Whether you call it a slogan, a tag line or a strapline, those well thought out words added to your logo and used across your communications can encapsulate what you offer. It can inspire or explain – but either way it shows customers what you stand for. It’s another element of the branding tools at your disposal.
Of course you may not need a slogan if your brand name is 24/7 Car Parts or Secured Vacant Premises. But slogans add power to many brands. Here are some familiar and maybe not so familiar examples.
- Does exactly what it says on the tin. Ronseal
- The best a man can get – Gillette
- Building a better working world – EY (Ernst & Young Group)
- The happiest place on earth – Disneyland
- Life changing – The National Lottery
- Explore the world’s knowledge – The British Library
- Go further – Ford
Seven secrets of a great slogan
Great slogans complement and support the brand logo. To work a slogan must be:
1. Distinct
Your company slogan needs to show your position in the market place compared to competitors. It summarises what you stand for. And that must be different to all the other players.
2. Clear
It must clearly convey a single idea, whether your message is about quality, how your brand makes people feel, what your brand campaigns for or the specific niche you satisfy in the market. It needs to be written using words that are easy to understand.
3. Honest
It must reflect what you are about without over-claiming. Your customers are smart. It must reflect your brand strengths and values, not what you might like those strengths to be.
4. Short
Long slogans don’t work. So keep it short and punchy.
5. Memorable
You want your business to be remembered. So it makes sense to create a slogan that can be easily remembered. You might achieve this with humour or an unusual word combination that makes customers stop and think.
6. Multipurpose
It needs to work for all the ways in which you communicate. So make sure it can work in print, advertising and on social media.
7. Enduring
Long after you and your team are bored of your brand slogan it needs to retain relevance and meaning in the marketplace – and you need to keep using it to remind customers of what you stand for! So your slogan needs to have longevity built in. If it’s no longer relevant or research shows it has lost its edge with customers. Then its time for a rethink.
For slogans that add power to your brand chat to Mark on 07801 419800, email mark@marketingzone.co.uk or tweet @MarketingZoneUK.