5 ESSENTIAL TIPS ON HOW TO
WRITE A KILLER SLOGAN (WITH
INTERACTIVE EXAMPLES)
5 Keys to Creating a Great Slogan video (2:51)
FAMOUS CAMPAIGN SLOGANS
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2ZJ0Y7NrXA
FAMOUS ADVERTISING SLOGAN BY NOKIA
Have fun remembering the
famous advertising slogan used by
the Nokia company as an aid to the advertising,
publicity, promotion and marketing of their
product.
 This famous advertising slogan is so well known
that it has entered our everyday language and
used as a quote or quotation.
 This famous and familiar advertising slogan is
now seen as a clever saying and catchword used
as a motto and catchphrase to identify the brand.

This famous advertising slogan has been made
even more popular and memorable by the
addition of a catchy jingle - a great example of a
celebrated ad slogan.
 The most famous and well-known of
the advertising slogans are familiar when they
are in the humorous and funny ad slogan
category.
 Remember this famous advertising slogan?

WILL YOU MARRY ME - BEST NOKIA
AD.WMV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXKDFQI8k
FAMOUS ADVERTISING SLOGANS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b4CWOg65Cg
#t=31(video 1:52)
 Popular ad slogans have proved to be so
successful that they have become part of our
culture. We associate the famed slogans with
various brands and products.

SLOGANS

Slogans are memorable phrases often used in
conjunction with company logos and in
advertising campaigns.
The first step is to decide whether or not you
need a slogan.
 If you have a logo, you are already engaged in
branding your product or your company.
 If you have already taken this step, you really
should consider a slogan as well.

DO YOU WANT TO BRAND YOUR
PRODUCT OR COMPANY?
That depends on the image that you are trying to
project.
 If you want to attract larger corporate clients,
branding is pretty much a necessity.
 The business model of your company
determines your level of branding.
 If you want to take things to the next level, this
is a good starting point.

1. START FROM THE LOGO
If your brand doesn’t have a logo yet, you
should get that done first.
 A slogan works with a logo in order to promote
brand identity.

WHICH COMES FIRST?

A slogan doesn’t really work without a logo
unless your sole advertising medium is radio.
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The logo is the chicken, the slogan is the egg.
If you are designing the logo and producing the
slogan for a business, you have a unique
opportunity to create both at once, which can
allow you to better integrate the two as a final
product.
Remember that top brands change their
slogans all the time, and you can do the same if
you feel you need to five years down the line.
 No slogan is cast in stone.

Coming up with a slogan isn’t easy, even for
seasoned veterans, and takes at least one
working day, so charge accordingly.
 On the flip side, if you are hiring a slogan writer,
there needs to be an element of trust there before
you hire them.
 You have to trust that they really are going to
come up with some great slogan ideas for you to
choose from, and you can’t really keep going
back and expect them to go through the
process indefinitely after paying for an
initial session.


If you really don’t like the slogans that they give
you, or feel that they misinterpreted your brand’s
vision, most slogan writers will want to make it
right within limits and these limits will usually
be made very clear in your initial contract.
2. GIVE THE PROJECT THE TIME IT NEEDS

You need one hour to research
the company that you are doing
the slogan for, 1-2 hours to
brainstorm ideas after your
initial research, and 1-2 hours
for client consultation and
editing.

You have to trust that they really are going to
come up with some great slogan ideas for you to
choose from, and you can’t really keep going back
and expect them to go through the process
indefinitely after paying for an initial session.
3. KEEP IT SIMPLE

A logo is only effective if your audience
can understand it quickly.
You only have a few seconds to
impress, so a slogan like “the
best in olfactory widgets since
1949″ isn’t going to do the
trick. Simplicity is what you’re
aiming for.
Slogans absolutely cannot go over one sentence
and five dollar words such as “olfactory” should
be avoided. Some rules are made to be broken; if
there is a five dollar word that rolls up a few
sentences of meaning in one word, go for it.
 The one sentence rule, however, should be
adhered to at all costs. Simple slogan: Just Do It
(Nike). Not simple enough slogan: Selling the
Highest Quality Organic & Natural Products
(Whole Foods).

4. MAKE IT FUNNY, IF YOU CAN

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Where you can bring humor to a
slogan, do it.
A great example is Cracked.com’s
slogan: “America’s Only Humor &
Video Site, Since 1958″. This slogan
packs in a few jokes including
making fun of the usual “since such a
year” slogan and claiming to be the
only humour site in America.
There is also a claim about being the
only video site, and the fact that they
couldn’t have been a website since
1958. All of this in eight words, if you
count the “and” symbol.
While they had to make their slogan funny, the
same approach to slogan writing of injecting a
joke or two is something that you should adopt
when appropriate.
 If you can’t make it funny without making it
lame, just drop the funny and go with your next
best options.

5. STAY HONEST AND DON’T “TRUMP UP” YOUR
PRODUCT

Honesty is important. Can your business
actually deliver on the promise that your
slogan makes? If not, rethink the slogan.

You’ll also want to stay away from slogans that
incorporate language like “the best” or “#1 at what
we do” because that kind of language is not
only standard and boring, but hard to
substantiate even if it is true.
This is a fine line to walk because
you still want to present the idea
of a quality product without
coming off as being too pushy, but
a good slogan writer can manage
it.
 If it seems too intimidating, don’t
think of it as writing a slogan,
think of it as writing a brand
message. What would your
product say if it could talk?


Some companies change their slogans very often
while others keep their slogans for years. Just
how memorable are slogans in general and do
they really accomplish what they’re set to do?

Here are 20 examples of well known companies
and their slogans. We have purposely hidden the
companies behind these slogans so that you can
see if you can figure out which company is
connected to which slogan.
KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN
Finger
lickin' good
NOKIA
ENERGIZER BATTERIES
MOTOROLA
SKYPE
IKEA
BMW
PRINGLES
COCA COLA
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Throughout the years, the slogans used in advertising for CocaCola have reflected not only the brand, but the times.
Slogans provide a simple, direct way to communicate about
Coca-Cola.
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-slogans
SLOGANS FOR COCA-COLA
FROM 1886 TO 2006

1886 - Drink Coca-Cola
1904 - Delicious and Refreshing
1905 - Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains
1906 - The Great National Temperance Beverage
1917 - Three Million a Day
1922 - Thirst Knows No Season
1923 - Enjoy Thirst
1924 - Refresh Yourself
1925 - Six Million a Day
1926 - It Had to Be Good to Get Where It Is
1927 - Pure as Sunlight
1927 - Around the Corner from Everywhere
1929 - The Pause that Refreshes
1932 - Ice Cold Sunshine
1938 - The Best Friend Thirst Ever Had
1939 - Thirst Asks Nothing More
1939 - Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You
May Be, When You Think of Refreshment Think of Ice
Cold Coca-Cola
1942 - The Only Thing Like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola Itself
1948 - Where There's Coke There's Hospitality
1949 - Along the Highway to Anywhere
1952 - What You Want is a Coke
1956 - Coca-Cola... Makes Good Things Taste Better
1957 - Sign of Good Taste
1958 - The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke
1959 - Be Really Refreshed
1963 - Things Go Better with Coke
1969 - It's the Real Thing
1971 - I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke (part of the "It's the
Real Thing" campaign)
1975 - Look Up America
1976 - Coke Adds Life
1979 - Have a Coke and a Smile
1982 - Coke Is It!
1985 - We've Got a Taste for You (for both CocaCola & Coca-Cola classic)
1985 - America's Real Choice (for both Coca-Cola & CocaCola classic)
1986 - Red, White & You (for Coca-Cola classic)
1986 - Catch the Wave (for Coca-Cola)
1987 - When Coca-Cola is a Part of Your Life, You Can't
Beat the Feeling
1988 - You Can't Beat the Feeling
1989 - Official Soft Drink of Summer
1990 - You Can't Beat the Real Thing
1993 - Always Coca-Cola
2000 - Coca-Cola. Enjoy
2001 - Life Tastes Good
2003 - Coca-Cola... Real
2005 - Make It Real
2006 - The Coke Side of Life
PEPSI SLOGANS THROUGH THE
YEARS
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1939–1950: ”Twice as Much for a Nickel”
1950: ”More Bounce to the Ounce”
1950–1957: ”Any Weather is Pepsi Weather”
1957–1958: ”Say Pepsi, Please”
1983–1984: ”Pepsi Now! Take the Challenge!”

1984–1988 and 1990-1991: ”Pepsi. The Choice of a New
Generation”
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1961–1964: “Now It’s Pepsi for Those Who Think Young”
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1964–1967: ”Come Alive, You’re in the Pepsi Generation”
1967–1969: ”(Taste that beats the others cold) Pepsi

Pours It On”.

1969–1975: ”You’ve Got a Lot to Live, and Pepsi’s Got a
Lot to Give”

1977–1980: ”Join the Pepsi People (Feeling Free)”
1980–1981: ”Catch That Pepsi Spirit”

1981–1983: ”Pepsi’s got your taste for life”
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1989: ”Pepsi. A Generation Ahead”
1991–1992: “Gotta Have It”/”Chill Out”
1992: “The Choice Is Yours”
1992–1993: ”Be Young, Have Fun, Drink Pepsi”
1993–1994: ”Right Now”
1994–1995: ”Double Dutch Bus”
1995: ”Nothing Else is a Pepsi”
1995–1996: ”Drink Pepsi. Get Stuff”
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1996: “Change The Script”
1997–1998: ”Generation Next”
1998–1999: “It’s the cola” (100th anniversary
commercial)
1999–2000: “For Those Who Think Young”/”The Joy of
Pepsi-Cola”
2003: ”Its the Cola”/”Dare for More”
2006–2007: “Why You Doggin’ Me”/”Taste the one that’s
forever young”
2007–2008: ”More Happy”/”Taste the one that’s forever
young”
2008: ”Pepsi is #1″
2008–present: ”Something For Everyone”
2009–present: “Refresh Everything”/”Every Generation
Refreshes the World”
2010–present: “Every Pepsi Refreshes The World”
2011–present: ”Summer Time is Pepsi Time”
2011–present: ”Born in the Carolinas”
2012: ”Where there’s Pepsi, there’s music” – used for the
2012 Super Bowl commercial

2012: ”Live For Now”

2012: ”Change The Game”

2012: “The Best Drink Created Worldwide”
BRANDING: SLOGAN WARS BETWEEN
COKE AND PEPSI
The world is divided. Some people
enjoy the classic feeling.
 Others, prefer to be the next
generation. Whether you're a
Coca-Cola or a Pepsi fan boy, you
have witnessed the constant war
between these two giants.

When you place this war under a microscope, it's
possible to see how these companies have tried to
change their brand awareness during the years,
trying to overcome each other.
 When it was first introduced back in 1886, Coke
didn't have much opponents in the cola drink
market.


That until 1898 when Pepsi was released and the
rivalry between these two exploded, making the
need for brand positioning really urgent for both.
In marketing, positioning has come to mean the
process by which marketers try to create an image
or identity in the minds of their target market for
its product, brand, or organization.
 It is the 'relative competitive comparison' their
product occupies in a given market as perceived by
the target market. - Wikipedia

Since both were developed and introduced by
pharmacists, they claimed that both drinks had
medicinal properties.
 Coke's 1900 slogan was "For headache and
exhaustion, drink Coca-Cola", while Pepsi's 1903
slogan was "Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids
Digestion".
 In 1929, Pepsi claimed: "Here's Health!"


Coke has been selling a "refreshing" and
"satisfying" image for a longer time than Pepsi.
HERE'S A QUICK LIST OF SLOGANS THAT REMIND US
A LOT OF THOSE WE SEE TODAY:
1904 - Coca-Cola satisfies
 1904 - Delicious and Refreshing
 1905 - Good all the way down
 1906 - Thirst quenching - delicious and
refreshing
 1907 - Cooling... refreshing... delicious
 1909 - Delicious, wholesome, refreshing
 1909 - Delicious, wholesome, thirst
quenching
 1909 - Drink delicious Coca-Cola

In the other hand, Pepsi tried to show that their
drink was better for small pockets, having more
ounces of drink avaiable in each bottle. Check it
out:
 1934 - Double Size
 1939 - Twice as Much for a Nickel
 1943 - Bigger Drink, Better Taste
 1949 - Why Take Less When Pepsi's Best?

After that, since Coca-Cola was the top selling
cola drink for so long, Pepsi started to change
their awareness.
 Pepsi had to find a way to make people think
different of what they were used to. Making Coke
look old was solution they found.

1961 - Now It's Pepsi for Those Who Think
Young
 1963 - Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi
Generation
 1984 - The Choice of a New Generation
 1989 - A Generation Ahead
 1993 - Be Young, Have Fun, Drink Pepsi
 1997 - Generation Next

Although its reign was never trembled by Pepsi,
Coke replied these slogans reaffirming its
untouchable quality and tradition.
 1942 - The only thing like Coca-Cola is CocaCola itself
 1945 - Whenever you hear "Have a Coke,"
you hear the voice of America
 1970 - It's the real thing
 1985 - America's Real Choice
 1989 - Can't Beat the Feeling
 1990 - Can't Beat the Real Thing
 1993 - Always Coca-Cola

Another detail that makes clear to us that Coke
never felt threaten is the fact that the Coca-Cola
logo was hardly ever changed.
 The times Coke tried some change, the feedback
was all negative, and they had to bring back the
classic logo.
 Pepsi has been changing its logo since ever,
adjusting themselves to each generation, making
their way to become the "young choice".

FAMOUS SLOGANS
Here
are some of the most
famous slogans ever
created:
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Where do you want to go today? – Microsoft
Where’s the beef? - Wendy’s
Between love and madness lies Obsession. –
Calvin Klein’s “Obsession”
Plop, plop; fizz, fizz; oh, what a relief it is. – Alka
Seltzer
There are some things money can’t buy. For
everything else there’s Mastercard. – Mastercard
Sharp Minds, Sharp Products. – Sharp
Do you… Yahoo!? – Yahoo!
 Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. – Wikipedia
 Because you’re worth it. – L’Oreal
 Be all that you can be. – United States Army
 M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand. –
M&M candies
 Let’s Make Things Better. - Philips

We make money the old-fashioned way….We
earn it. – Smith Barney
 Everything is easier on a Mac. – Apple Computer
 Don’t leave home without it. – American Express
 The king of beers. – Budweiser
 Welcome to the World Wide Wow – AOL. (play on
World Wide Web)
 Live in your world, play in ours. - Sony
Playstation and Playstation 2 gaming consoles

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When it absolutely, positively has to be there
overnight. – Federal Express
Push Button Publishing. – Blogger.com
The best a man can get. - Gillette
We’re number two; we try harder. - Avis Rental Cars
Nothin’ says lovin’ like something from the oven. –
Pillsbury
Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi generation. – Pepsi
Cola
No battery is stronger longer. – Duracell Batteries
Intel inside. – Intel
SUMMARY
A slogan is as necessary to a brand, even an
online-only one, as a logo is. If you have one, you
should have the other, if only to differentiate
yourself from the rest of the crowd that has a logo
with no slogan.
 Even if you are going to hire someone else to
produce it, you should brainstorm a list of options
just to make sure that they understand what you
believe your own brand message to be.
 Keep it simple, try to make it funny, and make
sure you aren’t making an inflated claim about
your product.

RESOURCE
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/09/5-tipson-how-to-write-a-killer-slogan/ Sept 1, 2009
 http://abduzeedo.com/branding-slogan-warsbetween-coke-and-pepsi Feb, 18, 2009
