GOOD ENOUGH MESSAGING ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME
Your brand deserves a tagline that's more than "More than a..."
A running collection of brands using “More than a…” — some spotted by me, some sent to me by friends and followers. Proof that this line is everywhere.
MORE THAN A . . .
It seems like the world has gotten comfortable with messaging that’s good enough, and that somewhere along the line, ‘good enough’ became good enough.
There are plenty of things that could be making ‘good enough’ the standard: AI, deadlines that are too rushed, management that wants to stick to the safe side, or the fact that it is just so damn hard to come up with something new.
Whatever the cause, we’ve ended up in a world where lazy, vague, emotionless, done-again copy is being signed off at scale.
“More than a…” is the biggest offender of them all. Dare I say, it is perhaps the single most used line in marketing.
This is where the line states exactly the thing that the brand/product/service is trying to distance itself from. For example, a cookie brand using the line “More than just cookies.” Not exactly compelling, right?
I can guarantee that whether you’ve consciously realised it or not, you’ve seen a brand launch a product, service, campaign, or the brand itself with some variation of “More than a [thing-they’re-trying-not-to-be]”. Start paying attention, and you’ll notice it everywhere.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a running list of the brands I’ve collected so far:
Afterpay: “More than just a payments platform”
Square: “More than just payments”
North Face: “More than a jacket”
Decjuba: “More than a puffer”
Australia Post: “More than just packages”
NAB: “More than money”
Cotton On Group: “More than a candle”
Crumbl: “More than just cookies”
Village Cinemas: “More than a movie”
TAFE: “More than just trades”
L’Oreal: “More than concealer”
Sheet Society: “More than a workplace”
Strong Pilates: “More than pilates”
Prezzee: “More than a gift”
Western Star Butter: “More than butter”
Take a look at the two at the very top. Two big payment platforms, Afterpay and Square, both using eerily similar messaging. I'm sure you're wondering, how on earth did this happen? How the heck did this slip through the cracks?
This is the kind of overlap that's bound to happen when generic, overdone messaging ends up on billboards and marketing comms.
“More than just payments” – Square, on a billboard in Melbourne, September 2024.
“More than just a payments platform.” – Afterpay, on their website, September 2024.
Where is the creativity? Where's the flavour? Where's the storytelling?
How is a cookie more than a cookie, a candle more than a candle, or a puffer jacket more than a puffer jacket? (Unless the puffer jacket pours freshly made hot chocolate straight from the sleeve, I'm guessing it's actually... just a puffer jacket).
This kind of playing-it-safe messaging leaves consumers with perhaps more questions than they started with: If it does more than [BLANK], then what does it actually do?
And maybe the most disappointing thing about all of these, is that these are BIG brands. They’ve got the budget, they’ve got the resources, and they’ve got access to the right people to create 11/10 brand copy.
So, why don’t they?
The offenders aren’t just big household names. I’ve also seen small businesses rinse and repeating this line too:
Archers Wine Bar: “More than just a wine bar”
Oran Park Podium: “More than a pit stop”
A Local School: “More than a school”
Torquay tyre & Mechanical: “More than just tyres”
Only About Children: “More than childcare”
Yaru Water: “More than water”
Central Highlands Water: “More than water”
I completely understand why it’s such a go-to line in marketing. It feels bold. It feels strong. It gives the illusion of depth, and feels like you’re saying something powerful but without having to actually say it.
But this is where the problem lies: It doesn’t actually say anything. It alludes to meaning without actually delivering it, leaving the audience to full in the blanks.
And in a market full of noise where we’re bombarded with thousands of copy lines a day, a line that says absolutely nothing at all really isn’t good enough.
“MORE THAN A PUFFER”
For the sake of diving deep into this topic, I’m going to use Decjuba’s line “More than a puffer” that I spotted on an Instagram post when they launched their puffer jackets in 2024.
This is what I want to know: How exactly is this jacket more than a puffer? How is this puffer jacket so much better than my 12 year old one from Cotton On that still gets the job done just fine? Does this one have seven extra pockets? Does it have a built-in heater to help me combat the sub 10°C temperatures of Melbourne winter? Does it pour freshly made hot chocolate directly from the sleeve? Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer.
If this puffer is ‘more than’ a puffer, as they so claim, I want to know how. Reading between the lines, I’m going to guess that Decjuba wants consumers to assume that this is both a warm jacket, and a fashion statement at the same time. But there is a very low chance that the everyday consumer actually forms that connection, especially in the context of an Instagram post where the line ‘More than a puffer’ is seen for about 2 seconds, then scrolled past, and never thought about again.
This also applies to all of the other instances where I’ve seen this line be used. I still have no idea how Crumbl’s famous cookies are more than a cookie. And we may never know.
If “More than a” is so… well… shit, then how do we do it better? I’m glad you asked:
1. TELL ME WHAT YOU ACTUALLY ARE
This is where the missed opportunity lies. The “More than a puffer” copy doesn’t tell me a single thing about how the jacket is harder, better, faster, OR stronger. Or how it’s a fashion statement. Or how it’s even warm — which if you ask me is the bare minimum for a puffer jacket. Instead, I’m left searching for the answer myself, most likely to find that it actually is just another puffer jacket. And now I’m let down, sad, and losing trust in the brand faster than you can say ‘more than a’.
Because, well, you promised me a puffer that’s more than a puffer, but actually, it’s just a puffer. Ugh.
2. TURNING THIS MISSED OPPORTUNITY INTO A CATCH
This line needs to be flipped, to instead lead with that special thing that makes you so totally different from competitors. That way, you’ll get consumers instantly hooked, instead of keeping us guessing or left searching high and low for the answer. Instead, you’ve caught my eye at first glance. Now all that’s left to do is reel me in.
3. REEL ME IN
This is where you tell me the brand story. First you’ve hooked me, now paint the picture. Hook, line, and sinker.
A great example of this is Strong Pilates. I’ve seen their branding on socials. I’ve driven past some of their studios. I know the name, the logo, and the vibe. But until now, I had no idea what they actually did.
They’ve just released a global campaign for their launch into the US market titled More than Pilates, with supporting taglines including “More than sweat”, “More than riding” and “More than rowing”. After seeing all of these, I still didn’t know what kind of studio they were. I had to do some further digging myself to find out the answer, and I now *think* they offer hybrid classes combining reformer pilates with rowing and cycling. But I’m still not entirely sure.
And that’s a problem. If I’m actively trying to understand what a brand does and I’m still not 100%, that’s a pretty good indication that the message has missed the mark.
Then there’s CorePlus, a pilates brand who has got it just right, with their line “Movement that moves you”. The first time I saw that I thought ‘Damn, I wish I came up with that’. And that’s how you know it’s 10/10.
Although ‘Movement that moves you’ doesn’t specifically tell me what CorePlus does, or the kinds of classes they offer, it’s jam-packed with enough TOV (that’s Tone of Voice for anyone who doesn’t work in branding), energy and emotion, to the point that I immediately understood the kind of brand they are and who they’re for. And it’s a line that I’ve never forgotten.
That’s a pretty incomparable difference between the two: One line left me with more questions than I started with. And the other left me sold.
4. WHY “MORE THAN” ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH AND IS ACTUALLY REALLY SHIT
Of course, the average Joe probably doesn’t think twice about a line like “More than a puffer” or “More than a movie”. But that’s exactly the point.
As a designer and creative working with brands day in and day out, it’s my job to notice and call out the things that most people don’t. It’s my job to obsess over the tiny details that shape how a brand is perceived, even if someone isn’t consciously noticing them.
A wise man Dieter Rams once said “Good design is invisible”, and the same goes for copy. If it’s done right, it connects, it sticks, and often without the consumer even realising why.
But when the line is empty, lacking any recognisable TOV, and trying to please everyone, the brand experience starts to feel disjointed.
Instead of defaulting to ‘more than a’, use this as your chance to make your copyline so damn good, that your audience is hooked before they even have a chance to think twice about it.
5. IT DOESN’T MAKE ME FEEL ANYTHING
Where’s the emotion? Where’s the personality? Where’s the thing that makes me feel something?
A good line should make me feel something. But ‘More than…” doesn’t say anything of substance. And it definitely doesn’t excite me, pull on my heart strings, or give me a reason to care.
It doesn’t create any kind of long-lasting impact or connection and make me want to stick around for more. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. And if your copy doesn’t create a connection from the get go, why would I stick around for the rest?
INSTEAD: LEAD WITH THE “WHY”, FOLLOW WITH THE STORY
If your brand/product/service really is more than the others in your category, then tell me why. Tell me what makes it different, or what makes it better.
Because the ‘why’ is always more powerful than the ‘more than’.
The ‘why’ is the thing that creates meaning and gives me a reason to connect. And it’s always always always going to be so much more compelling than a line we’ve all seen before.
‘More than’ might hint at something deeper, but it leaves the consumer to figure that part out for themselves. And most people don’t want to work that hard just to understand what you’re trying to say.
And if your tagline could be slapped onto a thousand other brands and still make sense, it’s not the one.
