The following is an edited transcript of my video 25 Great Slogans.
A catchy slogan is a great way to convey a message about a brand. Slogans have a little more freedom and flexibility to be fun, playful, memorable, and convey more of a message about what makes your business unique in the field of products or services.
- HBO: It’s not TV, it’s HBO. This was bold at the time, saying don’t compare us to what’s on TV. We’re our own category.
- Timex: It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Fun, conveys a message, rhymes.
- M&Ms: Melt in your mouth, not in your hand. What more do we need to say?
- Taco Bell: Think outside the bun. I love it because the trademark is thinking outside the box literally and figuratively
- American Express: Don’t leave home without it. Iconic slogan for so long and conveyed that message that you better have your American Express with you. You never know when you’re going to need it.
- As the world moved more and more online, American Express tweaked it to a newer version of it that’s Don’t live life without it—a good update, but doesn’t quite hammer home the message like the original.
- Rice Krispies: Snap, crackle, pop. Everybody knows the breakfast cereal. Great, fun slogan.
- Nike: Just do it. Iconic, classic. Still using it still today since the beginning, and it’s like a call to action so it fits their brand really well.
- MasterCard: There’s some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard. Those commercials suggest that the credit card buying something is about more than just not paying for it today and putting it on your credit card—which probably was very good for their bottom line.
- Meow Mix cat food: Tastes so good, cats ask for it by name. It’s so silly and ridiculous that it’s good.
- Bounty paper towels: The quicker picker upper. Fun to say, alliterative and rhyming.
- Dunkin’: America runs on Dunkin’. Short, simple, succinct. It’s driving a message that everybody’s got to have their coffee or snack in the morning to get going.
- State Farm: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. It’s telling you something about the business and what their goals and values are.
- Smuckers: With a name like Smuckers, it has to be good. That’s a really cool slogan. It really says something about the brand, like you’re not going to forget Smuckers.
- Geico: So easy a caveman can do it. Brilliant.
- It doesn’t have to be a big brand to have a great slogan. We have a client here in Northern Virginia that’s an ax throwing venue. Their slogan is Chop Local. A great twist on Shop Local. I love it.
- We have a client that makes fitness videos and related services with the slogan Where every body fits. And that’s “everybody” and “every body”. Great play on words and slogan.
- Chad Barr, who films and edits our videos, has a great slogan, Raising the Barr, using a play on words with his last name.
- Gary Furr, a consultant and client uses a wonderful expression, Turning complexity into simplicity. Fun to say, rhymes, and conveys a great message about what he does.
- A waste management company in New Orleans that uses the slogan, Our business stinks, but it’s picking up. So entertaining, poking fun of what they do, and playful.
- We have a slogan here at Erik M. Pelton and Associates, Experience is our trademark. Trademark is our experience. It captures what we want to say—that we’re focused and that’s our trademark, so to speak, on trademarks.
- Campbell’s Soup: Mmm! Mmm! Good! Simple, but conveys the message.
- Lay’s: Bet you can’t eat just one. Fun, playful concept and slogan related to their chips.
- A diamond is forever. That was the single most recognized slogan of the 20th century according to Advertising Age. Effective and smart. It’s conveying something about relationships and engagement rings forever, as well as the nature of a diamond and where it comes from in the earth.
That’s how you can use a slogan to capture something special about your business in even just a few words, but you have more room and flexibility than doing it in a brand name. And that’s what makes slogans so powerful and interesting.
