Do you wish to win a slogan contest? If your answer is "Yes", it would be very helpful if you spend some time reading in order to understand the definition and purpose of a slogan.
As defined by Motto.com, "A Slogan is a short, memorable advertising phrase." When a product or company uses a slogan consistently, the slogan can become an important element of identification in the public's perception of the product. "
As the benchmark of any good advertising campaign, a slogan or tag line is the lasting impression it has on the consumer . A great line can be worth its weight in gold. It often plays as the brand's core promise, rather than a pithy memorable phrase. A slogan can be a call to action, not only for the consumer, but also for the entire organization and sales force.
Many companies invest millions of dollars for years, sometimes even for decades, in order to 'brand' their companies with a slogan. They rack their brains trying to come up with the perfect set of memorable words for a brand to live by. But the fact is, many of today's ad logos are failing to register with consumers.
Let us study on the survey result from a national poll carried out in USA in year 1999. The survey result may seem out-dated, but we still can get some good information and ideas through reading it. The survey is aimed to look at consumer awareness of advertising logos and jingles, and whether or not these punchy pieces of copy created any connection to the brand.
As an overall, 16 of the 19 lines tested were 'heard' or recognized by the survey respondents. However, many of them failed to identify which brand or product these symbols were linking to. For example, the line "Like a rock" was impressively remembered by 9 out of 10 responders, but less than 40% knew this is Chevy Trucks's slogan. Nissan is worse as only 8% knew it was the originator of the "Enjoy the ride" theme line.
Therefore, the best slogan, as with the best advertising, should be seamlessly linked with the brand . The more a slogan – as well as advertising – is inefficiently linked to the brand, the more effective it is. From the survey, the brands that performed best appeared to share a similar pattern: brilliantly incorporated the brand name in the slogan and promote them year after year.
Undoubtly, that explains why marketers that feature their name in the slogans, like McDonald's and Allstate, did better than others in connecting with the consumer. For example, insurer Allstate's "You're in good hands with Allstate" and their competitor's "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" continue to be identifiable and winning almost an universal recognition.
On the other hand, placing short, catchy nice words in a slogan is equally important. Taken the above examples, you may conclude that if the lines were "Allstate: You're in good hands with us", or "State Farm: like a good neighbor, we're there", they would not have been as effective, even though the thought was the same.
As a conclusion, from my humble opinion, it is highly recommended to incorporate the brand name in the slogan. Hope you put this into consideration when you create a new slogan for a contest .
All the Best to you!
