A good slogan is like a good proverb – short, catchy, and to the point.
You know the ones – a stitch in time saves nine, don’t judge a book by its cover, the early bird catches the worm…
Proverbs often seek to teach a lesson and usually leave you better off than if you had ignored the lesson. A slogan works similarly. Only instead of life lessons, it seeks to educate you about the brand it represents. Like a proverb, a good tagline in this case, ultimately leaves a customer with a deeper sense of understanding about the business. It lets customers know what they can expect from your brand and establishes trust in the minds of your audience.
Your slogan should be memorable and impactful so that even potential buyers, who may not immediately need your service, will connect and identify with your business in a meaningful way. However, not all proverbs are gold, and similarly not all slogans achieve what they set out to accomplish. In fact, an ineffective slogan can do just the opposite of a good one and result in confusing messages and misleading brand perception.
So what are the elements of a good slogan?
Any one of the approaches below will give you a boss formula for creating a distinctive tagline. Make your slogan GOLDEN by combining at least two of them. Whether you’re facing doubts about your current slogan’s effectiveness, looking for new ideas on how to improve it, or thinking about creating an entirely new one to enhance your brand, here are five ways to create a tagline that will help take your brand identity from ‘Great’ to ‘Gr-r-r-r-eat!’
Keep it Short, Catchy and Simple
In today’s fast-paced world, a long wordy slogan, is an unread, unremembered slogan. Sorry, but that’s the hard truth. It doesn’t matter how profitable your business is. If you can’t sell it in one line, you’ve already lost your edge in the market. A good slogan should be short, memorable, and easily understood. It should be simple yet catchy. Slogans come to life when your phrase is effortless, obvious, and relatable. Think McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” or Kit-Kat’s “Give Me A Break.”
Short, catchy slogans work because when you hear them, your mind is already visualizing the brand it is connected with, and that’s precisely what you want to achieve. Make your slogan pop by adding a short song, jingle, or rhythm to it. Words are often far more memorable with a tune or a beat.
Share Your Brand’s Unique Story
We have all heard of Samsung – the technological giant. Samsung thrives on innovation through incremental improvement in its product offerings. Its electronics portfolio is constantly changing and improving regularly in its mission to make the use of its gadgets more convenient for its consumers. Its unique slogan, “Inspire the World, Create the Future” sets it apart from its competitors, and helps to tell its story. The slogan speaks to Samsung’s unique attribute of remaining at the cutting edge of the latest technology.
So too, should your brand slogan outline what makes your brand different from the rest. What do you offer that other competitors don’t? It is this message that you should attempt to integrate into your brand’s slogan. Pointing out your unique attributes will solidify your brand position in the market and clearly communicate your unique selling proposition. Now that you’ve heard Samsung’s story,
Which part of your story do you think will resonate most with your target audience?
Consider Your Target Audience
We mentioned positioning earlier, and this is where we will discuss it further because it plays a significant role in how effective your slogan is. Knowing who you are selling to will help you get your brand’s message across in the right way. Create for your business an avatar of your ideal customer. Go ahead and name him or her. Once you’ve done this, your slogan should consist of concepts or expressions that will appeal to this avatar. Your brand can also decide to focus on several customer types. What this will do, is ensure that your slogan choice is a catch-all phrase for your specified audiences, and at the same time, as inclusive as possible for the general public as well.
Just take a look at the Trinidadian beer company, Carib Brewery. The slogan, “Real Beer is Carib”, used for their marketing of ‘Carib’ beer, speaks directly to an audience who enjoys drinking a ‘Real’ beer—suggesting that some beers may not be authentic for various unspoken reasons. In contrast, Heineken, with its 2018 slogan, “Lighter is better,” is clearly marketing to persons who may want a modified beer product. This can be lighter in calories and alcohol content, and therefore is positioning itself for a health conscious segment of the public.
Keep It Genuine
An effective slogan will drive clients to commit to your brand based on the promise of its message. How do you do this? By allowing your promises to be achievable and relatable to your target audience, and by avoiding the use of colorful, over-the-top promises or proclamations that you will find yourself hard-pressed to keep as your brand develops.
Your brand’s promise should be reflected throughout the service your brand delivers, and not only in the imagery it provides. Anything less than that, and you risk damaging your brand’s reputation by positioning yourself as untrustworthy and unreliable in the eyes of your customers.
Avoid cliches like ‘The Worlds #1…’ or ‘The best…’ that might prove difficult to support. Instead, focus on what you know your brand does well and sell that in your slogan. For instance, you probably might not want to brag about having the world’s most delicious coffee. But if you pride yourself on running a 24/7 coffee business, you can probably assure your customers that whenever they are in need of a good cup, you’ll always be there for them.
Connect Emotionally with Your Audience
Knowing how to evoke an emotional response from your audience goes a long way in driving your brand’s slogan home and making the impact you desire. A slogan that promotes the emotional needs of its customers over its own product or service invokes a positive, ‘feel good’ aura in the client’s mind when they think about your brand. They are, therefore, more likely to stick with your brand if they feel that you can understand and relate to their needs.
L'Oréal demonstrates this beautifully with their slogan, “Because You’re Worth It”, which shares the sentiment that your worth is not determined by the world’s standards but by your own.
Get it right
Test it! Ask a group of your ideal customers what they think about your new or revised tagline. Asking close friends, family or employees is good, but getting the feedback of your ideal customer avatar is best.
Creating the exactly right slogan that fits your brand identity will undoubtedly take some pondering on. Chances are you may not even get it exactly the way you want it, the first time. Nevertheless, putting your focus on getting your unique message across to your target audience in a simple, honest, and heartfelt way, will give you the wings needed to take you from having an ‘okay’ slogan to the right slogan for your brand.
Which of these does your slogan utilize? Comment to let us know below.