Most brands use a slogan to help differentiate themselves to customers. Do they need one though? In today’s lesson, we’re going to answer that question and go over the importance of the slogan. We will show you the exact formula all successful brands use to help you create your very own brand’s slogan.
You will how other brands came up with theirs and how you can easily do the same.
A slogan is different from a mission statement and vision. It's short and sweet.
You will soon see why it's so important to make your slogan memorable.
In this lesson, we will:
A slogan can be defined as a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising. One popular slogan you’ve probably seen on television is Allstate. Their slogan reads “You’re in good hands.” This slogan is memorable in a lot of ways and is one of the first steps in building brand awareness
A slogan will cause your customer to stop and think.
A good slogan should link the brand or products promise to the target customer’s perception by communicating a unique benefit compared to competitors. They are informational in nature and help etch trust and quality of service in your customer’s minds.
Let’s look at an example:
For 50 years, KFC used the slogan “Finger-Lickin’ Good”. This was because it highlights what makes them different from all the other major fast-food options out there. Yes, you eat Mcdonalds with your hands too, but holding a Big Mac bun is very unlikely to make you want to lick your fingers.
Now you know what a slogan is, why brands use them and you also know the 3 key things all slogans must do.
You’ve just officially graduated from Slogan University. You now know why a slogan is such a vital part to a brand’s identity. We think it’s finally time to let you create a slogan of your own.
Let’s pretend we’re creating a slogan for a candle company so we can take you through each stage, step by step.
In the first step, we need to figure out what the benefit is that your brand or product offers. This is where you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
What do you do better than them? Is there anything you offer that they don't?
The candle brand uses lemon and lavender notes to increase focus and productivity. This benefit is different from other candle companies who focus on relaxation and calmness so we know the benefit is unique.
The benefit of the product is it allows customers to get more done, stay focused for longer and be more productive. That sounds like a win-win for any customer.
Take a moment to think about your own brand or product. Now, take a pen and write them down so you can see them. Brainstorming like this is effective for helping you visualize what you can do better than the competition.
This will help your brain process them better during the refinement stage.
Now we have your benefits, we now need to think of a simple and minimalist way of saying it. It needs to be short, sweet and memorable. More words are not better in this case. It’s best to get your point across in a clever way that gets your customers to stop and think. Something too wordy and they're likely to lose interest. The focus should be on some type of benefit for your customer that comes across in a catchy fashion.
Think of Nike. They only said three words but everyone remembers them. Just do it.
Here are some examples:
Light Your Productivity
Rekindle Focus
Work Brighter
As you can see, it’s simple and straight forward.
Make sure your ideas fit the 3 key rules and you will end up creating a slogan that will communicate your benefit in a clever and memorable way.
Your slogan might even take off and do more for your brand than you ever thought possible. Whether it helps boost sales, increase engagement, or helps capture more loyal customers, your business needs a slogan
We hope your new slogan catapults your brand to mainstream success. Remember, it takes a lot of time to build a brand. Coca Cola wasn’t built overnight. Be sure and check out our next blog post as we go over brand mission pages.
