Branding

How To Create A Clever Slogan In 6 Simple Steps

Learn how to create a clever slogan for your business in 6 simple steps with this ultimate guide to slogans. Discover the methodology that branding agencies use to give unforgettable slogans to the largest companies in the market and how YOU can get one for yours. The best part? completely free.

Table of Contents

What is a slogan

The slogan (Also called "tagline) is a short and memorable phrase that highlights a relevant aspect of a brand's value proposition or its philosophy towards the consumer.

Brief and original formula, used for advertising, political propaganda, etc.

- Dictionary of the Spanish language (RAE)

Where the slogan is used

The slogan can be used as an "advertising campaign phrase" or in communication pieces and institutional material (such as letterheads or official letters) as part of a brand's marketing efforts. It is typically seen below the logo as a small piece of text or on a brand's website.

Differences between a good and bad slogan

The difference between a good slogan and a bad slogan is that a bad slogan sounds generic (meaning that you have heard it before) and does not make clear any relevant or distinguishable aspect of the brand. On the other hand, a good slogan makes clear the brand's value proposition or a relevant aspect of it in an ingenious, concise and melodious way.

Examples of bad slogans are:

  • “Ofrecemos un servicio de calidad”
  • “Nuestro compromiso con la excelencia”
  • “Soluciones innovadoras para las necesidades de su negocio”
  • “La satisfacción del cliente es nuestra máxima prioridad”
  • “Construyendo un futuro mejor para nuestros clientes”
  • “Creemos en el trabajo en equipo y la colaboración”
  • “Experimenta la diferencia con nosotros”
  • “Buscamos la excelencia en todo lo que hacemos”
  • “Asóciese con nosotros para el éxito”
  • “Nuestra pasión impulsa los resultados”
  • “High-quality transportation services”
  • “We help you fulfill your corporate dreams”

What is the process to create a great slogan

In my branding agency (Dizalo) we have a clear process when it comes to creating a slogan that leaves a mark on the mind of whoever reads it. To do this we have to understand the qualities of the brand and its differentials, because the slogan seeks to communicate this.

1. Define the qualities of the brand in a list

The first thing is to define in a list the qualities of the brand. Exactly what is good about your brand compared to others? Most business owners will tell you that "its quality and its good price" are its greatest quality and differential, but nothing is further from the truth.

They all claim to have the best quality, but it is necessary to go further and ask, in what do they have the highest quality? Exactly what aspect of your product or service is of high quality? We took your answer (or our own answer if we are the business owner) and wrote down a clear list of 10 qualities that the brand has.

2. Summarize the philosophy of the brand

Do you remember when in the movie Karate Kid the dojo of Cobra Kai had a big sign on its wall that said "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy!" while, on the other hand, sensei Miyagi constantly told our beloved protagonist Daniel-San "The best fight is when you DON'T have to fight."

Well this is a great example of two brand philosophies.

Both philosophies (both Miyagi's and Cobra Kai's) are different and reflect the different approaches he has to Karate.

This is reflected in their slogans or "Mantra". Miyagi's philosophy was one of commitment: if Daniel was going to learn karate, he had to commit to doing it well. While Cobra Kai's philosophy was more focused on victory, hence his mantra, "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy!" which made them more aggressive in fights.

In order to create an incredible slogan that gives you customers, it is important to take into account the philosophy of the brand.

This implies that, if the owner of the company has a specific approach to how he does business, it is advisable to use this in our favor, especially if the product or service is not particularly differentiable from others as such.

Using a brand philosophy as a method to create a slogan is a very useful strategy.

An example of this is when a motor company has the philosophy that "Every good motor is silent" or when a cleaning service has the philosophy that "Every house should be tidy". It is there where our differences shine brightest. And the slogan is an ideal tool to communicate this to future customers.

3. List the differentials of the brand

The difference between a quality or benefit and a differential is that the former can be copied by other companies while the latter is something intrinsic to the brand, such as its business model or specialization.

After writing down the qualities that the brand has, we need to define the differential aspects that the brand has, that is, those things that other companies can hardly copy. For example, if our brand is characterized by using a specific material in the industry that only we use, a group of specialized activities that only your company knows how to do, or a service focused on a specific audience, it is necessary to use pencil and paper to record these differentials. , because they are pure gold to use in our brand slogan.

4. Brainstorm

Once we have clearly defined the differential aspects and qualities of our brand, it is time to brainstorm. We are going to take all the information that we have collected from the brand and set a timer (Typically 10 minutes) And we are going to write down all the slogan ideas that we can think of. It is very important to take into account that, at this stage, there are no bad ideas, only ideas. So there's no point in criticizing slogan ideas that we STILL have, because we're aiming for the quantity, not the quality of those ideas.

5. Filter the best ideas

Once we have completed our brainstorming, we are going to stop the timer and we are going to proceed to make a top 5 of the best ideas. On average we should have about 30 slogans at this point, so it's a wise decision to remove those that don't interest us. We are going to take into account aspects such as brevity, relevance, originality and sound.

6. Polish by removing or substituting words

At this point, after having our top 5 slogan ideas, we are going to proceed to play with the words and the composition of these short sentences to increase their effectiveness, for this we can eliminate words that we feel are excessive or replace words with others that we consider most appropriate, which will leave us with 5 high-quality slogans to choose the best possible.

How to create a great slogan quickly

To create a slogan or tagline it is necessary to carry out the so-called "creative process for slogans" which consists of: Clarifying the USP (Unique Selling Proposition), qualities, distinguishable aspects and philosophy of the brand, to go on to collect keywords related to our brand, to continue with brainstorming, proceed to choose the best ideas and finally discard those slogan proposals that are not clear enough and require our ability to polish the most relevant aspects of their writing.

Tips for creating a witty brand slogan

If you are one of those who loves to do things right, then these tips are for you. To create an incredible brand slogan, I share these 6 tips that every good marketer and entrepreneur should follow when creating an AMAZING slogan.

Motivate with brand values

Using values as a source of inspiration for our slogan is a very smart tactic because all companies inherently share a set of values, but it is on the values that we can hook customers by creating a rather likable and humanitarian slogan. This focus on values will help create an emotional and captivating slogan.

Apply a solid guarantee

Si el producto o servicio que le ofreces a un cliente no funciona o es defectuoso, es lógico devolverle su dinero así que ¿Por qué no convertir esto en una PODEROSA garantía que se comunique en el slogan? Es como cuando Domino’s Pizza en el pasado usaba su famoso slogan: “¡Entregamos en 30 minutos o menos, o es gratis!”

Keep it short and simple

A long, tedious, complex slogan has the potential to make your customers ignore your brand more easily than a cat ignores its owner when called by a name other than “pspspsps”. Your slogan should be easy to remember and easy to say. Stick to a maximum of seven words and avoid using complex or unfamiliar language.

make it emotional

An emotional slogan always works, because most of the time people buy based on emotions and not logic. An emotional slogan should attract people's emotions and connect with them on a deeper level. Insecurities? Desires? A slogan that hits that button has the potential to “click” in the mind of whoever reads it and create quite a magnetic emotional connection.

Try it

Not everything that looks like gold is gold. The same rule applies to slogans, not every slogan that sounds good on a corporate board, sounds good in the minds of customers. Keep in mind that once you've created a slogan, it's ideal to take the time to test it out with a small group of people to see if it resonates with them. Get feedback and tweak until you have a tagline that really resonates with your audience.

BONUS: What rhymes, doesn't hurt

A good rhyme is probably the easiest way to turn a slogan into the next hum and thought in your customer's mind when they think about your brand category. Adding rhymes helps make the slogan sound more appealing and more memorable.

58 examples of excellent slogans:

  1. “Se derrite en la boca, no en las manos” – M&M’s
  2. “Música para cada estado de ánimo” – Spotify
  3. “Noches tranquilas, días divertidos” – Pampers
  4. “Para chuparse los dedos” – KFC
  5. “Reunimos empresas y clientes” – Salesforce
  6. “Hay algunas cosas que el dinero no puede comprar. Para todo lo demás, existe MasterCard” – MasterCard
  7. “Porque tú lo vales” – L’Oréal Paris
  8. “Imposible es nada” – Adidas
  9. “Pertenece a cualquier lugar” – Airbnb
  10. “Piensa diferente” – Apple
  11. “Lo mejor que pueden conseguir los hombres” – Gillette
  12. “La máquina de conducción definitiva” – BMW
  13. “Espere más. Pague menos” – Target:
  14. “Hagamos el trabajo” – Caterpillar
  15. "That was easy" – Staples
  16. “Comparte la fantasía” – Chanel
  17. "Breakfast of Champions"– Wheaties
  18. “Cuando te preocupas lo suficiente como para enviar lo mejor” – Hallmark
  19. “Come fresco” – Subway
  20. “Donde quieras estar” – Visa
  21. “Limpia más que solo dientes” – Colgate
  22. “Un diamante es para siempre” – De Beers
  23. “The happiest place in the world” – Disneyland
  24. “Solo hazlo” – Nike
  25. “Cómpralo. Véndelo. Amalo” – Ebay
  26. “Es gratis y siempre lo será” – Facebook
  27. “Juntos, todo es posible” – Shell
  28. “Todas las noticias que deben imprimirse” – The New York Times
  29. “Lo mejor o nada” – Mercedes benz
  30. “¡Ahora estás jugando con el poder!” – Nintendo
  31. “Prueba el arcoíris” – Skittles
  32. “Red Bull te da alas” – Red Bull
  33. “No te abandona” – Rexona
  34. “Transmite tú mismo” – Youtube
  35. “Hazlo a tu manera” – Burger King
  36. “15 minutos pueden ahorrarle un 15 por ciento o más en el seguro del automóvil” – Geico
  37. “IA conversacional para todos” – ChatGPT
  38. “Descubriendo y promulgando el camino hacia una inteligencia artificial segura” – OpenAI
  39. “Pasa más tiempo buscando que mirando” – Netflix
  40. “El futuro es sostenible” – Tesla
  41. “Creemos en lo que las personas hacen posible” – Microsoft
  42. “Los pocos. Los orgullosos. Los infantes de marina” – El Cuerpo de Marines de EE. UU.
  43. “Creado para ayudarte a crecer a tu manera” – Mailchimp
  44. “A que no te puedes comer solo una” – Lay’s
  45. “Sigue Reinventándonos” – HP
  46. “La calidad nunca pasa de moda” – Levi’s
  47. “Me encanta” – McDonald’s
  48. “Cuando absolutamente, positivamente tiene que estar allí durante la noche” – FedEx
  49. “Tal vez ella nació con eso. Tal vez sea Maybelline” – Maybelline
  50. “Sigue y sigue” – Energizer
  51. “Nuestras cuchillas son jodidamente geniales” – Dollar Shave Club
  52. “El original. Si tu abuelo no lo hubiera usado, no existirías” – Old Spice
  53. “Irrompible” – Oracle
  54. “Tómate un descanso. Toma un KitKat” – KitKat
  55. “La compañía de combustible deportivo” – Gatorade
  56. “Por encima y más allá” – Land Rover
  57. “Sabe tan bien que el gato lo pide por su nombre” – Meow Mix
  58. “Todos por la libertad. Libertad para todos” – Harley Davidson
Oliver Puente

Freelance brand identity and UI/UX designer based in Guatemala, Oliver Puente helps companies modernize their brands.

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