Tagline

A tagline (often loosely called a slogan) is a short line that sits with a brand’s name or logo and says what the brand promises or what spirit it stands for. Viettel’s “Theo cách của bạn” (Your way) is a tagline: just four words in Vietnamese, placed next to the logo since 2021.

What is a tagline?

A name and a logo are hard to change. A tagline can be changed, which makes it the flexible part of a brand. Kohli, Leuthesser and Suri (Business Horizons, September 2007) advise that a tagline should emphasize a point of difference that matters to customers and fit what customers already think about the brand.

Tagline vs slogan vs positioning statement

The positioning statement is the long version, written for people inside the company, and it belongs in the brand strategy. The tagline is the short version, made for customers to hear and remember. In Vietnam, “slogan” and “tagline” are often used interchangeably. Keeping the two concepts apart stops every new campaign from changing the line attached to the logo.

Example: Viettel shortens its tagline in 2021

On January 7, 2021, Viettel unveiled a new identity. The logo changed from blue to red and dropped the quotation marks around the name. The tagline went from “Hãy nói theo cách của bạn” (Say it your way) to “Theo cách của bạn” (Your way). According to Viettel, the new line opens the brand up to a range of digital services, not just telecoms like the old one (VietnamFinance, January 2021).

The word “nói” (say) was tied to phone calls. With it gone, the part customers had remembered for years (“your way”) stayed, and the scope widened to cover digital services. That’s how to change a tagline without losing what customers already remember.

How to write a tagline

1. Pick a single idea from the strategy: one benefit, or one spirit. Don’t cram quality, price and service into one line.
2. Write 20 to 30 options and read each one out loud. Drop any line you stumble over.
3. Swap a competitor’s name into the line. If it’s still true, the line doesn’t say anything that’s yours.
4. Check that the line sits well next to the logo and fits your brand identity and brand voice.
5. Run a trademark search and search Google to see whether anyone already uses a similar line.
6. Check it against Vietnam’s amended Law on Advertising (Law No. 75/2025/QH15, Official Gazette of the Government of Vietnam, June 2025): Vietnamese wording in advertising must preserve the purity of the Vietnamese language and be clear and easy to understand (Clause 1a, Article 18), and content must be truthful and must not mislead about quality or uses (Article 19).

What to avoid

• Lines anyone could say: “Quality makes the brand”, “Reputation comes first”.
• Promises you can’t prove: “No. 1 in effectiveness”, “Guaranteed cure”.
• Abbreviations, slang, or English mixed in so that customers have to guess the meaning.
• Changing the tagline with every campaign. Campaign lines go somewhere else; they don’t replace the line next to the logo.

Frequently asked questions

Does a new business need a tagline right away?

It isn’t required. If your name doesn’t make clear what you sell, a descriptive tagline (“Cà phê rang mộc Đắk Lắk”, plain-roasted coffee from Dak Lak) is more useful than an inspirational one.

Should a Vietnamese brand have an English tagline?

Only if your main customers read English every day or you sell abroad. Viettel keeps a Vietnamese and an English version side by side with the same meaning.

If you need to write or review a tagline together with your brand positioning, contact Adtek to work with our Brand Strategy team.