Slogans

In this video, marketing guru Al Ries explains some of the basics of successful slogans.

I've enjoyed this lengthy contractortalk.com thread, Company Slogans. Some are downright hilarious -- and some efforts at "slogans" are so laden with cliche, they are beyond boring.

This comment by "Dick", a Minnesota-based masonry consultant, succinctly describes the core of a good slogan.

Slogans are worthless if they are the usual, trite ones about how good I am or where it work(s).

A good slogan is remembered to trigger a future solution for a project or problem . . .Sort of like logos that say nothing, but are remembered and recognized.

One great and insane one was in Virginia Beach - "It it does not go down, call Brown" - Everyone remembered that one even if they did not have a sewage problem. If they had a problem they remembered Brown.

If your slogan has words like "Quality Service" or "Free Estimates", you need to go back to the drawing board.

I think a good slogan mixes a dose of humor with some edge -- and might even seem a little risky (but how far you want to go depends on your personality and market). Of course, you can also consider the basics -- the four "mental glues" as outlined in Ries's video: Alliteration, double ententre, repetition, and reversal.