I noticed this week that the big financial group Citi has launched a new campaign. It’s actually quite well done on many fronts (I saw it first in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal; however, you can see an on-line version at www.citi.com/letsgetitdone).

The tagline is “let’s get it done.” The premise: Dreams are good (now, visualize the Citi red rainbow-like arc connecting to…) Realities are better. Then they go on to explain that, if this were the day you were to go ahead with one of your dream goals, Citi has all the resources to help you “get it done.”

What I like about this campaign - a lot - is that it focuses on ME, the potential user of financial services. It is aspirational. It taps into dreams, visions, possibilities. And it ends up with a concrete challenge - all right, let’s do something about it. Together.

I’d give the whole thrust of the approach an “A” grade. However, the one thing that I’m not sure “gets it done” is the tagline. Why? Well, at least 2 reasons come to mind:

1. It’s very general. You cannot see this tagline attached to the Citi brand and “get it” without really digesting the entire campaign message. It doesn’t stand intuitively on its own as something that speaks to the observer about “financial services.”

2. It feels, at the gut level, too much like Home Depot’s tagline. “You can do it. We can help.” (now that tagline intuitively attaches to what Home Depot is all about - I don’t need an explanation). I don’t think Citi wants to position itself as a company that somehow mirrors Home Depot.

Maybe it will grow on me. It does have the virtue of decisive simplicity. What do you think? What other brands come to mind that have a very natural, intuitive, effective tagline attached to them (no further explanation needed)? What brands have adopted taglines that require you to go through mental contortions to find the attachment? Put your best thoughts in the Comments - let’s get it done!

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