Comments on: Follow. Forget. Fail. Why 3 Word Taglines Suck

By: Traci Pearson

Traci Pearson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:41:02 +0000

Follow. Forget. Fail. Why 3-word taglines suck: http://bit.ly/67r0kV

By: Kenneth Cheung

Kenneth Cheung — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:32:19 +0000

Observing @aprildunford in all her blogsphere glory. I need some of that mojo. A sample of what makes her so cool. http://bit.ly/HifVV

By: onproductmanagement.net

onproductmanagement.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:49:28 +0000

But three-word taglines work perfect with what our mearking head used to call “donut charts.” You know the ones – a ring divided into three (maybe 4) segments with arrows at the end of each? Because you cannot have an Enterprise product without a donut chart somewhere. [Ethan]

By: Donna Papacosta

Donna Papacosta — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:25:58 +0000

RT @aprildunford: Blog post: Follow Forget Fail: Why 3 word taglines suck. http://bit.ly/1MFJqS

By: Shanta R. Nathwani

Shanta R. Nathwani — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:27:03 +0000

RT@povprod: Blog post: Follow Forget Fail: Why 3 word taglines suck. http://bit.ly/1MFJqS – Lynn, this one’s for you.

By: April Dunford

April Dunford — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:06:11 +0000

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the comment. I actually kind of liked “Success, not Software” back when Salesforce.com was the only real SaaS CRM offering out there. It’s less differentiated now for sure but the fact that they are a hosted service and not an installed software solution still key part of their value prop.
You bring up a good point with Allstate (and Maxwell House for that matter) in that if your tagline is memorable and you stick with it long enough and your brand is big enough, it takes on a life of its own. This is part of the reason people think it’s so critical to have a tagline in the first place. What smaller companies don’t realize is how long and expensive it is to get a tagline to stick like “You’re in Good Hands”.
April

By: April Dunford

April Dunford — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:58:42 +0000

Hi John,
Thanks for the comment. I’m a big fan of using a full statement over a tagline. I know it won’t work if you are trying to incorporate it into a logo but if you are using it on your marketing materials, on your website, etc. you usually have enough space to use plain english.
April

By: Rob Tyrie (www.nexj.com)

Rob Tyrie (www.nexj.com) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:53:02 +0000

Great post. Good to the last drop.
Seriously, I have done a lot of work in high tech and I have seen some awful high tech company tag lines because the companies “thought” they had to do it. The infamous “Success, not Software” comes to mind. It is the responsibility of Marketing to make sure the message works or have the guts not to do it. I’ve had the good fortune to work with some amazing Insurance companies that get the use of a tag lines to enhance their brand and extend their value proposition. If you’re out there testing a tag line, I’d ask myself if the one being considered is as good as what they have done or at least approaches it. Use them as a model. You’re in good hands.

By: John Stewart

John Stewart — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:52:50 +0000

I’m in marketing and I agree with you that non-marketers tend to think that having a tagline is really important when normally I agree that you could get away without one. I prefer a single line descriptive sentence over a tagline.
John

By: Jen Barron

Jen Barron — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:26:30 +0000

So true: RT @aprildunford Blog post: Follow Forget Fail: Why 3 word taglines suck. http://bit.ly/1MFJqS