Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand.
Etymology and nomenclature
According to the 1913
Webster's Dictionary, a
slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
() derives from the
Gaelic "
sluagh-
ghairm" (an
army cry). Its contemporary definition denotes a distinctive advertising motto or advertising phrase used by any entity to convey a purpose or ideal. This is also known as a
catchphrase.
Taglines, or
tags, are American terms describing brief public communications to promote certain products and services. In the UK, they are called ''end lines'' or ''straplines.'' In Japan, advertising slogans are called or .
Format
Most corporate
advertisements are short, memorable phrases, often between 3 and 5 words.
Slogans adopt different tones to convey different meanings. For example, funny slogans can enliven conversation and increase memorability.
Slogans often unify diverse corporate advertising pieces across different mediums.
Slogans may be accompanied by logos, brand names, or musical jingles.
History
Beecham's Pills' "Beechams Pills: Worth a
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
a Box" from August 1859, is considered to be the world's first advertising slogan.
Use
Some
slogans are created for long term corporate identity process, while others are interested for specific limited-time campaigns. However, since some
ideas resonate with the
public with persistence, many advertising slogans retain their influence even after general use is discontinued. If an advertising slogan enters into the public vernacular, word-of-mouth communication may increase consumer awareness of the product and extend an ad campaign's lifespan,
or cause a company to adopt it for long term advertising and identity.
Slogans that associate emotional responses or evoke recollections of past memories increase their likelihood to be adopted by the public and shared.
Additionally, by linking a slogan to a commonplace discussion topic (e.g.
stress,
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
,
traffic), consumers will recall the slogan more often and associate the corporation with their personal experiences.
If a slogan is adopted by the public, it can have a notable influence in everyday social interaction. Slogans can serve as connection points between community members as individuals share pithy taglines in conversation.
In contrast, if an individual is unaware of a popular slogan or tagline, they can be socially excluded from conversation and disengage from the discussion.
Social control
Advertising slogans as a system of social control include devices similar to
watchwords, catchwords, and
mottoes.
[The slogan comes from the Scotch and originated in the clans wars for the objective of control.]["Slogans As A Means Of Social Control". By Frederick E. Lumley. ''Papers and Proceedings of the American Sociological Society'', Volume 16, 1921]
p. 121–134
The use of slogans may be examined insofar as the slogans elicit unconscious and unintentional responses.
The ongoing argument
Quantifying the effects of an effective, or ineffective, ad campaign can prove challenging to scholars. Critics argue taglines are a self-gratifying, unnecessary form of corporate branding that is neither memorable nor pithy.
However, proponents argue if taglines enter everyday public discourse, the company's market influence could exponentially increase.
Functional slogans
A marketing slogan can play a part in the interplay between rival companies. A functional slogan usually:
* states
product benefits (or
brand benefits) for users (or
potential buyer)
* implies a distinction between it and other firms' products
["Making Better Box, Not Cheaper Boxes" Ought to be Slogan ''of'' the Day — Much Valuable Data Available. ''Packages'', Volume 22, December Issue]
p. 21
1919—with constraints
* makes a
simple, concise,
[Including all important information.] clearly defined, and appropriate
statement
* is either
wit
Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack.
Form ...
ty, or has distinct "personality"
[Or, an externally evident aspects.]
* gives a
credible impression of a brand or product
[See also: ]brand recognition
Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. Brand awareness is a key consi ...
* makes the consumer experience an emotion; Or, creates a
need or
desire
Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of aff ...
[See also: ]Aspirational brand
An aspirational brand is a term in consumer marketing for a brand or product which a large segment of its exposure audience wishes to own, but for economic reasons cannot. Because the desire for aspirational goods is relative to the consumer's purc ...
* is hard to forget—it adheres to one's memory
[Whether one likes it or not; Especially if accompanied by mnemonic devices (such as jingles, ditties, ]picture
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
s or film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
)
The business
sloganeering process communicates the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a business function for attracting customers.
See also
*
Advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
(
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the ...
)
*
Consumer confusion
Consumer confusion is a state of mind that leads to consumers making imperfect purchasing decisions or lacking confidence in the correctness of their purchasing decisions.
Confusion
Confusion occurs when a consumer fails to correctly understand or ...
*
Impulse buying (
Impulse)
*
List of slogans
*
Media manipulation
Media manipulation is a series of related techniques in which partisans create an image or argument that favors their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies, manipulation, outright deception (disinformation) ...
*
Political slogan
*
Promotion (marketing)
In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, most of the time persuasive in nature. It helps marketers to create a distinctive ...
*
Tagline
*
Visual marketing
Notes
References
Further reading
*
External articles
*
The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame www.adslogans.co.uk
Advertising Industry Guidelines 2014Advertising Slogans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Advertising Slogan
Promotion and marketing communications
Advertising techniques
Advertising campaigns
Marketing techniques