After spending millions developing a new slogan, Citigroup finally unleashed its new tagline this week: "Citi Never Sleeps." Now, while it's not unusual for a big corporation to spend way too much money on a project that ends up a debacle, what makes this tale especially egregious is that: 1) Their former tagline was, "The Citi Never Sleeps" and 2) Citi spent $30 million last year pushing an entirely different tagline that was eventually dropped. That slogan, "Let's Get it Done," apparently didn't resonate with customers and apparently sounded too much like blue collar comedian Larry the Cable Guy's one-liner, "Git-R-Done." You can't make this stuff up.

But all that aside, the main question I have is whether any tagline is worth $30 million-plus. I thought about it, and I can only rattle off slogans for a handful of companies. Certainly branding can affect consumer behavior, but is it really worth that price tag? And for an existing, well-known company like Citi, does a new tagline change anything? Check out Citi CEO Vikram Pandit's memo to employees about the announcement, via Dealbreaker, where he explains why the tagline matters:

"This advertising enhancement builds on Citi's existing brand, one of the most valuable brands in the world, which was further broadened through global advertising campaigns last year, and supports the company's rich history of serving customers any time and any place through a variety of channels."

Say what?

I'm not going to argue that having a solid branding campaign doesn't matter, in fact, I think it's critical, especially for small businesses. But, I actually think that there's a message here for entrepreneurs. If you're starting a small business, or wish to change your existing company's advertising campaign, I suggest you spend your money on something with more tangible ROI—like web marketing or SEO. Think about it: has a slogan ever influenced a purchase you've made?