When the ask, isn’t the answer.

Recently, two different clients came to us asking for the same thing, “we need a tagline”. 

That’s often how it starts, a request that sounds more like a solution. But, once we started asking questions like, why do you need it, where will it show up, what’s its purpose, we uncovered two very different needs. One client needed headlines to use in a campaign. The other really did need a tagline to explain their brand name. Same ask on the surface, yet totally different solutions underneath.

The Real Question Is Always “Why?”

This happens all the time. A client says, “We need a new website,” or “Shouldn’t we be on TikTok?” Our response is almost always the same: Why?

We use this simple and well-known technique to make sure we’re solving the right problem. We don’t ask to be difficult, we ask to be effective. Because if we don’t understand the problem, we’re just guessing at the solution. And guesses are expensive. Therefore, before we start creating, we ask questions like:

• What are you trying to achieve?

• Who are you trying to reach?

• How will this be used?

These answers shape everything. Moving fast in the wrong direction will cost you money in the long run. The smartest moves come from clarity, not assumption.

Buzzwords Don’t Build Strategy

Marketing is full of familiar-sounding requests and just because something is common doesn’t make it right. The best outcomes don’t start with deliverables or tactics, they start with clarity. That’s why we ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and dig deeper before we build anything.

It’s Not About What You Call It

Whether you call it a tagline, a slogan, or a headline, the name doesn’t matter. What matters is that it works. That it moves the brand forward. That it solves the right problem. Forget the label and focus on the impact.