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When MasterCard’s first ‘Priceless’ spots ran during the 1997 World Series in the US, few could have predicted the ads and their now-familiar tagline, ‘There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard’, would so intrinsically ingrain themselves into the psyche of consumers worldwide.

Developed by McCann Erickson, the global tally of ads over the last decade is pushing 200 as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. MasterCard has trademarked ‘Priceless’ and, in a sign of the campaign’s ultimate success, it has been parodied by consumers, broadcasters and even politicians around the globe.

But of late, there has appeared a groundswell of ‘we’ve seen it before’ on blogs, online community sites and, specifically with regard to the latest work in Asia-Pacific featuring Denise Keller in the lead-up to the Singapore Fashion Festival, from the industry itself.

So it begs the question: has the ‘Priceless’ tagline passed its use-by date? Eric Einhorn, vice-president and chief strategy officer of McCann Worldgroup globally and Asia-Pacific director of McCann Erickson, doesn’t think so.

“The greatest sin would be to release a MasterCard campaign that wasn’t magical. We think it’s infinite in scope, but there are plenty of sceptics and a lot of envy in the industry. MasterCard tests and measures every piece of creative, and the current ads are performing far stronger than (previous ones) did a few years ago.”

MasterCard is not the only brand to come under the microscope though. Nike, for example, has staked its brand promise on ‘Just do it’ for many years and moved to relaunch it last year. Even American Express’ David Ogilvy-created ‘Don’t leave home without it’, an iconic tagline that ran for 12 years before it was dropped in 1987, re-emerged in 2005 for AmEx’s Travelers Cheque Card.

So when exactly does it become time to trade tired lines in for fresh copy? A lot of it, some note, comes down to ego.

“At least half the time a well-established brand is changed through ego, with a marketer embarking on change for change’s sake,” says Charles Wrench, global CEO of Landor Associates.

“But, generally, a tagline has run its race when it doesn’t carry meaning any more, and it has become so generic that it means little to consumers and ceases to define a proposition.”

Adslogan.com, a UK-based organisation offers tips for creative practitioners in assessing taglines.

Among the 15 positive attributes a tagline should present, are: ‘be memorable’, ‘reflect the brand’s personality’ and ‘impart positive feelings for the brand’, among others. The list also includes ‘should nots’, such as ‘prompt a sarcastic or negative response’, ‘be corporate waffle’ and even ‘make you say “so what?”’

Clearly, the mentioned brands demonstrate some elements of both, which is why Paul Grubb, Lowe Worldwide’s regional executive creative director and global head of creative on Unilever’s Clear anti-dandruff shampoo, argues that it’s not just the tagline that should come into play.

“You’re putting a lot of responsibility on a tagline — it’s not a campaign idea by itself but a summation of the brand’s public DNA at best. A campaign needs to evolve even if the tagline remains the same,” he observes.

“For my money, MasterCard hasn’t run its course. It just needs refreshing.”