The strategic role of brand slogan
Brands are everywhere, and so are brand slogans! An outstanding band slogan will grow stronger as time goes by and make great impact as well as a brand name would do. A brand slogan is created not only by creativity but also strategic thinking. In this article we would like to introduce the definition of brand slogan, its function and the chemical effect between brand slogan and the brand itself, after which case study follows.
01
Internal “Positioning” & External “Slogan”
emember what we talked about brand positioning in the previous article? Positioning is to precisely differentiate yourself and the competitors, and is the guideline for strategy and internal training. On the other hand, brand slogan plays a role of external spokesmen to deliver the brand spirits to customers. It explains clearly and boldly why the brand exists. Most brand slogans sounds catchy and fun, but it is actually one of the most important elements to your brand. Therefore you have to carefully craft your brand slogan.
Here are step-by-step tips to construct a brand slogan:
-
Get insights of your target audience about their psychological feelings.
-
Use positioning map to distinguish the existing slogans of your competitors.
-
Think about four to five keywords about your industry, product and business attitude.
-
Place these keywords in different orders until you come up with a meaningful sentence, the one which fits what your TA’s feeling and differentiates you and competitors.
-
Invite your team and loyal customers to evaluate the sentence and get feedback from them.
Case Study
Competition in the same market
Here we will take sports, the industry which has been on fire, as examples. We are familiar with these global brands, but do we know exactly why we fancy them?
※ Nike: JUST DO IT
- TA: all demographics\
- Keywords: leader, fashion, sports stars, winner
The historic and renowned slogan came from Nike’s definition to an athlete: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” Based on this, Nike is speaking to everyone in the world and even encourage people who did not do sports to join and “JUST DO IT.” It is straightforward and catchy which is the advantage to be spread among all demographics worldwide. On top of that, Nike works with fashion and sport stars to fits the appetite of the public. The simple slogan is inclusive and able to resonates with any upcoming campaign. It can be said that it is one of the most successful brand slogan.
※ adidas: adidas is all in
- TA: all demographics\
- Keywords: innovation, revolution, football, quality, boost performance, lifestyle
adidas is known as a innovation driver and associate with international sports, which in a sense restricted the scope of TA. To expand the market, it strategically changed its slogan for several times.From “Forever Sport” to the buzz creator “Impossible is nothing,” and the current “adidas is all in.” The all in is to to integrate its three sub-brands and blend with pop music and street dance to create an image of “everyone participates, everyone do his/her best.” We can see adidas’ ambition from the history; however, it did not reinforce the slogan in the following marketing campaign. Contrary to Nike, adidas’ campaign slogans (such as “Here To Create”) are sometimes more impressive than its brand slogan. We are looking forward to how adidas would reinforce (or change again?) its brand slogan.
※ Under Armour: I WILL WHAT I WANT
- TA: people who wants to work out more “professionally”\
- Keywords: High-tech sportswear, fight
Under Armour has been a hit in the market so fiercely and quickly that it is now the second largest sports brand in the United States. Apart from its highly valued products, its slogan and endorsement strategy are the key to its success. UA’s sports stars were not really appreciated and sometimes underrated before they reached the top level. They all share the spirit of never-giving-up which echo with the UA’s slogan “I WILL WHAT I WANT, ” no matter what. Compared to the more friendly slogans of Nike and adidas, UA makes a stronger emotional appeal.
Conclusion
In advertising, brand slogan comes with brand name and logo, and a slogan can be easily carried in the daily conversation rather than a text or image. It also affects your endorsement strategy. Next time when you think a slogan is just so “right,” try to break its meaning down, look into why it appeals to you and the brand image. You may discover that there are lots more philosophy behind the brand slogan. We will continue to introduce more case studies about brand slogan in the next article.
