Some companies are instantly recognisable due to many years spent using a tagline with their logo. Some of the companies arrived at their present exalted altitude due specifically to those tag-lines and not time. So does it help to give your Logo a Slogan?

You know instantly to whom these refer: “Just Do It”, “I’m lovin’ it”, “Intel Inside”, “Think Different”, “Eat Fresh”, “It’s the Real Thing”, “Finger Lickin’ Good” and “Horn Honk-Horn Honk-M-C-O”. Yet, some companies are branded so well that their logo needs no tagline or slogan. Amway, Avon, Herbalife and Watkins are brands everyone has known, it seems, since the beginning of time.

In the end, the question “does my business logo need a slogan/tagline” will be answered by the business owner. However, there are pros and cons to slogans a business owner should know before s/he inserts one on the company stationery.

In the Beginning

Every small business owner and entrepreneur, in the planning stages of his or her business, designs a logo for that business. Criteria for logos are much like the rules for a slogan or tagline to match it:

  • It must describe your business
  • It must do so simply
  • It must look good in black and white
  • It must fit established file formats (EPS, JPEG and GIF)
  • Make sure it looks good on a business card or the side of a building

Slogans and taglines should further describe the business in a pleasing manner. Put together, a logo and slogan or tagline is the first thing your customers or niche will see:

  • It must connect with your customers: “Sore noses need Puffs”, “They’re grrrrreat!” and “Ban de Soleil for the San Tropez tan”
  • If you use a jingle instead of a tagline, it should be short, simple and stick in the mind: “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” or “Double your fun with Double Mint gum”
  • Keep it short, perhaps three to six words: “Soup is good food” or “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”
  • It must send a message: “No one can eat just one” or “Say it with flowers”
  • Put some humor into it: “Flush your troubles down the drain” or “Where’s the beef?”
  • Connect emotionally: “Are you in good hands?”

What’s Your Why?

Network marketers are fond of asking potential associates about their why. If people have a strong enough why, they’ll move mountains to move the product. What does that have to do with a slogan? One of the pros is that just like a smile should be the first thing noticed by people when they meet, a business person’s slogan or tagline reflects not only who this person is, but his or her why as well. We know that’s a tall order, but look at a few companies with no slogan at all. GNC has no slogan but is known world-wide for its natural herbal products. Their why is obvious. The next time you buy baby sleepers, you’ll sleep easier yourself knowing Fisher-Price and Gerber make fire-proof sleepers for your tot. Again, their why is quite plain.

The trouble with new business is that it takes years to establish. It takes time to get that name and logo into people’s memories. Many new business owners give up before that time has passed. One of the cons of having no slogan or tagline is that no one knows you’re there without a catchy phrase to engage them.

So What’s Next?

We’ve covered the rules in addition to on what to focus. Next, business owners should consider perception. One of the pros of using slogans and taglines is customers looking at the business cards you placed around town and knowing immediately who you are and what you sell. One of the cons of slogans would be a potential customer becoming put off or running in the other direction if you used a flurry of exclamation points after your slogan. Keep in mind the simpler it is the better. An exclamation point after “Diamonds are forever!” would drive men to buying emeralds for their fiancés instead of diamonds,wouldn’t it? Another con of some slogans is the use of inappropriate wording. Humour is fine, but obnoxious play on words is not.

Perception, however, isn’t all in exclamation points and the wrong wording. It’s also in hope. People buy a product or indulge in a service in the hopes that the product or service will make them a better person, handsomer, thinner, more educated, funnier, wiser or taller. Again, we know that’s a tall order, but one of the pros of slogans is emotional connection with your customer base. Another pro for slogans or taglines is positivity. There’s so much negativity today, that a positive pleasing message will greatly enhance your business.

Are you wanting to Give your Logo a Slogan? We are masters of the branding business who stand ready to help launch you to instant recognition and greatness when you contact us to learn more about it.

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