There's a lot of confusion about creating logos and tag lines to go with them. If you're creating a new logo or logotype for your company or for a new product or service, there's a few things you should keep in mind:

1. A logo or logotype is, in effect, an adjective that establishes ownership over something. It's like saying Lynn's Bar & Grill. "Lynn" is the logotype - an adjective - and "Bar & Grill" is what the adjective modifies; it's the tagline. This is one reason why using progressive tense taglines such as "eating & drinking" or "feeding the after-work crowd" just don't work very well.

2. The idea of good naming and tagging is that, collectively, the name and tag should tell the viewer three things: (a) what the product/service does, (b) what are the benefits, and (c) who's it for. If we take this back to our bar and grill, the name is "Lynn's" but the tagline "Bar & Grill" just doesn't cut it. To be ideal, the tag line should be something like: "Good Food & Drink For the After Hours Crowd."

Oh. But that's not very "clever" is it? Perhaps not, but a long descriptive articulation that communicates properly will always be better than a short clever one that doesn't.

If you're an unknown, whatever you don't say in your name and tag is something you 'll have to establish via advertising or other communications. Imagine, for a moment, that you're introducing a new diet drink. You're a nobody -- just an average person that's created a refreshing strawberry-flavored beverage targeting baby-boomers. You can be clever, for example, and attach a name like "Jive!" and a tag line that says "Beverage" but then you better be prepared to spend a lot of money on advertising communicating just what Jive! beverages are really about.

"But Why?" you ask, "Diet Coke can do it." And if you have the advertising budget of Coca Cola, you can too. (Actually, even Diet Coke has a descriptive tag that says: "Sugar free, calorie free cola"). Better you should get off on the right foot immediately by naming it something like "Woodstock" and tagging it with something like "A tasty nostalgic refreshment for baby-boomers."

3. The idea of naming and tagging is to equate a meaning to a logo or logotype. What we're trying to do is to equate, in the minds of the consumer that:

logo = tag,
LYNN'S = GOOD FOOD & DRINK FOR AFTER-HOURS PEOPLE
WOODSTOCK = NOSTALGIC REFRESHMENT FOR BABY BOOMERS.

Ultimately, the way we do that is by repetition. This means that every time we mention the logo or logotype -- especially during the initial communications -- we use the logo and the tag line together. Always.

Bottom Line
Make your logos, logotypes and taglines as meaningful as you can to the ultimate consumer. It'll save you thousands of dollars in advertising later.

Click KLynn Business Consultants to link to the KLynn consulting site.