Marketing News: How to make your brand work harder
Marketing News

Why your brand needs a slogan

For years companies have used slogans. They call out from the shelves and windows of shops, from billboards, TV campaigns, through to promotional products like t-shirts and more recently on face masks. Companies have slogans for exactly the same reason they have logos: advertising.

Slogans, when done right, sum up a company’s strategy and communicate the very reason ‘why’ audiences should choose your products or services over your competitors.

The power of words used in marketing products and services are synonymous with companies and the values they put out in the world.  It’s an important part of brand building and helps to shape a business’s identity by defining its positioning within its industry while having a profound effect on culture. But what makes a good one?

According to research, there are primary factors that determine whether people like it or not: clarity of message; creativity; the exposition of benefits and familiarity with the brand. Essentially, an impactful one should resonate with your audience, evoke emotional responses and make your customers want to find out more about your business.

You only need to look at some of most memorable brands to reflect upon whether, or not, your company’s slogan cuts the mustard.

Take the tale of McDonald’s ‘I’m Lovin’ It.’ It was the first time the fast-food company had ever used a single message in a worldwide campaign to suggest that everyone and anyone loves their food. The story of how ‘ba-da-ba-ba-ba’ came to be more than a decade ago still resonates with most age groups.

‘Just Do It’ is one of the most popular slogans in the history of advertising. People immediately recognise the slogan and associate it with the brand Nike. The initial idea came from the belief that the slogan would inspire people to think differently – and it does. Campaign Magazine describes it as ‘arguably the best slogan to have been created.’

ebay outlines its entire business model in six simple words: ‘Buy It. Sell It. Love It’, with the company marketing the site as the one stop shop it is and highlights that customer satisfaction inevitably is the conclusion here.

Evidently a good slogan is brief yet memorable. The goal? To leave a key brand message in peoples’ minds so that, if they remember nothing else from the advertisement, they’ll remember the slogan!

Customer recall is also considered one of the most effective ways of measuring its success while longevity goes a long way in enhancing recall. According to Advertising Age, the average age of a slogan is 28 years. In a reader survey, the publication found that ‘De beers: A diamond is forever’ is the most recognised slogan of the Century with as many as nine out of 10 people claiming to identify it more than 70 years after its creation.

Whether your business is a diamond in the rough, or it already dazzles in the dimmest of lights, a meaningful slogan will help influence your customers to buy from you.

Slogans: How marketers can make words matter

  • Make it memorable

Ask yourself, is your slogan quickly recognisable? Will people be able to easily understand what it means and is there an obvious affiliation to your brand that can forge a link between the two?

  • Clearly communicate the benefits

Sell the benefits and not the features. Don’t spend time selling your customers the individual details of how product or service works, tell them about the unique benefits.

  • Differentiate the brand

Your product or service might be the most affordable in the market, but does it offer great value for money? If it does, prove it and say it.

  • Impart positive feelings about the brand

Use words that are positive and upbeat to leave a better impression on your audience.

Further Reading

History of advertising: No 118: Nike’s ‘Just do it’ tagline Campaign Live
Ad Age Advertising Century: Top 10 Slogans Ad Age
Don’t expect a slogan to make your brand famous Marketing Week