What is a tagline?

Recently, requests and consultations regarding taglines seem to be increasing.
By the way, what exactly is a tagline?
Business owners may be familiar with this, but for regular employees like me, it's still a bit unclear what it is. (Is it too honest for someone at a branding company!?)
That might be because I'm in a department that's a bit removed from branding duties, where I handle general affairs.
However, perhaps I am the one who can see things from the closest perspective to the customer.
So, this time, I'd like to ask the company about a simple question I have about "taglines."

According to Weblio, a "tagline" refers to a single word or phrase that concisely expresses and impresses upon the audience a product, service, movie, or television program. However, when you search on Google, you get various search results, which only makes it more confusing, doesn't it?

Our company,The meaning of a company's existenceI'm thinking along We are a company that contributes to social development through ◯◯.It's like a declaration. That's why it's often used with a company's logo.

For example, Mizkan defines the phrase “Something that will eventually become life,” which appears alongside its logo, as its mission. Taisei Corporation’s “For a Lovely World” is a group slogan, while Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s famous “Bringing ‘What If’ to Life” is a brand slogan. Similarly, Hitachi’s well-known “Inspire the Next” is a slogan that declares the company’s commitment to realizing its vision.

At our company, we refer to this articulated sense of purpose as our tagline.

Furthermore, a company's reason for existence changes depending on the role it is expected to play in society.
In other words,Taglines also change depending on a company's growth phase and the social climate, so they are updated every few years.It can happen.

If a tagline is the linguistic expression of a company's reason for being,The concept is "values" verbalized.This is conceivable.

Values
For that reason, one might say that a philosophy is essentially the character of an organization.

Of course, it's fine if the "philosophy" is simply written down, but if the reason for existence is also put into words, like a "tagline," it's less likely to waver.

"This allows us to introduce ourselves by saying something like, 'We run our business based on these values, and through our business, we aim to contribute to the development of society.'"

Not only our customers, but also—For the employees who work there, this is the information they need to understand the company they work forThat's why it's important, isn't it?

A person's values are shaped and developed through their life experiences.
It’s a certain kind of personality, so it doesn’t change that often, does it?
Similarly, corporate philosophies don't change that often either.
Kyocera’s philosophy—famous for its motto, “Pursuing the material and spiritual well-being of all employees”—has been in use ever since it was established by the company’s founder, Kazuo Inamori.

The famous company examples I gave at the beginning, their expressions vary, don't they?
To be honest, each company should just come up with its own definition.

At our company, we consider catchphrases to be a type of tagline.
A tagline represents a company's reason for being, butA tagline expresses the raison d'être (value) of a product or service.I believe that...

For example, Suica’s tagline is “Japan, all in one card.” It succinctly captures the essence of their service, doesn’t it?

"Brand promise" is a very difficult concept to grasp; when you look it up, it’s defined as "a promise to customers."
In other words, it gets even more complicated because it depends on "Who is the customer?".

First, what is a brand? This is where we stumble.

Our company,Defining a brand as “something special (to a particular audience)”I am doing that. And,Branding is “all the activities aimed at becoming something special.”is what they say.
(We sometimes refer to this as "strategic impression management" for clarity.)

In other words,A brand promise is a commitment between two parties to remain special to each other.This is conceivable.
While there's no explicit promise, branding creates a promise when a target audience expects something from you.
For example, if the other person thinks, "This looks like good quality," or if you make them think that, then there is a "promise of good quality" there.
And when that promise is broken—when expectations aren’t met—the brand promise collapses.

Conversely, you

As the slogan was "The reason for being (value) of products and services," I think you now understand how different it is.

Nothing has changed.

It's the same as declaring, "Our band will contribute to world peace through music!" - it won't change anything.

At least you have to tell the band members about it and get their empathy.

And unless

The same applies to companies. Simply clarifying your tagline (your company's reason for existence) doesn't change anything.

A challenge is the gap between your current position and your ideal state.is what they say.

If your ideal state is to live a leisurely life in Singapore, there must be a gap between that and your current situation, right?
This gap should vary from person to person.
For example, some people may already have a certain amount of assets, but they are concerned about living abroad due to their poor health.
Meanwhile, there are likely those who are healthy but are concerned about how to handle the cost of living in Singapore, what to do about their current jobs, and what to do about their families.

Similarly, each company has a
Therefore, it's difficult to say definitively where to start, butExtracting challenges from the gap between the vision and current status.I don't think so.

Regarding the issue mentioned earlier, whether to start with outer branding or inner branding depends on the specific challenge.

Outer branding is activities to make a company special to external stakeholders (generally customers, etc.).Is.
To make it easier to imagine, product packaging design and commercials can also be called outer branding.

Meanwhile,Inner branding, as the name suggests, is an activity aimed at making a company a special entity for its internal stakeholders (employees, their families, job seekers, etc.).Is.
In other words, internal events—such as social gatherings and company trips—can actually be considered part of internal branding.
I don't think many companies plan and manage events with that kind of awareness.

So, it depends on whether the issue you want to resolve originates outside the company or within it.

I'm not sure what "what the company decided" specifically refers to, but...
For example, when it comes to things that directly affect employees, such as labor regulations or performance evaluations, employees tend to not want to accept rules that are not convenient for them.
Therefore, we must consider that the reaction "It's not what I expected" is a given.
It's difficult to get 100% agreement from the very beginning, isn't it?
The grass always seems greener on the other side, so you end up thinking, "Other places are like this."
Regarding internal rules, it can be said that a balance is maintained through mutual compromise and understanding efforts between the company and its employees.

What if what was decided is like a founding principle, related to the core of the company?
Of course, it takes time to understand that.
The company must continue to make efforts to gain the understanding of its employees, and employees also need to make efforts to understand.
It's the same as understanding others. Naturally, just as there are people whose values don't align, it's possible for companies and their employees to have clashing values, so it's necessary to confirm this from the time of hiring.
After the

Business owners might have a moment of rediscovery or renewed realization, thinking, "Ah, that's our raison d'être!"
For small and medium-sized enterprises, the influence of the owner is significant, so when the owner is energetic, the company is also energetic.
In that sense, I think it's very significant when a manager truly believes "This is it!"
In fact, we have customers for whom we've helped with taglines, and they are growing rapidly. However, since most of that is a result of the customer's own efforts, it's hard to measure how much of an impact we had.
Business owners often tell us, "We've become less prone to wavering."

Additionally, one client had a TV commercial scheduled and was looking for a concise phrase to represent themselves.
So, I feel like I was able to be of some help, and it was actually used in a TV commercial, so I guess I was useful.

At the beginning, I expressed that the tagline is the reason for a company's existence.
To find clues about our purpose, we consider, "What if our company disappeared from this world?"
By considering questions like "Who will be inconvenienced?" and "What actions will those inconvenienced take?" you can discern your company's raison d'être (contribution to society).
It's quite difficult to do it yourselves, but it's interesting, so please give it a try at least once.

Everyone, I've actually been doing it regularly.
For example... let's say you have a favorite canned coffee.
I went to the convenience store to buy that canned coffee, but for some reason, it wasn't there.
What do you do in this situation? If you continue to think this way, you will find clues to the significance (value) of canned coffee for you.
Well, nobody thinks that way.

We are sometimes asked for taglines.
The first thing we confirm is, "Why?"
To put it another way, they might say, "Even without a tagline so far, the company has been able to grow, so why is one needed now? Why? If you ask our company, it will cost money and time, so isn't it unnecessary to go to such lengths?"
Each company has its challenges, and a "tagline" is chosen as one way to improve them. However, a tagline is not necessarily the optimal solution.
If you consult with us, we will begin by objectively assessing whether a "tagline" is the optimal solution for improving the challenges we identify. This is why we may ask extreme questions like the one above.

It's actually difficult to look at your own company objectively... So, please consult with us first (laughs)

I see...
What I vaguely knew became much clearer.
Since you'll often see and hear phrases that represent a company, such as taglines, in advertisements and commercials, they are that much more important to a company.I felt it anew.
I don't know the face of the company's president, but I've heard their tagline and have some impression of them.
As an employee of a branding company handling such important matters, and also as our company's PR representative, this was an opportunity for me to deepen my understanding.