In a recent discovery call, a client proudly offered up a tagline they’d been working on. As the virtual high-fives made their way among the participants, a euphoric outlook quickly emerged: We’ve now got mindshare!

If it were only that easy…

There’s a big difference between a tagline and mindshare.

A tagline is a phrase whose purpose is to capture the attention of the widest possible audience to convey the value and promise of a brand or product. For instance:

• Just Do It (Nike)
• Like A Good Neighbor, State Farm Is There (State Farm)
• I’m Lovin’ It (McDonald’s)
• Don’t Live Life Without It (American Express)
• Let’s Go Places (Toyota)

Mindshare is what your stakeholders – including prospects, customers, partners, investors, employees, job seekers, investors, competitors and more – believe about your brand or product. And that’s only achieved through a killer story.

Consider for a moment your favorite novel or movie or video game or even that joke that still cracks you up. What makes it compelling?

I tend to believe it has to do with being logically told and logically progressed.

My partner, Scott Gregory, observes, “It may be the subject is super relevant or how the story is told but, if it’s entertaining and engaging, when the story is good there is a connection.”

Meanwhile, John Trumby declares in The Anatomy of Story, “Good storytelling doesn’t just tell audiences what happened in a life. It gives them the experience of that life.”

A truly exceptional story not only engages and influences the audience but, most importantly, invites the audience to participate in the story – to imagine themselves actively existing in and shaping the world in which the story takes place. That’s how you build mindshare.

Unfortunately, you can’t simply just tagline (or slogan) your way into mindshare. A tagline is an attention-getter, so it can help build awareness. Awareness is indeed beneficial, but not like mindshare. (Learn more about awareness and mindshare here.)

To build mindshare, you need a killer story that empowers the audience to imagine their world and the benefits from using a brand or product. And those stories are multidimensional.