Great post over at Brains on Fire about taglines. Go join in.

In his post, Spike shares a pretty important rule when conjuring up a tagline (for your your business or for your unfortunate client): "Never use a tagline that just anyone can use. Ever."

Excellent advice - and he offers some pretty great examples to make his point.

I would take things a step further and offer “kill your tagline and bury it deep in the woods somewhere, where no one will ever think to look for it.”

Gucci, Starbucks, RayBan, Yves St. Laurent, Cartier and Bentley may have taglines, but I’d venture to say no one knows what they are. Why? Because a strong brand doesn’t need to explain itself through a tagline.

I hate taglines with a passion. They almost always suck, and rarely add anything to the brand they are supposed to serve.

A few exceptions to put this comment in perspective:

HBO - It isn’t TV. It’s HBO.
VW - Drivers Wanted.
Apple - Think Different.

Why do these taglines work? Because these brands are market disruptors and game changers - and therefore need a little extra definition here and there. Beyond that, creating taglines for most companies is a complete waste of time. The fact that most taglines are boring and interchangeable more than illustrates that point.

Go read the whole post.

Labels: brand insights, horrible marketing, taglines