One of a brand marketer’s main challenges is discovering how to keep a company relevant to its customer base; describing in a quick, memorable way what the brand does, what it stands for, and how it helps improve the lives of its consumers. One of the most enduring ways to accomplish this goal is to create a short, memorable tagline to accompany the company branding. However, like everything creative, coming up with a clever, informative tagline can be difficult – even some of the world’s largest brands have made some unfortunate branding mistakes. Here are some of our contenders for worst taglines ever:
- Denny’s – A Good Place to Sit and Eat
Boring! Not only is it not memorable, but it does not help Denny’s stand out at all from its vast competition in the casual dining industry. This tagline could just as easily describe every other restaurant that Denny’s competes with for customers. Fortunately, Denny’s recently came to its senses and changed the brand tagline to “America’s Diner is Always Open”, which communicates a direct benefit (24/7 access) and differentiates it from every other casual restaurant (it’s America’s diner). - Exxon – We’re Exxon
Well, that’s nice. The tagline doesn’t communicate anything the company name doesn’t already. What does Exxon do? Why should consumers choose Exxon over the competition? There is no information in this tagline, and it is certainly not memorable. - Best Buy – Making Technology Work for You
This wouldn’t be a terrible tagline – if it was 2004. In this modern, tech-savvy culture, this type of tagline is unoriginal and doesn’t connect with customers. Most people don’t need Best Buy to make technology work; they can do that just fine on their own. Instead, people go to Best Buy hoping to make the right technology choice for them. This brand-new tagline took Best Buy 18 months to create as part of its larger brand positioning initiative; we think they need to go back to the drawing board. - Singer – We Make it Better
Make what better, exactly? This is another example of a brand whose company name and tagline do not convey any relevant information to a potential customer. Singer (which is a manufacturer of sewing machines) changed this tagline to “Singer is Sewing Made Easy”, which is a much better choice. It’s clear, memorable, uses the brand name in the tagline, and not only communicates what the company does, but why choosing that brand will improve a customer’s life.
A good tagline should be short, memorable, concise, and describe the company’s purpose and its value proposition – a tall order for one short phrase. If your brand needs a refresh, and you are struggling with crafting that perfect tagline, call us – our branding experts have years of experience positioning brands, and creating memorable branding packages.