Prioritizes wordplay over clarity, leaving potential customers confused about what you actually do.
Sacrifices meaning for a punchline that nobody gets — except the marketing team.
Relies on obscure references, metaphors, or insider jokes that feel less like a tagline and more like a riddle with no answer.
If your tagline needs footnotes or a PowerPoint deck to explain, it’s not clever,it’s just homework.
What Works
Clever is great, but clarity comes first.
Test your tagline on people outside your industry: if they don’t get it, it’s time to simplify.
Ask yourself: “Would a stranger understand this in five seconds?” If not, try again.
A tagline should stick, not require decoding. If it sounds like it was written by Christopher Nolan during a blackout, you’ve gone too far.
(Even if, fine, I’d absolutely frame it on my wall.)
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