“Your Slogan Here”, the famous one liner found on premade templates everywhere, just to give your site or company the chance to give itself a meaningful title.
But what exactly do you put there?
What Is A Slogan
A slogan, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a memorable phrase used in a political or commercial context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose.” Slogans (or tag lines, whatever you want to call them) are there to express to your user what you stand for right away, but often, slogans are used in the wrong sense, and with the wrong message.
Slogans Gone Right
Take a look at Neowin’s well-known phrase, “Where Unprofessional Journalism Looks Better“. Neowin has stuck with this for years because it has simply worked for them. No wonder why they remain one of the most frequently visited tech-related news sites around.
Neowin’s slogan gets straight to the point, and provides fact, because neowin doesn’t just provide news, but it provides it all in a clean and easy to navigate environment.
Other web related sites that have seen there share of slogan glory include Spoono and 9Rules. Both use randomizing to a great effect.
For Spoono, there tag lines come off as humorous, and draw you right in. With one refresh you may get “Like a horse, easy to get on, hard to get off“, and with another, something like “Utensil for Digital Inspiration“. Two completely different, unserious slogans of many, many more.
9Rules on the other hand, will include a different “rule” of its 9 rules in it’s slogan, to provide better clarity to the content they are showcasing and what it means to be a 9 rules member. Their first rule, “Love what you do“, pretty much sums up their intent.
Slogans Gone Wrong
But for every good, there are wrongs.
Take Dunkin’ Donuts for example. Recently, they introduced a new company slogan, “America Runs on Dunkin’“. Seems pretty practical, since Americans spend billions a year on coffee to get their days started. But, break down the slogan literally – and the meaning doesn’t go at all.
Consider that the U.S. is facing it’s biggest obesity problems in years, and the amount of people that find themselves getting coffee and donuts not once in a while, but every single day. Does America really run on Dunkin’? No, it’s more like America walks. While of course their marketing techs meant that if you get food and drinks from Dunkin Donuts, you’ll be able to power through your day, but in today’s society, the meaning isn’t very clear, or very factual. Just today before writing this, I witnessed an accident outside a local DD, while traffic continued to pour in and out of the place, backing things up everywhere.
So, what can you do about creating your own slogan that makes a strong impression?
Building A Better Slogan
First things first, get right to the point. If you don’t have anything creative, use a simple, descriptive tag as your slogan. If your a web designer, no one is going to stop you from using “Web Design & Development” after your site or company title. All it is is a simple, effective way of getting the point across.
If you want a more creative, original slogan, go for something direct and effective. For example, if you were a web consulting group, head down the road of “Promoting Valuable Consulting Since (Insert Year Here).” It’s simple and gets straight to the point, while assuring your clients that you’ve been around for a certain period of time, giving them a much clearer message.
