What are words really worth?
Vital information has long been packaged in memorable and easy-to-digest portions – often using alliteration and internal rhyme – to encourage good habits that lead to productive and rewarding lives. A penny saved is a penny earned. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. A stitch in time saves nine.
Savvy advertisers picked up on this more than a century ago and began using this same technique with memorable slogans tied to their brands. Maxwell House: It’s good to the last drop. (For nearly one hundred years, it was the No.1 selling coffee in the US.) Hoover: It beats...as it sweeps...as it cleans. (Dominated the UK vacuum cleaner sector for most of the 20th century.)
In 1988 Nike introduced Just Do It. The line scored big with athletes of every stripe and also as a general philosophy of life for anyone in any field. More than three decades later Just Do It continues to have a significant impact on Nike’s financial performance. Its current capitalization is over US$138 billion, over 500 times the $276 million it was worth in 1988. Apple launched its Think Different campaign in 1997. Lee Clow, creative director on the project, had this to say about the process: Big Ideas Win, Good Ads Don’t. Think Different helped put Apple on the fast track to becoming one of the most valuable companies in history with a current capitalization of more than US$2.6 trillion, 1125 times more than the $2.3 billion it was worth in 1997. What slogans are really worth
A good slogan can boost a company’s sales by over 30% year after year after year.
50% of consumers say the slogan is the most important factor in a company’s brand.
47% admit that the slogan plays a key role in making their buying decision. Sound familiar?
Because You’re Worth It – L’Oréal
Happy Tastes Good – Dairy Queen
Have it Your Way – Burger King
I Love New York – New York City
Built Ford Tough – Ford Trucks
I’m lovin’ it – McDonald’s
It Keeps Going, and Going, and Going – Energizer
M’m! M’m! Good! – Campbell’s Soup
Melts in your mouth, not in your hand – M&M’s
Nothing runs like a Deere – John Deere
Red Bull gives you wings – Red Bull
The Best a Man Can Get – Gillette
The Quicker Picker Upper – Bounty
They’re Great! – Frosted Flakes
We Are Professional Grade – GMC Trucks
What Happens Here, Stays Here – Las Vegas
