The Marketing Department

If the title grabbed your attention and made you think of Nike, then you've experienced the impact of what a slogan can do. Slogans are the most powerful way of creating an impression about your company and leaving a lasting impression. In one very brief sentence, a slogan tells the story of your company. It implants a clear, concise message in the minds of potential clients and is a most desirable compliment to your existing logo and your entire ad campaign.

Creating your slogan could be one of the most important marketing efforts you do for your company. To begin, review your mission statement, which should reflect your company’s values and philosophy. The slogan is usually an encapsulation of these sentiments. The slogan becomes your company's identification and should be used in all of your advertising including print, radio, and television ads. People remember and recite slogans and often slogans may even live long after the advertising campaign has ended.

A good slogan, according to the Slogan School of Management, is a short, powerful phrase. It should not be a quote or a cliché. Hopefully it will become a cliché like “Where’s the beef?”, which put Wendy’s fast food chain in the limelight, or “The quicker picker upper” for Bounty paper towel products or “You can’t beat the real thing” for Coca Cola. A good slogan tries to sell an idea and is not wimpy. Try not to include any technical terms if you’re trying to appeal to the masses. Anything technical will immediately restrict your audience and your slogan’s impact. It is also important not to use time sensitive elements in your slogan. If you use material that is considered trendy or current slang, it may well be out of style or overused in a short period of time and therefore render your slogan ineffective.

A further consideration is whether or not the slogan will hold up in a variety of media. It might look good in print, but not sound good when spoken in a radio or television commercial. Conversely, sometimes phrases sound great when spoken, however in print, without the aid of voice intonations, they may not have the same effect or convey the correct meaning.

In radio, this can be a critical problem. For instance, in marketing for a department store, the slogan may be “We’re what you want” and it

may be heard on the radio as “Wear what you want.” The meaning may not be detrimental to your message but it may also not be exactly what you are trying to convey.

Another bit of advice is that your slogan should not be too close to any other existing slogan. It was recently reported that a German Web site was asked by Microsoft Corporation to remove the slogan, “Where do you want to go tomorrow?”, because it was too similar to some of Microsoft products slogan, “Where do you want to go today?”.

If your company is international, it is imperative to consider language translations. A variety of companies have had less than stellar experiences marketing in foreign lands because of slogan misinterpretations. For instance, Coors slogan “Turn it loose” was translated into Spanish as “Suffer from diarrhea.” Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,” a curling iron, into the German market only to discover that “mist” is slang for manure in German. Not too many people found it desirable to buy a “manure stick.” In China, Pepsi’s “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” translated into “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”in Chinese. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine. Frank Perdue’s chicken slogan, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” was translated into Spanish as “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.” Sometimes slogans do well with a play on words, but obviously in these cases the message was completely distorted and unsuccessful in the marketing arena. (Of course, they make wonderfully amusing reading for students of marketing!)

Often it’s helpful to consult with an advertising agency or creative consultant to help you develop a truly targeted, effective slogan for your business. Recently for example, Sealfon & Associates developed “You Can Do It. We Can Help.” as the new slogan for Sunshine Ace Hardware stores in Southwest Florida. The idea was to dovetail with Ace’s national campaign with the “Helpful Hardware Folk” concept and underscore the fact that Sunshine Ace Hardware stores want to support their customers in doing their own home projects. The message is that the staff at Sunshine Ace Hardware stores is there to help. As the advertising agency, we distilled the lengthy concept into two very short phrases, which are now part of all print and television advertisements for the company and it’s working very well.

Peggy Sealfon is president of Sealfon & Associates, Inc., Marketing & Advertising.