The Importance of Slogans - How to Stay in Your Customer's Mind

Slogans have been used by many companies and their wit has created memorable slogans such as Apple - "An apple a day keeps the doctor away".

A slogan that achieves these objectives will give an organization its brand identity and contribute to overall brand equity.

Successful slogans enhance an organization's brand image, recalling the brand thus creating brand differentiation in the minds of customers.

According to Wikipedia a slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose in political, commercial, religious and other contexts. Slogans are referred to differently in different countries, for example in the UK the slogan is referred to as a strapline, in the US its tagline. The word slogan is attributed to the Scottish Gaelic word 'slog horn' meaning "battle cry".

Slogans have been used by many companies and their wit has created memorable slogans such as Apple - "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". Nike's "Just Do It" and Nokia's "Connecting People" campaigns. Sprite - "Follow Your Thirst". But there are many companies whose marketing teams have not been effective in creating memorable slogans. Coming up with a one-liner phrase that summarizes your organization's core purpose can be a daunting task.

In advertising, a successful slogan must be memorable, concise, original, and support your organization's vision and mission. A slogan that achieves these objectives will give an organization its brand identity and contribute to overall brand equity. Like the Nike brand. Successful slogans enhance an organization's brand image, recalling the brand thus creating brand differentiation in the minds of customers. Slogans play a helpful role in explaining what the organization is as the brand name and logo of the organization are limited. Slogans play an important role in understanding the company's core purpose, so subtly advertise the company's purpose to potential and current customers. This recognition enhances brand identity, recall and creates favourable associations for the brand.

A slogan is dynamic in its nature. Similarly a company cannot change its brand name without losing its brand identity; It cannot completely change its logo without facing the same challenge. However, a slogan can be changed over time to represent its evolving philosophy. The Pepsi brand, for example, changed its slogan a dozen times from its original 1902 tagline "Cures Nervousness. Eliminates Fatigue" in favour of the new 2012 tagline "Change the Game." They also have special slogans designed for international markets.

Brands are a company's most valuable corporate asset and therefore it is important to understand the factors that influence brand perceptions These values run into billions making it important for companies to manage their brands carefully A brand's value is estimated by its ability to generate profit. Brands with high equity enjoy a favourable advantage because consumers prefer their products to those of their competitors. Slogans form favourable associations influencing the company's brand image based on these perceptions which in turn influence consumer brand knowledge which contributes to the company's brand equity.

Slogans contribute to increasing or decreasing the market value of a company. Companies that change their slogans to reflect their marketing and advertising strategies are seen as upwardly mobile and have tailored their objectives to meet customer needs and preferences. In 1997, Pizza Hut ran ads challenging people to find a better pizza than Pizza Hut. Papa John's Pizza accepted the challenge and produced a series of commercials featuring Frank Carney, co-founder of Pizza Hut, which was a Papa John's franchise at the time. These ads made specific claims on the superiority of their pizza ingredients and concluded with the slogan "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza". The ads were highly effective as Pizza John's sales output peaked while Pizza Hut sales declined. Pizza Hut was furious and sued Papa John's claiming that their "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza" slogan was a false advertising claim.

Brands are a company's most valuable corporate asset and therefore it is important to understand the factors that influence brand perceptions These values run into billions making it important for companies to manage their brands carefully A brand's value is estimated by its ability to generate profit. Slogans form favourable associations influencing the company's brand image based on these perceptions which in turn influence consumer brand knowledge which contributes to the company's brand equity. In 1997, Pizza Hut ran ads challenging people to find a better pizza than Pizza Hut.