Today, when the streak of competition in the ecosystem is increasing with each passing day, the identity of a brand is often hinged on its ability to stand out. Hence, making it important for business owners to know how to register a brand name in India. This means, as a business owner you need to put as much effort into making a customer impression, as you do in growing your profits. Catchy slogans and taglines can easily become a part of your marketing campaign. Further, it is a proven fact that taglines are easier to remember. Hence, making taglines and slogans a part of your company trademark registration is a smart move in creating a unique brand identity.
Defining Taglines and Slogans
Slogans and taglines are a combination of words and phrases that make it easier for the audience to connect with a brand. Might seem like a blatant marketing technique, yet, a carefully curated slogan or tagline is capable of becoming synonymous with a brand name or its identity. For example, “Just Do It”, and “Daag acche hai”. Hence, you can state that slogans and taglines are powerful tools that help a brand distinguish from competitors and create an emotional connection with the consumers.
Trademark Registration: Safeguarding Brand Identity
Trademark registration provides 360-degree protection for your brand name. It is an intellectual property right that protects all marks, words, symbols, expressions, phrases, logos, etc. that are capable of being used in the course of trade. When you register these marks as trademarks, you can protect your mark from unauthorized use, infringement, or imitation. Hence, you can safeguard your brand identity.
Distinctiveness and Creativity
Creativity and distinctiveness are the basis of the foundation of trademark registration. The registration certificate is only available to those marks that are distinctive and unique. Hence, the slogans and taglines must be crafted after careful consideration by brand owners.
The use of generic words or phrases is not a smart move while curating a tagline to trademark. The use of distinctiveness will anyway give your company an upper hand in the market.
Additionally, the brand owners also need to be outrightly creative in building the brand identity. So many times, brands have become inseparable from their taglines. For example, “Have a Break, Have a KitKat” is a tagline that is inseparable from KitKat.
Memorability and Brand Recall
It is a proven fact that the memorability of catchy slogans and taglines is very high. When you come up with an effective slogan, it will remain etched in your target audience’s minds for way longer than usual. An effective tagline can create a connection between the brand and its consumers. Further, a slogan that is capable of evoking emotions from a customer will help in recalling the brand name. Hence, when you get trademark registration for a slogan or tagline, it ensures that your competitors cannot exploit your creative mark.
With each use of a tagline in the brand’s marketing campaigns, it becomes more and more integral to the brand’s success story. Hence, you should take all measures to protect your intellectual property.
Trademark Search Facility
It is a known fact that all registered trademarks are distinctive marks. Hence, if the registry finds similar existing marks during your registration process, they will issue an examination report. To avoid this hindrance in registration, the TM registry offers the IP India search portal. This portal allows you to conduct a comprehensive search of all similar trademarks. Hence, when you engage in a trademark search, eliminates the risk of you unknowingly infringing someone else’s intellectual property rights.
Further, when there is infringement of trademarks, it causes a lot of damage to the reputation of the brand owner. Hence, as business owners, you must be diligent in ensuring your trademark registration.
International Considerations
While coming up with an appropriate tagline or slogan, you must also keep the globalised marketplace into consideration. Today, with easy access to the internet, it is becoming very easy to expand business operations across borders. So, if your brand expands globally, the language that you use in the marketing techniques must be pretty common. Hence, it is necessary to adapt the taglines that the literal translation does not deviate from the brand ideology.
Evolution of Taglines and Slogans
The slogan or tagline of a brand is not set in stone. There have been so many instances when the company keeps on updating and refreshing its taglines and slogans. Usually, a company will do so, when there is a major change in a brand strategy or market dynamics. This is a part and parcel of evolution. However, all companies must remember to not hamper the essence of their brand because of the transitions.
So many iconic taglines were derived after constant efforts and evolution with time. To grow in this competitive market, it is very important to keep evolving with time. For example, the original Nike tagline was “there is no finish line” used in 1977. However, by 1988 the tagline evolved and became the world renowned phrase “Just Do It”.
Conclusion
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of brand evolution. Besides, well-crafted slogans and taglines are the lifeblood of such creative campaigns. Further, when you know how to register trademark on such taglines and slogans, it also becomes a part of your company’s intangible assets. This helps you in eliminating competition and further creates a lasting bond with the customers. Even though the slogans and taglines are unconventional trademarks of a company, it helps in protecting and growing your brand image. Today, more and more people get slogans, taglines, and brand name registration. Hence, it is advisable to get expert assistance before proceeding with trademark registration.
