tagline intend to leave the viewer with a memorable version of the brand’s message and speak to their value, personality, or differentiator.

Let’s not bury the lead. Here are the current taglines for the top 100 brands as per Interbrand’s list of brands with the highest brand equity.

PROMOTION

Top 100 Brands’ Taglines

BrandTagline3MScience. Applied to Life.AccentureNew Applied NowAdidasNothing is ImpossibleAdobeBetter by AdobeAllianzWe Cover CourageAmazonIrrisitable. Delivered.American ExpressDon’t Live Life Without It.AppleN/A – Does not use a tagline.AudiVorsprung durch technik (Global), Truth In Engineering (US)AXAKnow You CanBanco SantanderRespect Ads UpBMWThe Ultimate Driving MachineBudweiserThis Bud’s For YouBurberryLondon EnglandCanonDelighting You AlwaysCartierThe art of being uniqueCaterpillarLet’s Do The WorkChanelN/A – Does not use a tagline.CiscoThe Bridge To PossibleCitiWelcome What’s NextCoca-ColaOpen HappinessColgateAntibacterial Protection for a Healthier Mouth (Colgate Total)CoronaFind Your Beach (Corona Hard Seltzer)DanoneN/A – Does not use a tagline.DellEvery Little Thing Is EverythingDHLExcellence. Simply Delivered.DiorN/A – Does not use a tagline.DiscoveryExplore Your WorldDisneyThe happiest place on earth. (Disneyland)eBayBuy it. Sell it. Love it.FacebookMore togetherFedExOpportunity / Strength / Miracles. What We Deliver By DeliveringFerrariN/A – Does not use a tagline.FordGo FurtherGeneral Electric (GE)Good Things, for Life.GilletteThe Best A Man Can GetGoldman SachsYou Can Money (Marcus by Goldman Sachs)GoogleWith A Little Help From GoogleGucciN/A – Does not use a tagline.H&MN/A – Does not use a tagline.Harley-DavidsonScrew it, let’s ride.HeinekenOpen Your WorldHennessyNever Stop. Never Settle. Since 1765.HermèsN/A – Does not use a tagline.Hewlett Packard EnterpriseAccelerating NextHondaFrom HondaHPKeep ReinventingHSBCTogether We ThriveHuawei“It’s In Your Hands”, “Rewrite Possibilities”, or “Reinvent Photography”HyundaiBetter Drives UsIBMLet’s Put Smart to WorkIKEAN/A – Does not use a tagline.IntelExperience What’s InsideJ.P. MorganMake More of What’s YoursJack Daniel’sWhat the Label Doesn’t Tell You, a Sip WillJohn DeereNothing Runs Like a DeereJohnson & JohnsonSo Much More (Johnson’s Baby)Kellogg’sN/A – Does not use a tagline.KFCIt’s Finger Lickin’ GoodKiaGive It EverythingL’Oréal ParisBecause You’re Worth ItLand RoverAbove & BeyondLEGON/A – Does not use a tagline.LinkedInWe’re In It TogetherLouis VuittonN/A – Does not use a tagline.MastercardStart Something PricelessMcDonald’sI’m Lovin’ It (Previous)Mercedes-BenzThe Best or NothingMicrosoftEmpowering Us AllMINIBorn To DriveMorgan StanleyWe Are Morgan StanleyNESCAFÉIt All Starts With a NESCAFÉNestléVarious Taglines. “Water Is Our Life’s Work” (Nestle Waters), “Make, Bake Love” (Toll House)NetflixN/A – Does not use a tagline.Nike“Just Do It” and “Sport Changes Everything”Nintendo“My Way To Play” and “Our Way To Play” (Nintendo Switch)NissanInnovation That ExcitesOracleN/A – Does not use a tagline.PampersLove The ChangePanasonicA Better Life, a Better WorldPayPalPayPal Is New MoneyPepsiThat’s What I LikePhilipsInnovation and YouPorscheN/A – Does not use a tagline.PradaN/A – Does not use a tagline.Salesforce.comWe Bring Companies and Customers TogetherSamsungSamsung — “Inspire the World, Create the Future”SAPN/A – Does not use a tagline.ShellIt’s Fuel for Thought (Shell V-Power)SiemensIngenuity for LifeSonyN/A – Does not use a tagline.SpotifyFree on SpotifyStarbucksN/A – Does not use a tagline.Tiffany & Co.“Believe in Dreams” and “Believe in Love”ToyotaLet’s Go PlacesUberDoors Are Always OpeningUPSEvery ing for Small Business. And of Course, Shipping.VisaEverywhere You Want to BeVolkswagenDrive BiggerZaraN/A – Does not use a tagline.

PROMOTION

How do top brands use taglines? It varies.

Most brands use it as a final attempt to align the brand with the emotional values of the customer. For example, Harley Davidson’s current tagline, “Screw It, Let’s Ride” speaks to the emotions rebellious motorcycle riders feel when they take their bikes out.

Many brands use their taglines as an opportunity to build or reinforce a brand association. Some examples are Seimens “Ingenuity for Life” and Philips “Innovation and You.” Both brands are trying to create mental links between their brand and the idea of innovation.

Some brands use it to remind customers of their size and scale. For example, the customer wonders if there is any other viable option when John Deere says: “Nothing Runs Like a Deere.”

A few brands use their taglines as the thread that links together TV spots, radio ads, and in-store promotions. For example, MINI’s “Born To Drive” connected with their “Born To Drive Sales Event” that offered limited-time financial incentives to get customers into MINIs.

Quite a few brands do not use taglines at all. Almost all fashion and fragrance brands do not use slogans. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Zara do use simple phrases in the advertisements, but they speak to the theme of the ad and not the brand. They keep it simple and classy and let the feeling of the creative become the brand.

Brands with iconic taglines are no longer using them, instead opting just to have their logo and a trademark piece of audio. McDonald’s is no longer using the iconic “I’m Loving It.” I couldn’t believe it.

PROMOTION

Takeaways

Here are some things I learned by doing all this research and looking at over 350 TV spots.

Inconsistency

Taglines are not as consistent as you imagine.

We think of taglines as phrases that are paired with the brand for decades. But many slogans are campaign-specific rather than brand-specific.

Most brands at this scale do not advertise consistently over time. Instead, they make pushes for a couple of months at a time. The push is a big, multi-faceted media, but that serves to promote a new product, a promotional offer, or their prime season.

The big brands use their taglines to link together all the ads in their marketing push. When the campaign is over, the slogan is dropped.

Taglines can also change as brands change their agency of record. The executives of marketing firms can be egotistical and do not want to work with the creative provided by the previous agency even if consistency is in the best interest of the brand.

Too Cool For Taglines

The brands that are “cool” opt-out of using taglines.

I don’t know if taglines are considered passee or unfashionable, but many of the brands that enjoy a high-end image do not use slogans.

Brands like Starbucks, Gucci, Porsche, Hermes Paris, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, Prada, H&M, and Zara do not use taglines.

The lack of a tagline is a sign that a brand is attempting to speak to a high-end customer. Maybe the brand managers worry that it cheapens the brand.

It seems like a mistake to me. A tagline is a useful tool, and to not use it to be a little more “cool” is a lousy reason to make your promotion less effective.

PROMOTION

Conclusion

How should my smaller brand use a tagline?

Should a smaller brand use a tagline? It is a reasonable question. Big brands like the ones we have been discussing can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to establish their slogans. A small or medium-sized brand is not going to be able to do that.

While you won’t be able to have people from coast to coast singing your brand’s tagline in the shower, you can use it consistently enough to have it be a powerful force in your industry.

Don’t let scale stop you from using a tagline. A slogan that reappears in your email marketing, mailers, brochures, and even on the wall of your location can have the same effect for your niche market as a tagline from a big brand.

Even if you are not advertising, a tagline can be a useful way to tie up all of your marketing with a theme. Linking the way you talk about your product to a motto will force you to carry an idea through and make your brand message far more focused.

A brand with a focused message will beat out a brand with scattered messaging every time.

Thank you to iSpot.tv; your service made the research for this article far easier.