4 knowledge points, 3 methodologies and 23 cases about Slogan

What is a Slogan? Why do some Slogans make you never forget them, while some Slogans exude a strong smell of advertising between the lines?

Slogan, the literal translation in English is slogan, slogan. Because it is simple, catchy, easy to spread and easy to remember, it has become an important part of marketing. A good Slogan can help the brand spread quickly, occupy users' minds, and influence users' consumption decisions; a bad Slogan has its own shortcomings, either making users confused or unable to get what they want. Either the advertising atmosphere is too strong and the users turn a blind eye...

Open a few random websites on the Internet, I believe you will also find the same thing: Slogan and Slogan are different, some Slogan conveys beauty and Value gives people upward power; some slogans are fake and empty, giving people a feeling of unreliability.

The same slogan, why is there such a big gap in level and quality?

Applying the sentence pattern of the popular article title, it can be explained as: This is the difference between a copywriter with a monthly salary of 3,000 and a monthly salary of 30,000. In the final analysis, it is because the creation of advertising copywriting such as slogans is a creative type of work, and the person who determines the level of creative work is none other than people. In addition to human factors, it is also related to corporate culture, business model, product model, user characteristics and decision-making process. These five factors will not be introduced in detail here, but will be covered later in the methodology part of Slogan.

On the other hand, do excellent slogans have some similar characteristics? Are there any reusable techniques?

Yes!

The following is a summary of my experience, for sharing and communication only.

I divide the methodology of writing slogans into two parts: Tao and technique. Dao refers to methods at the value level and thinking level. When you face different suggestions from multiple parties and multiple value conflicts, Dao can help you make a choice. Techniques refer to methods that can be practiced. When you run out of ideas and don’t know where to start, you might as well imitate and write according to the techniques.

The older we grow, the more we know that the world and things are diverse and multifaceted, and there are many perspectives for observing the same problem. Which perspective is the most important and which is less important is related to the values ??of the company. In companies where KPIs are paramount, products and user experience are secondary; in companies where user experience is valued, everything has a reason to give way to user experience. In other words, companies have values ??just like people, and they decide what is most important to them and what is not important. And this kind of values ??can often influence most of the company's decisions, especially when faced with dilemmas.

Speaking from a small perspective, starting with a slogan is indeed a small matter, but because it is related to the company’s positioning and value orientation, it is not easy to implement.

(1) Understand corporate culture

Corporate culture reflects the company’s values, and the company’s values ??influence methodology. To clarify the direction of the slogan, you must understand the company's values.

Different companies have different values. Some companies are business-oriented, some are product-oriented, and some are design-oriented. The slogan must be combined with the value orientation. It does not necessarily have to follow the corporate values, but it must not run counter to the corporate values.

(2) Familiar with the business

The person writing the slogan must be familiar with the company's business model and need to have a very comprehensive understanding of the ins and outs of the company's business, not only the past and present , but also to understand the future. Because sometimes, the boss may also want you to use the Slogan to elevate the product and describe it based on the vision.

(3) Be familiar with the product

Whether the product is a tangible object or an intangible service, you need to be very familiar with it, experience it, and understand every aspect of it as comprehensively as possible. a characteristic.

In this way, when you write, your thoughts will be more open, and you will not be prone to making mistakes such as overgeneralization or reversal of priorities.

(4) Familiar with users

All products or services are actually designed for users. If you don’t understand the users, their needs, and how users use your product, it will be difficult to write a slogan that directly addresses the users’ pain points.

The "technical" level is actually the idea and methodology of doing something. It is a summary of past experience. It should be noted that it is not necessarily correct or applicable to all circumstances, and there may even be biases caused by the induction method itself. In short, when we discuss or use a "skill", we cannot break away from the background in which it was produced, nor ignore the current application environment. We cannot copy the model, but make adjustments according to the actual situation.

(1) USP theory

USP is the abbreviation of Unique Selling Proposition, which means unique selling proposition. It was born in the United States in the 1950s. After World War II, the economy recovered, material life became more and more abundant, and there were more and more homogeneous products, so marketing faced difficulties. The unique selling proposition advocates: based on the unique characteristics of the product, derive its unique value that is beneficial to users.

The most classic case of applying the USP theory is what its founder Rosser Reeves wrote for Mamp; your mouth, not in your hand)”. Some of the familiar ones around us include "When you are hungry or sleepy, drink something fragrant", "When you are tired and sleepy, drink Red Bull", "If you are afraid of getting angry, drink Wanglaoji"...

(2) Brand proposition

Although the USP theory is enduring, it also has certain limitations: when the difference between selling points and product functions becomes smaller and smaller, its effect will be greatly reduced. For example, the iPod's classic "put 1,000 songs in your pocket" established its initial impression in the minds of users. However, when all MP3 manufacturers can put 1,000 songs in their pockets, its competitiveness will inevitably decrease.

At this time, if you want to continue to maintain your advantage, what should you do?

Brand proposition is one of the solutions. It satisfies the spiritual needs of users by promoting a behavior, values, lifestyle, etc., thereby shaping a unique image of the brand to achieve the purpose of influencing users' purchasing decisions. .

For example: Since its birth in January 2012, Tmall has been considered by the outside world to be the benchmark for JD.com. JD.com’s Slogan is “More, Fast, Better, Save” and focuses on functions; Tmall’s original Slogan is “Go to Tmall and buy”, hoping to strengthen users’ shopping habits. In May 2017, Tmall grandly launched a brand upgrade. It not only revised the Tmall APP, but also changed the slogan to "Ideal life on Tmall." In contrast, the levels are immediately obvious: more, faster, better and cheaper belongs to the benefit level, purchasing on Tmall belongs to the strategic level, and ideal life on Tmall is at the value level, which is the highest level of marketing.

Equally exciting cases include:

(3) Positioning theory

Positioning theory talks about creating a new category and competing for the hearts of users in this category. The first position. This is because there is too much information and too many brands in modern society, so that users simply cannot remember so many brands. They can only remember the first few products in each category at most. Therefore, if you want to capture the minds of users, you need to rank among the top 3 in the category.

If you want to rely on positioning theory to gain market share in the existing market, you must first find the target competitors, then avoid the areas where competing products have advantages in users’ minds, and finally exploit the pain points of competing products or open up new sub-markets. categories to determine their positioning.

For example: In the field of domestic social software, there are almost no products that can challenge WeChat. If you want to use WeChat's product model to defeat WeChat, the chance is almost zero.

Instead, we can only look for opportunities in the social segment. For example, DingTalk starts from the workplace social network, and Momo and Tantan start from the stranger social field. The most interesting thing is that DingTalk’s slogan is also directly aligned with WeChat, “DingTalk is a way of working” and “WeChat is a way of life”.

(4) Commonly used sentence patterns in Slogan

1) Appeal to value

a. "Let..." sentence pattern

b . Unique value

2) Appeal to functions -... platform/tools

3) Appeal to practical results -... integrated solutions/technical service providers

When you see this, you will find that the cases that appeal to value are the most common. This is actually not my intention, but during the collection process, the number of slogans that appeal to value is the most common. This also confirms from the side that the appeal to value is the most accepted by the public. The reason behind it is: from a marketing perspective, the value level is higher than the strategic level, and the strategic level is higher than the interest level. .

Finally, additional explanations are needed:

1) Slogan is not static. At different stages of the product, the slogan will be different, mainly depending on the balance between product value and user value.

2) Appeal to value Value is easier to be perceived by users than platforms/solutions, etc. This is why Alibaba’s slogan is not to be a one-stop e-commerce platform but to make it easy to do business anywhere in the world. However, when writing a slogan using the method of appealing to value, you need to pay attention to the connotation of the product and make sure it is what the product can provide before writing it. Otherwise, users will either think you are bragging, or that you are empty and shallow.

The best slogan is that people don’t know that it is originally called a slogan, and the moment it comes into contact with users, it can solve the user’s recognition and recognition problems.