Stephen Houraghan here at BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video i want to show you a few
examples of double meaning or double entendre taglines and show you the scientific reason
as to why there's some of the most effective taglines in the world now i'm a designer by
trade that's my background so my first love when it comes to branding is brand identity design
but my second love when it comes to branding is communication and specifically tagline development
there's just something about the concise set of words being structured together to capture the
idea of a brand i just love the creativity around that so it's something that i really got into and
i remember thinking of all of the double entendre taglines that i'd seen before i saw some up on
billboards and i saw some on the back of plumber's trucks and i never knew why they were so effective
but it's something that i always tried to do when i sat down to develop a tagline for the first time
i used to see if i could get a double entendre or double meaning into that tagline in answer to the
question as to why a double-end honda tagline is so effective comes down to the role that the
tagline plays now the tagline along with the logo its job is to establish brand recall so
effectively the more memorable your tagline is the more chance it has of doing its job and when
you have a double meaning within a tagline your brain actually makes neural connections from one
meaning to the other meaning and because of the way the brain makes those connections it stores
that tagline in a different part of the brain so essentially by creating a dual connection within
your tagline you're helping the way the brain stores that tag line ultimately making it more
memorable and more effective so let's take a look at some double meaning taglines to inspire you for
your tagline development the first example of a double meaning tagline is make believe by sony now
sony's products are tools of the imagination from their video game products to their photography
products and their tagline captures this idea beautifully by splitting that beloved word
associated with youthful imagination the tagline meaning number one is that our products are tools
for you to make believe tagline meaning number two is for you to make what you believe or what you
can imagine so one is about the imagination and the second is telling you to go and
create what's in your imagination so the neural connections here are sony plus make believe plus
imagination plus create example number two is seafood differently by red lobster now since 1968
red lobster has been committed to bringing you a seafood experience that you won't find anywhere
else and that's directly from their website their tagline plays on the visionary aspect of the food
experience that red lobster offers as well as the uniqueness of the brand experience meaning number
one is that our seafood experience is unique meaning number two is envision seafood from a
different perspective so the neural connections that are being made here is red lobster plus
seafood plus different plus experience example number three is connecting people by nokia
now nokia was the market leader in the mobile phone industry along with motorola back in the
mid to late 90s before apple and samsung came in and took over now two word taglines are rare and
effective two word tag lines are even more so so effective two word taglines with a relevant
double meaning are like goldust their tagline here highlighted two things that the brand was built on
connection and people so meaning number one is we bring people together meaning number two
we connect people through technology so the neural connections that are being made here
is nokia plus connections plus people example number four is taste the feeling by coke now
coke's whole positioning strategy is based around the feeling of happiness and their ownership of
this position is so strong that they don't even need to mention the actual feeling here so that
they've evolved now from their tagline open happiness and they've replaced that with taste
the feeling so the the feeling is referring to the happiness that they essentially own because they
don't even need to mention it in their tagline so the tagline meaning number one here is experience
that feeling of happiness and tagline meaning number two is that the taste of coke is the taste
of happiness so the neural connections that are being made here is that coke plus feeling
plus taste plus happiness example number five is nothing runs like a deer by john deere now very
very few brands can say that they've been around longer than coke but john deere is one of those
historical brands and in fact it was founded way back in 1837 now they've been a constant pillar
in the agriculture industry for over 180 years and their tagline leans into that reliability
so the first tagline meaning is nothing compares to the majestic run of a deer
tagline meaning number two is nothing runs as reliably as a john deere vehicle so the neural
connections that are being made here is john deere plus majestic plus reliable example number six is
challenge everything by ea or electronic arts now ea is one of the largest video game brands in the
world the tagline tugs on the competitive spirit of their customers and associates the brand with
quality as well so meaning number one is don't accept second best and that's referring to quality
and meaning number two is compete and be the best so the neural connections that are being made here
is ea plus quality plus competition plus winning example number seven is think small by volkswagen
beetle now in a time when bigger is better with the mantra across america volkswagen zagged when
everybody else zigged the beatles think small tagline challenged perceptions and associated
the brand with smart independence and value so meaning number one of this tagline here is think
for yourself and not all that bigger is better and meaning number two is that you don't have to spend
so big so the neural connections that were made here for volkswagen was volkswagen beetle plus
smart plus independence plus value example number eight is what happens in vegas stays in vegas by
las vegas now you might be thinking well las vegas isn't a brand but it absolutely most certainly is
and it is truly a unique place like nowhere in the world and this tagline really defines the brand
that is las vegas almost poetically so what have been there or not this tagline has no doubt landed
in your mind to make countless of connections that paint a picture of what the las vegas experience
is all about so meaning number one of this tag line here is that the las vegas experience is
found nowhere else and meaning number two is your preferred debauchery is available here and can
stay here if you want so the neural connections that are being made here is las vegas plus
experience plus unique plus debauchery example number nine is the best man can be by gillette now
gillette has been a mainstay for 120 years now they've been around since 1901 and this updated
version of their tagline from their original the best a man can get has shifted their positioning
strategy slightly towards a more responsible and purpose-driven stance which has challenged
men to lead society forward now this has come in conjunction with their toxic masculinity campaign
and that was met with mixed reviews so what they're trying to do here is they're trying
to re-establish new neural connections and align themselves with a more purpose-driven approach a
more purpose-driven stance so the double meaning here the first meaning is that gillette brings out
the best version of a man and that's in relation to their appearance but the meaning number two is
that you can be the best you can be and that's referring to the integrity of men so the neural
connections that are being made here certainly the intended neural connections that are being
made is that gillette plus best plus integrity plus responsible example number 10 is where's the
beef by wendy's now this is a classic tagline and as big as wendy's is it's dwarfed by the size of
their giant competitors mcdonald's and burger king and with their tagline where's the beef what they
did was they took an against position on their giant competitors and they pointed the finger
to the quality or lack of quality in their competitors burgers and this association with the
big boys landed wendy's in their audience's mind whenever they considered an alternative to their
competitors so it's a very effective strategy the against position and that against approach
if you're able to pull it off and this is a another great example of that against position but
the double meaning that they've associated here in the neural connections that they've made
the first meaning is that our competitors use less beef and the second meaning is
the beefiest burgers are here at wendy so those mural connections that wendy's made were wendy's
plus beef plus quality plus better now this video is not to tell you you know taglines are important
you know the taglines are important the whole world knows the taglines are important but what
you now know that the rest of the world doesn't is why this type of tagline is so effective and
that's based on the neural connections that your brain makes and this is applicable through out the
whole spectrum of branding if you're able to help the brain to make neural connections as far as
your brand goes and the associations that you want to make with your brand well then you help to
shape the image and the idea of your brand in the mind of your audience and this is also not to tell
you that you need to prioritize a double meaning tagline your tagline first and foremost needs to
be memorable it needs to be clear and they are the priority only then can you think about injecting a
clever double meaning into your tagline so you do need to make sure that your tagline is effective
first and foremost and not to prioritize a double meaning over that effectiveness but what about you
what's your favorite example of a double meaning tagline are you building a brand at the moment are
you in the middle of your tagline development and have you used techniques before to develop
a tagline that you really like let me know in the comments below if you have major challenges around
the tagline let me know as well or if you have any questions at all around taglines or double
meaning taglines let me know in the comments i'll do my best to answer all of those questions
if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and i will see you in the next
video you