Six Tagline Mistakes to Avoid

A tagline works because of how it sounds, how it looks, how memorable it is and how easily it conveys a brand promise. Creating taglines is some of the most difficult writing, because so much is demanded from so few words.

We can all name taglines that worked, like:

• Just do it (Nike)
• Got milk? (California Milk Processor Board)
• Where's the beef? (Wendy's)
• Think different. (Apple Computer)
• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (M&Ms)
• It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (Timex)

But here are some that we're not so sure of:

• We're Exxon. (Exxon)
• We're chicken. (Tyson)
• Is that Playtex under there? (Platex)

Here are pitfalls a good tagline should avoid--from the Tagline Guru (a site worth visiting, by the way):

1. Being cliche.
2. Being bland or boring.
3. Attempting to imitate another good tagline.
4. Not being true to your brand.
5. Being self-serving.
6. Using complex, long words.

Read more about these tagline mistakes at taglineguru.com