.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Wondering which brand positions will guarantee you’ll just be one of the crowd? Try one of these:

1. Our quality is second to none

2. The difference is our people

3. Your success is our success

4. Customer service is our pleasure

5. Great value for your dollar

These are probably the five most common “tagline” positions in the marketplace. And not one of them has any meaning to consumers.

Why? They’re common, use bland language, make vague promises and are absolutely ordinary. In the end, they are simply the promises every business should make to its customers. Think about it and check yourself against these questions:

Shouldn’t we all provide quality products and services?

Don’t most businesses have well-meaning employees who care about the customers?

Isn’t the point of our business to help our customers be successful?

Doesn’t every business strive for good customer service?

And, shouldn’t we provide value for our compensation?

So if they are meaningless, why do businesses use them? They are businesses that: Can’t figure out how they are different from their competitors; aren’t different from their competitors; aren’t willing to make the effort to figure out how they are different; or don’t care to be different from their competitors.

Are you clinging to one of these five “non-brands” and pretending that you’re actually communicating a meaningful difference?

If your answer was yes, then the most important question to ask is “Why?”

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2007 Drew McLellan