A slogan is a short, catchy phrase, which defines your brand, emphasises its brand positiong, and is used to promote brand recall in your target market. In short, it’s a catchy way to enhance your brand image. Slogans aren’t just for big brand names; your small business needs a slogan, too. Follow these five steps to an unforgettable company slogan…
An unforgettable company slogan can, in marketing and image terms, be almost literally worth its weight in gold. Think of Nike’s globally famous Just do it, KFC’s Finger lickin’ good or American Express card’s Membership has its privileges.
Each of these taglines has helped to create a certain perception about the company or brand that has, in some cases, endured for decades. The We try harder slogan of Avis Car Hire, for example, has been around since 1962.
In simple terms, a company slogan is no more than a short sentence placed after a company or brand name that helps to give it an identity, image and point of difference from its competitors.
Step One: Be Clear As to the Benefit to the Customer
What’s your company/brand’s unique selling proposition (known to marketers as a ‘USP’) and what is the key benefit to potential customers? Once you’re clear on that, try to encapsulate it in the slogan. Remember that a catchphrase isn’t there to stroke the MD’s ego or act as some kind of in-house joke. Rather, it needs to clearly indicate why a customer should choose you over your competitors. Think of BMW’s, The ultimate driving machine, as an example.
Step Two: Play with Words and Ideas
Creativity requires patience and can also be a numbers game – the more ideas you play around with, the more likely you are to come up with something that really works. Even experienced advertising copywriters seldom have a ‘eureka moment’ that creates a great concept out of nothing and in a matter of minutes. It’s a hard slog that needs lots of ideas and plenty of input from different people. Don’t go with the first idea that comes up and be willing to ‘sleep on it’ for a day or two. Also be sure to research the slogans of your competitors (in particular) and other companies in general. The last thing you want is to be sued for copyright or to look like a copycat in the eyes of the public! Avoid concepts that originate from trends, fads or current happenings, as these will become outdated quickly.
Step Three: Keep it Simple (Stupid)/strong>
It’s best to keep your company slogan short, sweet – and memorable. If you can restrict it to five words or less, that’s great. But if it’s more than 10, you need to go back to the drawing board because it’s unlikely that people will remember it. Also, the longer it is, the more likely it is to be misunderstood. Some experts believe it’s acceptable to insert the business/brand name into the slogan, but take that with a pinch of salt. A glance at the Top 10 Slogans of the Century listing by the highly respected Advertising Age magazine shows that none include a business or brand name.
Step Four: Get Feedback on Your Idea
In South Africa we live in arguably one of the most complex societies on earth, with multiple languages, cultures, education levels, religions and outlooks on life. Once you have what you think is a workable idea for a slogan, be sure to test it out before going public. Show it to people from as many different backgrounds as possible and solicit honest feedback from them. Remember that what sounds immensely clever to a well educated native English-speaker may be nonsensical to someone from a different background. Worse still, your new pride and joy may be understood to mean something completely different to what you intended! Also get feedback from both genders and different age groups, as something which is immensely funny to young males may be offensive to older females, for example.
Step Five: Now, Use It
Once you’ve gone to all the trouble of creating a great slogan, be sure to use it. Put it in your advertisements and on letterheads, business cards, T-shirts, invoices, brochures, sales materials – even your building. The only way to ensure your catchphrase sticks in customers’ minds is to continually repeat it and reinforce the message.
