Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

"Catchy" won't "showcase the education and integrity of the brand." "Catchy" is just a distraction from the real reason your customers should care about your brand.

So let's focus on that. First, who is your primary target audience for the slogan? Where do they live? What do they need and value most? What brands are they using now? Why should they switch to your brand?

Next, what is the name of your brand? It's hard to come up with a great slogan without knowing the name of the product itself.

Then let's understand what you're trying to communicate with the slogan. What big idea do you want to get across to the target audience? Where are they going to see this slogan? What action do you want them to take when they do see it?

Give us some information, and we'll come up with some great slogan suggestions.

BTW, if this is really as important for your business as I think it is, you probably ought to hire a professional to develop the slogan for you. We may come up with some good ideas here, but there's no way to be sure. There are people who do this for a living, and it's almost certainly going to be worth the fee you pay to get them involved.

You can post a project on the Hire an Expert section of this website; see the column at the right side of this page. Or look through the profiles of top experts in this area and see if one of them sounds like they might be right for this project.

First, what you're doing is to be APPLAUDED!

Because it takes guts and courage to start a business in the beauty niche.

Way to go!

Second, several things trouble me about your question, not least of which is an apparent belief on your part that marketing is all about smoke and mirrors, as indicated (at least to me) in the phrase: "The formulas will consist of only the best ingredients that have actually been proven to work, and not just being used as a marketing scheme."

The key alarm here is "... and not just being used as a marketing scheme."

Marketing isn't just "a scheme."

Then there's "catchy".

It's not your fault. No one is blaming you. It's just that every week at least a dozen requests pop up on this forum for "catchy" names and tag lines. People are weary of it. I know I am. Michael Goodman too by the sounds of it. "Catchy" pops up like a weed that simply will not die.

Catchy is not just a lie. Catchy is a God damn PLAGUE!

Think about this for a moment: when was the last time you bought something ... ANYTHING .... based SOLEY on the "catchiness" of its name?

FORGET price! ESCHEW benefits! SCREW availability, colors, and so on. Focus ONLY on the NAME. When did you last buy something based ONLY on its name?

Alas ... the reality is that no one gives a crap about "catchy". When it comes to driving sales, when it comes to creating loyalty, "catchy" is a dead duck; an unwelcome guest at the supper table.

Catchy serves little by way of function.

"Catchy" is mostly a meaningless, bullshit, "catch-all" descriptor that leaks like a sieve. The myth that a name has to be in any way, shape, or form "catchy" to generate attention is just that: a myth.

Catchy CAN be of use if it connects a primary benefit within the name to the desired outcome of the buyer. But mostly, "catchy" is just eye and ear candy.

Similarly, the "current" nature of a tag line means little ... if anything.

Current how? Related to what? The main thing that's current is news and news only remains current until the next big story.So you might want to rethink this.

And then there's the desire to "showcase the education and integrity of the brand."

Let's take a step back.

Until you've solved several people's nail problems and done so consistently over time, you do not have a brand:you may have a product, you may have a business, you may have customers. But until lots of neural connections have been made and until you've commanded the scene of people's minds with specific language, you have not got a brand. Which means you've got little if any brand integrity.

Before you can educate people you've got to get ... and then keep ... their attention. You must engage before you can educate and you can't engage until you've attracted attention.

To do this requires generating interest and desire.

How will you interest people? How will you create desire?

Then, you've got to establish bonding and trust.

How will you accomplish these two goals?

I'm not trying to shoot your idea full of holes, I'm trying to help you see that a tag line alone is not enough. You need to find a niche (which you've done), but next, you need to COMMAND that niche: you've got to make it YOURS ... you've got to make nails your bitch.

Only once you've done this can you set about educating people.

Not before.

What is it about your products that rocks?

Why will people buy from YOU?

What do YOU do that no one else does?

What's your story?

What's your ideal value point?

Who is your ideal buyer and what does she want out of her use of your product?

I say again: What you're doing is to be APPLAUDED! Because it takes guts and courage to start a business in the beauty niche.

So please: tell us more, give some thought to the questions and opinions I've raised, and come back with more information.

Dminina - a tagline with attitude could work, but only if the audience you're targeting would understand it and have a positive reaction to it. Rather than throw taglines out there, can you tell us more about who you're targeting (age, demographic, region, fashion sense, etc.) and why they're likely to want to switch to your product (unless you're targeting youth, your audience is already likely to have a favorite brand)? Also - if your product has better ingredients (and you want to compete based on quality), how do you stack up against organic nail polishes (Karma, Suncoat, etc.)? Finally, realize that no one really cares about your background - they care about the product you're selling. Is it provably longer-lasting, less-toxic, more color-fast, quicker to dry, etc.? Imagine seeing a wall of nail polish in a local beauty supply store - why would someone pick up YOUR product instead of the myriad of others?

Since the brand identity of your product is that it REALLY works to strengthen your nails, how about a name that emphasizes strength and durability:

Granite
'World's Toughest Nails'

Diamonds Are For Nails
'Stronger Nails. Really.'

E-Nail
'Stronger Nails Through Technology"