How To Create A Top Marketing Slogan

by Charlie Cook

Imagine you owned a small piece of your buyers’ brains. And every time they thought about making a purchase, your product or service came to mind.

For example if they were thirsty, they thought, “This Buds for you, “ or if they wanted a burger they thought, “Have it your way!” or if they when were tired and looking for a lodging for the night they remembered “We’ll leave the light on for ya!”

That’s what the marketing slogans from Budweiser, Burger King and Motel 6 do, they help people remember a product and increase their propensity to buy.  And that’s what a good marketing slogan can do for you.

Want your own winning marketing or advertising slogan?

Read the following carefully and make sure to check your inbox to get the next two parts of this guide to creating a top marketing slogan.

Marketing Nirvana

Every marketer and business owner wants a catchy marketing or advertising slogan, one that will stick in their prospects’ minds, help them build their brand and increase sales. And a good slogan sticks like glue in peoples’ minds, reminding them consciously and unconsciously of your product, over and over.

I still remember slogans from over thirty years ago, ones like, Brylreem’s, “A little dab will do you.” Or the safety campaign that ran when seat belts were first introduced, “Buckle up for safety.” Or Nancy Reagan’s anti-drug campaign, “Just say no!”

Can you really control what people think about?

Pick the right marketing or advertising slogan and it will help you get and keep your prospects’ attention. In some cases, as indicated above, long after your marketing campaign has ended and you’ve stopped selling the product.

Some Top Marketing Slogans

“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” – Alka-Seltzer

“You’re in good hands with Allstate.” – Allstate

“Reach out and touch someone.” – AT&T

What a slogan is and isn’t?

The word slogan comes from the Scottish word meaning, “battle cry.” It’s not a tagline or your mission statement. It’s the few words you use as the battle cry to promote a particular product, service or marketing campaign.

Unlike your company tagline or marketing message, your marketing slogan may change regularly or you may have more than one. For example American Express has:

“Membership has its privileges.” And “ Don’t leave home without it.”

The Formula For Creating Winning Slogans

1. Create Your Word List

Brainstorm a list of words associated with your product, who it helps, what it does and the end benefit. The more ideas the better here, you can always edit them down. Keep adding until you suck your brain dry.

Ask yourself:

–       What it does?

–       Who it helps?

–       What are all your unique differentiators?

–       What are the characteristics of the product or service?

–       What are the qualities of your clients?

While some people like to include words like best, or 100 years in business, I don’t recommend this using your marketing message to give yourself compliments. This immediately sends up a flag in your prospects’ minds and kills the effectiveness of your marketing message.

When you’re done, you should have at least 50-70 words to work with, ones that describe a tangible and unique benefit.

2. Expand Your List

Pull out the copy of Roget’s thesaurus you got when you went to college. Or if you don’t have one, pick one up at the bookstore. The online ones don’t give you enough alternatives.

Then take your list of words, and look up their synonyms and add them to your list. Next, write each on a file card and tape them all to your wall.

3. Use Your List to Start Writing

Step back and take a look at all the words you’ve got tapped to your wall. Which ones jump out at you as being the most important to clients? Which go together?

4. Keep It Short

Most slogans are only 5 words long. That’s because the shorter your slogan is the easier it will be for people to remember. You don’t need to include your brand name in your slogan either. It’s purpose is to make people think of your brand.

5. Avoid Jargon Or Fancy Pants Language

Don’t use industry specific jargon words or concept words that make people think or have to calculate something in their heads. The words should prompt an instant image of your product, your clients or the benefits.

Action Step:

Use the above 5 steps to create your master list of words that describe your company, your product, your service, the benefits and your clients.

Here are the top 23 memorable marketing slogans for food and drink to whet your appetite.

“Snap! Crackle! Pop!” Kellogg’s Rice Krispies

“Finger lickin’ good.” KFC

“Betcha can’t eat just one.” Lay’s

“Got milk?” Milk Board

“It’s Miller time!” Miller

“M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand” M&M candies

“I Am Canadian” Molson Canadian beer

“Guinness is good for you.” Guinness

“Don’t be vague. Ask for Haig.” Haig Scotch Whisky

“You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.” Levy’s Rye Bread

“Barq’s has bite” Barq’s root beer
“For all you do, this Bud’s for you” Budweiser

“Have it your way.” Burger King

“We answer to a higher authority.” Hebrew National

“Good to the last drop” Maxwell House
“Do the Dew” Mountain Dew

“Milk: It Does a Body Good” National Dairy Council

“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.” Perdue “Nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven” Pillsbury Foods

“The Uncola.” 7 Up “Obey Your Thirst” Sprite

“Subway. Eat fresh” Subway

“Think Outside the Bun” Taco Bell

“Where’s the beef?” Wendy’s

“Breakfast of Champions” Wheaties Cereal

Of course after all these, you may need one more advertising slogan:

“R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells Relief” Rolaids

Will These Top Slogans Work For You

What’s the easiest way to come up with a marketing or advertising slogan?

Below you’ll find 15 top marketing slogans, ones that some of the great minds in marketing and advertising spent months and millions of dollars developing. Ones that might work for you with a few words modified to avoid confusion and copyright conflicts.

Yes you can steal the slogan ideas from others and use them as inspiration. Here’s how.

I had one struggling client who produced videos for websites, who was trying to come up with a winning slogan for his company. Looking through the master list, I noticed General Electric’s “Bringing good things to life.”

Putting GE’s slogan together with my client’s services I came up with:

“Bringing websites to life with video.”

The slogan was unique and different enough to avoid confusion or legal issues and powerful enough that it helped him turn his business around in just a couple of months.

Ready to do the same? Use your marketing or advertising slogan to ramp up your sales?

Here are 15 top slogans you can use for inspiration to get your creative juices flowing and help you create your own winning marketing slogan just the way Crime Stoppers did. They used AT&T’s “Reach out and touch someone, to come up with, “Reach out and bust someone.”

Review each of the following and come up with your own variations.

The Top 15 Marketing Slogans To Inspire You

“You’re in good hands with Allstate.” Allstate

“Reach out and touch someone.” AT&T

“The ultimate driving machine.” BMW

“Tomorrow’s climate Today’s challenge.” Climate Challenge “The antidote for civilization.” Club Med

“Common sense. Uncommon results.” David Ingram and Associates

“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

Federal Express

“We bring good things to life.” General Electric

“Don’t get mad! Get Glad!” Glad

“Take action for the climate.” Greenpeace

“Make yourself a home.” Ikea
“All the news that’s fit to print.” The New York Times

“Because so much is riding on your tires.” Michelin

“The Safer, Easier Way to Pay.” PayPal

“Give us 20 minutes and we’ll give you the world.” WINS Radio, New York

Action Step: Pick 5 or more of the above slogans and make them your own. For example if you’re a marketer you could use BMW’s “The ultimate driving machine.” And come up with, “The ultimate profit machine.”

Or if you’re an investment manager you could borrow Michelin’s “Because so much is riding on your tires.” And come up with, “Because so much is riding on your financial choices.”

Need more inspiration? Who doesn’t?

Want to push your sales sky high with your marketing slogan? Need more ideas for the perfect, profit-generating one that will work like a sales magnet?

You’ll find them below, but don’t just scan them, use them to help you generate ideas for the perfect marketing slogan for your product or service. Then, when you’ve narrowed it down to your top 4-5 ideas, run it through the SloganTester you’ll find below.

56 Marketing Slogans That Made Millions

“When you care enough to send the very best” Hallmark “Surprisingly mouth watering.” Halls Refresh

“Nothing runs like a Deere” John Deere

“Because I’m worth it.” L’Oréal

“Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline” Maybelline “Tastes so good cats ask for it by name” Meow Mix Cat food

“When It Rains It Pours” Morton Salt

“Soothes. Cleanses. Refreshes. Murine

“I love New York.” New York

“Just do it.” Nike

“We take the world’s greatest pictures.” Nikon

“Now you’re playing with power!” Nintendo

“Tough on grease. Soft on hands.” Palmolive

“Kills Bugs Dead” Raid

“Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman” Secret deodorant

“For women whose eyes are older than they are.” Robert Powers skin cream

“Save the Children. Everyone.” Save The Children

“Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking.” Timex

“Pleasure you want. Protection you trust.” Trojan Condoms “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” United Negro College Fund

“Fly the friendly skies.” United Airlines

“Be all you can be.” US Army

“Can you hear me now?” Verizon Wireless

“It’s everywhere you want to be.” Visa

“Drivers wanted.” Volkswagen

“Think small.” Volkswagen

“The document company.” Xerox

“Let your fingers do the walking.” Yellow Pages

“You’re not fully clean until you’re Zestfully clean” Zest Soap”Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” Alka-Seltzer

“Membership has its privileges” American Express

“Don’t leave home without it” American Express “Think different” Apple Computers “

“We try harder.” Avis “The Greatest Show on Earth” Barnum & Bailey

“The quicker picker upper.” Bounty

“I’d walk a mile for a Camel.” Camel “M’m! M’m! Good!” Campbell’s Soup “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.” Charmin “The Citi never sleeps.” Citibank “Does she … or doesn’t she?” Clairol

“It’s the real thing.” Coca-Cola “Look,

Ma, no cavities!” Crest

“Diamonds are forever” DeBeers

“Put a tiger in your tank.” Esso

“Nothing runs like a Deere” John Deere

“Just what the doctor ordered” Dr Pepper

“Trusted Everywhere” Duracell Batteries

“Never forgets.” Elephant Memory Systems

“The world on time.” Federal Express

“Capitalist tool.” Forbes

“Quality is Job One.” Ford

“Say it with flowers” FTD (Interflora)

“Look sharp, feel sharp” Gillette

Enough?

I’ve given you over 90 top marketing slogans. By now you should have at least half a dozen ideas for ones that could help your sales grow.

Which marketing slogan is the right one for your products or services? Find out with the SloganTester.

SloganTester

Just ask yourself the following seven questions about your slogan.

  • Is it original?
  • Is it believable?
  • Does it differentiate your product or service from the competition?
  • Does it highlight a key benefit?
  • Does it reflect the brand personality?
  • Is it memorable?
  • Is it unique, original and not in use by others.

If you answered yes to all seven, you’ve got a clear winner. If you only answered yes to four, you’re close.

Either way, the next step is to test it. See how people respond to it. See if when you use it in your ads, you get a better response.

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