What is a slogan?

A slogan or tagline is a sentence placed after your company name or product name that helps to give it an identity and a positive image. It's a brief advertising slogan that is consistently displayed with your business name.

Does your business need a slogan?

How many company slogans can you recall? “Got Milk?”, “I’m Lovin’ It!”, “Just Do It”, the list goes on and on. Why? Because these slogans are unique to one brand name, they are catchy, and they are short. You too can create a memorable slogan that will implant itself in the minds of potential customers for many years to come.

How to create an unforgettable slogan

• Show the benefit: You and your in-house marketing staff or advertising agency must create a slogan that evokes your key benefits and reflects the unique experience your product or service delivers to your customers. Make a list of these benefits. Using your top benefit, write down words that are related to this (pull out the thesaurus if you need help). Think of as many words as you can that relate to the benefit you've identified. Once you have your comprehensive list, narrow it down to ten or so.
• Be creative: At this point, you want to start playing around with the words and word order to come up with something new and creative that describes your product's benefits. Add some action verbs to the keywords you've identified to give your tagline impact.
• Keep it short: You want to keep your message short and simple so it will be memorable. Your tagline should be no more than 10 words long. Remember, the closer the word count is to 10, the less likely your customers will remember it.
• Include your company name (optional): Slogans which incorporate the company or product name fare better when it comes to customer recall.
• Get feedback: Come up with a variety of potential taglines using this technique. Write them down and revisit them the next day. Sit down with a fresh perspective and review your list. Do any of your taglines really grab you? If it's a good tagline, you should know it right away. Pick the best one and show it to a friend or family member. Ask them what kind of image it forms in their mind? Is it memorable? Does it have impact? If not, it's time to go back to the drawing board.
• Protect it: To protect your company's marketing investment in the new slogan, you may choose to trademark it. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) offers online filing of applications and a searchable trademark database along with facts about trademarks.
• Stick with it: Never adopt a new slogan as a quick fix or as part of a temporary campaign. Success requires committing to a slogan or tagline for years, perhaps decades, and incorporating it into all of your marketing materials as a part of your company logo.

Need help creating an effective slogan?

We can help you come up with a clear and memorable slogan that helps you communicate the value of your business in a motivating way. To find out what we offer and how much we charge, please see Slogan/Tagline Creation Service.