What Makes a Slogan Work?

By Ian O.

     Slogans, or attention seeking phrases used during advertising and marketing campaigns, are something that is always brought up when talking about whether said campaign is successful or ineffective. They are often times the only thing people will know about a company, and can dictate whether people remember you or not.

What makes these slogans effective though? 

    As stated in a very insightful Business Insider article written by Aaron Taube, there are 3 things to consider when making a likable slogan.

                                             1: Clarity of the Message
                                             2: Creativity of the Delivery
                                             3: Familiarity with the Brand

   This might seem very simplified, but in all honesty it isn't. The idea behind a successful slogan is rather simple, with most of the important components being listed above, Where most will fall short is in the execution, mostly due to either poor research or outside factors. To really illustrate this, lets look at a successful slogan as well as a not so successful one.

                                                                  The Good

   For our successful slogan, we look at non other then the titan of footwear, Nike. Their long running slogan "Just Do It." is one of the most recognizable phrases out there, and defines the idea of being short and sweet. This accompanied by the iconic Nike swoosh as its symbol is a great example. Lets run through the check list to see why this works so well.

1: The message is very clear, for it is short and demanding. Being a company revolved around sports and activity, "Just Do It." is a challenge that gets their customers on their feet.
2: It's creative in that most slogans are not so, for lack of a better word, bossy. Instead of trying to persuade you, Nike is just like "Nah, Just Do It". It was a gamble, but it worked wonders for standing out.
3: Nike had already gotten some traction before this slogan was used, so their familiarity was a a moderate level. This slogan was definitely part of their surge in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s however.

                                                                   The Bad

      For every good slogan like Nike's, there are always A TON of bad ones. The one we are going to look at is McDonald's newer slogan "lovin' beats hatin'". It replaces their previous phrase of  "I'm Lovin' It", which was iconic in it's status, and has been met with a large amount of backlash from both professional marketers and the average consumers. To better understand their dislike, let us run through the checklist once again.

1: This has to be where it falls the most. "lovin' beats hatin'", as many will point out, has very little to do with fast food. With their previous slogan "I'm Lovin' It", it revolved around enjoying the food. With this one, it sounds more like they don't love the product, but they don't hate it either.
2: The creativity behind this is somewhat lackluster, mostly because it really just piggybacks on their previous slogan. They try to bring in some new culture with the word "hatin'", which has become more popular as of late, yet still seems to fall short.
3: This is the funny part, THIS IS MCDONALDS! Even their global recognition can't save their slogan from the other two parts on the checklist. It really shows how important all 3 aspects are important and can not be neglected, no matter how big you are.

      Slogans are a crucial part of any marketing campaign, and knowing what makes one work is crucial to success. No matter how big you are, as seen with McDonalds, you need a good phrase or line that can be known by the public. This isn't just important for business either, for things like name recognition, which has similar aspects to slogans, is vital to any professionals career. Knowing how to be known is easily one of the most important, but also most difficult, things you can learn.









Business Insider Article:

 Taube, Aaron. "Psychologists Discovered The Secret To Creating A Really Great Slogan." Business            Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 27 June 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. 

Nike Photo:

Miller, Mark J. Nike Slogan. Digital image. Http://brandchannel.com. 3 July 2013. Web. 20 Mar.                 2016. <http://brandchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Nike-JustDoIt-560.jpg>. 

McDonald Photo: