What’s in the business slogan?

Experts say that a good business slogan evokes emotions and ideas and associates it with the brand, even without naming the product. For instance look at the brand Nike. The company doesn't have to write the name of the brand in its advertising. The brand slogan "Just do it" used with the logo in itself tells everyone whose brand it is.

But at the same time, the brand should be able to deliver the slogan. Brands that are not honest with the slogan will lose its customers who will notice it immediately. Inc.com suggests five tips for writing an effective slogan. First give the slogan a rhythm, rhyme, and ring. For example County's slogan "The quilted quicker picker upper" has the rhythm, rhyme and ring to it. The second tip is highlighting a key benefit of the product or service. The slogan should help differentiate your product from competitors and that's what we need to focus on. For example Miller Lite's brand slogan "Great taste, less filling" highlights the key factor of the product. The third tip is to explain the company's commitment. Here we need to say what differentiates the company from competitors. For example Avis brand slogan "We're number two, so we try harder" makes use of this tip. The fourth and the most important tip is to stay honest. The slogan should accurately reflect the business. For example Visa's slogan "It's everywhere you want to be" very honestly conveys its business. And the last tip for effective slogan is to keep it short. Experts say that a slogan should not go beyond one sentence and would be best if it is between six to eight words long. For example Apple's brand slogan "Think different" may be a simple two word slogan but it can create a strong impact (Smith, D.).  

  However critics say that a brand slogan is really not required to market a product or service. For example brands like Starbucks, Whole Foods, Lululemon, Nordstrom do not have a brand slogan (Lee Yohn, D. 2013).

Critics say that 100 of the most influential brand slogans were written before 1948 and two-thirds ran before 1980. Even half of Forbes' best loved brand slogans ran before 1975. This clearly shows that brand slogans were a thing of the past when advertisers were needed to summarize their product in a tagline. Also brand slogans help differentiate a product or service from the competitors’ products and services. But in today's world most brands are distinguished less by their products and features and more by their values and personality. So if this is the case do we really need to wreck our brains finding the right brand slogan for our product or service?

Reference list

Lee Yohn, D. (2013). The Death of the Tagline Flexible branding is the new name of the game. Adweek. Retrieved from website link

Smith, D. 5 Tips for Writing an Effective Slogan. Inc.com. Retrieved from website link