a tagline has to convey as much meaning as possible in as few words as possible

Taglines are like short stories that no one understands.

Taglines may be the most difficult part of branding. And provide the least value. Why? Because a tagline has to convey as much meaning as possible in as few words as possible. Brevity usually trumps content, turning what was once a meaningful thought into corporate jargon. Don’t believe me? Take a look at The Financial Brand’s…

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The brain seems to work best thinking in threes.

The Rule of Three Rules

Your focus group and creative team has come up with 47 different ways why your your credit union/your product is superior to the competition. Your eyes glaze over at all the possibilities, that by using this amazing list in your marketing, you will astound the world with its obviousness, bring in monster results, and probably…

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Just by their overuse, the lack of original thought BECOMES OBVIOUS.

7 cliches way past their expiration date

I understand that when a phrase gets repeated enough, it can become a cliche. It can also become part of company’s culture – serving as a form of shorthand for CEOs and office managers – especially when anyone is talking about branding and marketing. And while cliches may have started out as a new way…

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More words don't persuade more, they just get in the way

Five fast ways to punch up copy

1. Tighten it up. Credit union marketers (or maybe it’s just marketers in general) have a particularly hard time knowing when to stop putting words on a page. More words don’t persuade more — they just get in the way of making your point. Edit ruthlessly. 2. Make it human. There’s no need to crack…

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an object or element of design that serves no real purpose

Are blasts from the past holding you back?

As a Wordsmith (that’s the official title I put on my business cards, anyway), I’m a big fan of new words. I recently ran across a doozy: skeuomorph, an object or element of design that serves no real purpose, but only echoes some past object. For example, many calendar applications on modern-day computers and mobile…

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