A few weeks back, as a way of celebrating the launch of the new Writing projects on crowdSPRING, we invited the entire community to submit their best work to be published as a guest post on the cS blog. We received over 70 entries, including tons of really great submissions, and ideas on some really fantastic topics. We’re very proud to present the winning entry in it’s entirety here. Enjoy this post by Josh Tavlin…
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The world of advertising is full of taglines that stink to high heaven. I should know. As a Creative Director at a Global Advertising Agency, I’ve had to bear witness to some of the emptiest, word-playiest pieces of jetsam the industry has to offer.
And even then, there are levels of bad. There are the taglines that are so misguided they make you run from the brand screaming. There are the taglines that are so boring you barely even notice them. And there are the taglines that are so grating you wish someone would gouge your eyes out so you didn’t have to see them ever again. How do you avoid producing one of these rotting corpses? Check the checklist below for some answers…
1) How long is it? That’s too long. Keep it short. As information gets processed faster, attention spans are getting shorter. “Just do it.” Three words. “Got Milk.” Two words. “Yo Quiero Taco Bell.” Four words and half of it is the friggin company name! Say it fast and get the hell out.
2) Does it sound like a cliché? The world doesn’t need more, “Designed for You” or “Simply The Best” taglines. They’re boring, say absolutely nothing — basically a complete waste of ink.
3) Does the tagline capture an emotion? I’ve always loved “We’ll Leave The Light On For Ya” for Motel 6. It’s like a warm embrace, and it says volumes about the company behind it. A tagline should capture a feeling or emotion; if it doesn’t, it’ll only graze your audiences’ skull, not penetrate it.
4) Does it embrace a “truth?” “Get Met. It Pays,” set MetLife apart from other insurance companies by getting to the heart of what customers want. Sure, it’s nice if insurance companies come across as a warm bosom in your time of need, but when your house has burned to the ground, you need fast money, not a fast bosom. MetLife knew this and owned it.
