An effective slogan should be brief. Keidel notes that many
one-word slogans have been successful, such as Hertz's
"Exactly." Six to eight words is the maximum number he
suggests.
Short or long, a slogan should encapsulate the essence of the
firm. "It should be unique to the company, and it should
represent the company's cornerstone," says Paul Miesing, a
management professor at Albany State University of New York.
One way to get some guidance when creating your slogan is to
look at the slogans used by your competitors. Ideally, yours should
say something different from theirs, staking out an area that
rivals have ignored.
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Slogan-crafting involves more than just developing a catchy
saying, however. As a mini vision statement, your slogan should
state exactly why your company is unique and how it will remain
that way. For that reason, slogan designers use some of the same
brainstorming tools, such as weekend management retreats, that
vision statement writers do.
Soliciting input from employees is important, too. Don't let
high-level managers come up with a slogan on their own, advises
Andrew DuBrin, a management professor at the Rochester Institute of
Technology in New York. "It's best if employees have some
input," DuBrin says. "That will help you use it as a tool
for team-building and motivation."
One way to encourage employee suggestions is through a contest.
That was the technique Ford used to select its long-standing
"Quality" slogan. However, DuBrin cautions, don't
commit yourself to accepting one of the entries. "I suspect
employees would probably come up with a nice slogan," he says.
"But let them know that if they don't come up with
something good, you won't use it."
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