Slogans and Taglines

Coming up with a catchy slogan, or crafting the right tagline that defines your brand and really solidifies it in the minds of your customers, is difficult to assign a true value to.

However, it’s impossible to deny that some of these most memorable brand slogans and taglines can claim responsibility for millions of dollars in comparable advertising spend (or possibly more) because of how effective they’ve been at capturing the attention of new consumers over the years.

That’s not to mention the positive impact a catchy slogan or tagline can have in terms of driving more consistent repeat business from the customers who’ve already experienced your brand.

Either way you look at it, there’s an undeniable value to be claimed if you can create a memorable slogan that people want to share, can’t forget—or that they mentally connect to a specific need in their lives.

What is a tagline?

In the context of branding, a tagline is a memorable motto or phrase that’s designed to serve as a permanent expression of your company’s greater purpose and mission. Taglines are long-lasting, instantly recognizable with your brand and have the goal of both attracting customers & remaining top of mind with your existing audience.

How is a slogan different?

Similar in form to a tagline, typically a few words or a short sentence, a slogan is most often used to represent a specific product line or individual marketing campaign. Slogans are designed to be less long-lasting than a brand’s tagline as they can adapt over time, but still serve the purpose of bringing your company to mind with consumers.

Nike: “Just do it.”

Coined by one of the company’s advertising agencies back in 1988, this slogan is extremely action-oriented and does a great job of communicating one of the core messages of Nike’s brand—to give people the tools to be active and perform better.

BMW: “The ultimate driving machine.”

The famed German automaker had immediate success with this catchy slogan when it was introduced through a wide-reaching series of marketing campaigns beginning in 1973, targeted at a generation of Americans looking for a car they could feel proud of.

Airbnb: “Belong anywhere.”

This brand slogan came along in 2014 after the billion-dollar, short-term rental platform realized their customers were using their service as more than just a tool to make travel easier. Before adopting this slogan, their primary tagline was, “travel like a human,” but the reimagination of the brand with their new tagline included a big visual refresh and a steady push into new



How to Write Your Own Catchy Slogans & Taglines

If you want to craft a memorable slogan for your upcoming campaign—or connect a new tagline to your greater brand, you’ll want to start by first digging deep into your company’s values and overall mission. Through that vehicle, strive to incorporate these four characteristics into your work.

Make it memorable.

If your tagline or slogan doesn’t have at least a somewhat catchy ring to it, then you’re already starting off on the wrong foot. Seek to answer these questions:

• Is your slogan quickly recognizable?
• Will people be able to easily comprehend what it means?
• Is there an obvious connection to your brand that can forge a link between the two?

Even just a few strong words that your target customers will identify with and learn to associate with your brand, can dramatically help in their recall of your advertisements, social content and products at large.

Communicate clear benefits.

Ever notice that the most successful weight loss programs focus on selling the future results you’ll experience as a result of choosing their system to shed some unwanted weight?

They don’t spend nearly as much time selling the individual details of how their programs work—compared to how much effort they invest into communicating the benefits you stand to gain. This is a textbook example of selling the benefits, not the features.

This same advice applies directly to creating your tagline or slogans. A great one can make your company (or product) benefits extremely clear to consumers.

Differentiate your brand.

What exactly makes your product different from competitors?

Using your slogan to signal a strong, differentiating message about your brand is a key objective as you go about structuring a catchy slogan for an upcoming campaign. Seek to use persuasive emotion words that convey a greater message about your products.

If you hand make men’s watches for a high net worth audience with luxurious taste, then you’ll likely want to lean heavily on words that differentiate your brand as being the absolute highest quality, coveted by successful business people and a status symbol.

On the other hand, if your competitive advantage is a quality product at an affordable price and a level of customer service that goes far beyond the industry standard, then consider choosing words that humanize your brand, make your products feel very approachable and give customers the reassurance that they’ll be taken care of for years to come.

Design your slogan and logo together

It’s important to think about how your slogan and logo will work together across your marketing collateral. Does it work for on the ads, flyers, and other marketing materials you need to create? It can be helpful to see your slogan and logo together to help you make decisions.

Let Piston test drive your slogans and logos with our Adobe Creative Cloud Experience. Here at Piston we can design multiple options to see how your slogan looks across your marketing collateral or digital artwork like posters and flyer designs.

Leave a positive feeling about your brand.

While some marketers will advocate for the use of urgency or stoking fear within their ad campaigns, research suggests that the best slogans use words that are positive and leave people feeling upbeat.

For example, the tagline by haircare brand L’Oréal Paris, “Because you’re worth it,” gives you an uplifting feeling about the product—whereas a 2015 slogan by Dr. Pepper, “It’s not for women,” is intentionally divisive and uses a slightly negative tone.

Which slogan leaves you with a better impression of the brand?

If you take these four components into account when crafting your brand’s new tagline or campaign slogan—and add a healthy dose of creativity, you’ll be headed in the right direction. Just be sure to gain feedback from your customers and learn as you go.

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