More often than not taglines are like white elephants. You don’t need them, there’s no good place to put them, and they’re tough to get rid of.

I was reminded of this once again yesterday when a client of ours, a smart and savvy VP of Marketing we’ve worked with for almost 10 years, was faced with an awkward political dilemma. A divisional VP who was trying to make his mark demanded a tagline and worse yet, came up with it. It is “Exceptional service. Better value.”

Cringe.

It’s so nice to have an outlet. Now instead of grinding my teeth in my sleep I can just blog about this. Here, fellow marketers, are some of the problems with taglines.

Generic taglines can actually hurt you
“Exceptional service. Better value” is a classic in the annals of apple pie and motherhood, which is what the majority of taglines are. You could say this about any product or company, whether it was true or not. It doesn’t differentiate and it’s not believable. People want to know what makes your product better, which is about content and conversation. A generic line undermines credibility and brings your message down. Makes it sound like everything you just said is “marketing BS”.

Taglines are so 20th Century
So how about good taglines? Apple Computer has had a few. “The computer for the rest of us” was their revolutionary statement when they launched the Mac in the 1980’s. Notice that they don’t have a tagline in their current TV commercials? They’ve chosen to focus on the message itself, allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

How come? What’s changed? 21st Century audiences don’t want to be talked at. They’re as skeptical as you can get. Engage them instead. If you stick a tagline at the end of your communication, you’re commercializing what was starting to be a nice relationship.

For example, my partner recently saw a helpful home improvement TV spot which had him involved until an annoying voice and animated logo ended with “That’s the Power of the Home Depot.” Ugh.

You can’t afford a tagline
The mass market monoliths put millions of dollars in advertising and promotion behind taglines, which are part of enormous branding campaigns. Example: McDonalds “I’m Lovin’ it”. The idea is to engrave the line and its associations into your audience’s memory. The average marketer doesn’t have this kind of budget.

Taglines are about you, not the customer
It goes like this. The CEO gets a far away look in his or her eye and says, “You know I just thought of a great tagline for our company.” I smile tactfully. Compliment the creativity. And explain the reality: this line is meaningful internally to the company, but customers and prospects won’t care. It doesn’t buy you anything.

Do a descriptive line instead
By “tagline” I’m referring to those short lines under a company name and logo that try to be cute and clever or else tritely aspirational. In contrast, a descriptive line is a great thing to have. It defines in a concise sentence or phrase what your company does and the benefit it provides. It goes at the top of your website or somewhere on your brochure or LinkedIn page.

A concise descriptive line is particularly important for technology companies who are inventing new ways of doing things. These are not supposed to be memorable or clever, they are descriptive. Examples: For a navigation systems client: “We take over where GPS leaves off.” A cleantech client: “Pavement solutions that increase performance, lower costs and improve the environment.” A publishing client: “The business magazine for executives who are integrating workforce management with corporate goals.”

Whew. I feel better now. Gotta go and tell my team we have to put “Exceptional service. Better value” on that divisional brochure.