How Using Taglines Adds Value - Client Branding Story
I'm wrapping up our month's focus on taglines with a great case study of how taglines can transform a business.
You want to use taglines to show value.
And today's client story is a fantastic example of this.
When I first met Denise Corey at "Branding with Annie", she didn't have a tagline but she did have a website and a logo. She introduced herself to me as a coach and consultant, but I wasn't instantly clear who she coached and consulted for, or what set her apart in the space.
While this logo is professional, it wasn't telling much of a story about Denise - especially without a tagline.
And that was a shame because there's a lot that's pretty inspiring about Denise. She has over 20 years of partnering with small business owners, she has an executive coaching affiliation with UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, and as I learned through our work together - she is gifted at helping career professionals and entrepreneurs dismiss "should" from their vocabulary. We can get so bombarded and stuck by feeling like we have to do everything, that it's hard to know what we want to do (let alone how to get there). This is a core aspect of what Denise does, but that wasn't reflected in her logo, or her website for that matter.
So a few months ago, I partnered with Denise on the full Brand Story process - taking her through a rebrand where we completely re-did her logo, added taglines, wrote her brand story, and did everything from business cards to a full new website.
Using taglines together with a new brand, we were able to reposition Denise using her strengths: clearly communicating what she does so well, and who she does it for.
Through the branding process, we went from no tagline to the below overall logo - which utilizes a mix of taglines to tell the story.
Here are the big brand story changes and additions we made in the above.
We switched from "Corey Coaching and Consulting" to simply "Denise Corey" | People were already referring Denise by name, so why hide it? We made the move to put it front and center and make it more personal and approachable.
We added a tagline of "Coaching and Consulting" to clearly say what she does | Rather than stand alone on "Denise Corey" - we gave it more context through a sub-line.
We created another tagline of "For Entrepreneurs and Professionals" to efficiently tell others she has two distinct key audiences - business owners and career professionals | Through working together, it became clear quickly that Denise had two audiences that shared similar problems - frustration in their professional path and feeling overwhelmed with figuring out what they really wanted and how to get there. Defining the audience helps her set herself apart and further define who her practice is a great fit for. We expanded on this in her website, going so far as to split out pages specifically for business owners and those for career pros needing career coaching.
Lastly, we created an emotional tagline of "Discover Clarity, Confidence, and a Path Forward" to bring to life what is special about Denise's approach and what clients receive by working with her for coaching and consulting | Whether they are business owners or career pros, Denise is centered on helping people find clarity, confidence and how to take action on their newfound insights in their professional lives. This line let's her say that succinctly and it's inviting. I mean, who doesn't want clarity, confidence, and a path forward? We reinforce the notion of forward with the > in Denise's logo (over the "i") making both logo and tagline more powerful, and even tell a color story of moving from lightness/wishy-washyness to more solid footing (with the transition from light to darker blue). Lastly, and I'm kind of a dork about this, there's definitely meant to be a pneumonic at play with having it be "Discover clarity.." for Denise's initials. :)
Now - especially through our use of taglines - Denise has a clear, engaging way to quickly tell people what she does - even if they're just viewing her logo or visiting her website. We created additional logo variations for just her name, just with "for entrepreneurs and professionals" etc. And ultimately - everything comes together in her full brand - from business cards to her website.
Here's a bit of what Denise shared about the process of going through the brand story process together:
"Prior to working with Greatest Story, I knew my branding didn’t connect and wasn’t synchronized at all. I didn't have much in the way of call to actions on anything. What I have now is super consistent and the messaging blends together well. Everything Annie put together for me was so polished and well-presented. She set up the timeframe, told me exactly what should happen when, and there was such good follow-up. Annie’s level of professionalism was astonishing!"
Learn more about Denise and her incredible practice at www.denisecorey.com.
To recap: taglines give you quick, clear ways to communicate what you do and who you do it for. If you aren't clear on those two things, you're probably missing out on attracting ideal clients.
If you don't yet have a tagline, or yours isn't working hard enough for you, take a page from Denise's book. Consider what lines you can come up with (even changes to your business name) you could use to transform what your business is communicating to others on first impression.
You can keep moving on this with another article on best practices for taglines, and if you get stuck - never fear! Hit reply or grab time with me right here. I help people write 'em as part of professional services for Greatest Story!
