Slogan crafting is truly a work of art
Published on 05/12/2003 under Ad Strategy
Five years ago, I wrote a column critical of the widespread use of meaningless slogans. I still get e-mails about that column, usually requesting additional insights about how to avoid the generic slogan plague. So here are a few tips on how to develop slogans that will actually support your marketing efforts.
•Slogans should help shape company personalities. This assumes, of course, that you have crafted a brand-image personality statement and are in the process of communicating that personality to your various audiences. If not, proceed immediately to the brand-image statement department and do this at once.
I don't mean to trivialize this critical step, because it's not easy. In the same way that large companies snag themselves in the “impossible dream” mission statement trap, crafting a brand-image statement that really fits and is actionable takes skill of the highest order. Maytag did it more than 35 years ago when it determined the path to product dependability could be led by a lonely repairman. State Farm has been our good, trusted neighbor for as long as I can remember. And Xerox has been consistent in making its Document Company claim, even if it has fallen short in other aspects of marketing. But I have to scratch my head over Motorola's new “Intelligence Everywhere” theme. You’d think a company with as much going for it as Motorola could do a little better than that.
• Good slogans remind people why they should do business with you. When you consider the personalities of real people, they remind you why you like them or don't like them and why you trust them or not. And personal nicknames, like slogans, take that a step farther. Who wouldn't want to take their car to Mr. Goodwrench for service or buy their nuts and bolts from the Ace Helpful Hardware Man?
In the same way, slogans are like nicknames for your company or products. SAS Institute software gives you “The Power To Know.” You need them around to sort through and make sense of all that data. And Southwest Airlines, with its low fares and frequent flights, makes us “free to move about the country.” Despite living in the heart of Southwest territory, I was for many years not a big fan. I resented being unable to get a seat assignment and having to show up at the airport an hour early in order to avoid having to sit in the middle seat. But ultimately, they won me over. Saving money, leaving and arriving on time, and having a good choice of flight times—those are the key issues. Their record as our only profitable airline in the last year or so is proof that a majority of travelers have responded to Southwest's basic image appeals.
• Good slogans (ideally) can only be attributed to the sponsoring companies. Slogans should not be interchangeable. I pointed out in my previous column at least five companies that were using the theme “Whatever it takes.” I encouraged readers to do whatever it takes to avoid that stupidity.
This is why I like slogans such as “What can brown do for you?” from UPS. They’ve taken a distinctive color that is uniquely theirs and used that as the platform for their service appeal. The color brown is a part of UPS’ personality, and you can immediately tuck away any new service information about UPS in your brain’s “brown folder.”
Sometimes it’s possible to incorporate your company or product name in a slogan and still satisfy the image and business requirements. Dell Computer's “Easy as Dell” is a good example of this. Now that most computer users are comfortable selecting the performance specs of their new computer online, buying a Dell really is easy.
Another example is John Deere (“Nothing runs like a Deere”). Its slogan incorporates the company name and the idea of dependability—clever, that. What’s even more clever is that they've stuck with it since 1972.
Kohler makes plumbing fixtures. In the 1960s, as consumer interest in brighter-colored products and more dramatic designs began to surface, the company started using the slogan “The Bold Look of Kohler.” It’s still using it today. Recently the company started featuring the artistic photography of avante-garde celebrity photographer David LaChapelle and editorial, fashion and beauty photographer Jean-Claude Maillard to showcase the products in an even bolder setting, making a good concept even better.
It really helps if your employees and customers can connect with your slogan. Most slogans are so lofty and puffy, no one can relate to them. It's like going to the opera: The fat lady is singing, but most people have no idea why or for what purpose.
When you come up with something that employees and customers connect with, it gives the program a huge boost. Like Radio Shack’s slogan, “You've got questions. We've got answers.” You really do have questions when you walk into a Radio Shack. If you had the answers, too, you'd probably go to one of those self-serve places and just buy what you need. The last several times I've gone to Radio Shack, I sensed an increased desire on the part of their employees to find the answers I need, even if my questions were trivial and not worth much to them in sales revenues. It makes me glad I went there.
St. Louis-based Emerson is a $15 billion conglomerate with a diverse array of products and services for process control, telecommunications, electronics and other markets. Its slogan, “Emerson. Consider it solved” has created the working environment for a huge organization of problem-solving zealots. It's working for them on many levels, as evidenced by fact that Emerson recently was selected by Fortune magazine as one of the “50 Most Admired Companies” in the world.
So you see, no cookie-cutter approach to developing good slogans exists. It's probably one of the most demanding creative assignments we encounter. Certainly not one you'd want to leave in the hands of a rookie or amateur. Promise me you won't.