It’s not really hard to come up with a great slogan that grabs someone’s attention.
What’s hard is to come up with a slogan that’s true to who you are and grabs the attention of those people you seek to serve.
The former problem requires some creativity. The latter requires empathy. The crucial difference? You can buy creativity. But you can’t buy empathy.
When marketers rave about one of the greatest ad slogans of all time, they tend to overlook the most important piece.
I’m speaking of the iPod ad: A thousand songs in your pocket.
A lot has been said about how brilliant it was to translate 3GB into 1000 songs. Because what’s 3GB, right? It can’t be overstated how much better 1000 songs is than the default tech slogan of “The 3GB MP3 player”.
And yet, the “pocket” is way underappreciated.
If the slogan ran like this: “The MP3 player that carries a thousand songs.” … it would still be better than “The 3GB MP3 player” … but not even close to Apple’s version.
What the “pocket” does is that it translates the slogan into a story. With this device, you can carry your whole music library (back then) in your pocket. It’s not about the device at all, neither 3GB nor MP3 (or AAC, for that matter).
It’s about you! You are going to have your entire music library with you. How cool is that?
Now, how does your product transform your customers life? Don’t stop at translating the numbers. Translate it into a story that relates to our life.
Who doesn’t like a sexy slogan for their product, one that matches the big player’s most creative ads.
And so, a lot of marketing agencies are paid a lot of money to go looking for fancy and spectacular.
Only that, most of the time, the sexiest slogans are neither fancy nor spectacular. They are relevant and tangible. Using plain English.
A thousand songs in your pocket. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. And many more just paint a picture of what the product promises in the most vivid way.
These slogans make the customers see – and then feel – how the future will look like if they buy the product. In plain English.
Empathy is a lot more valuable to find sexy slogans than a big budget. Relevance creates resonance. And resonance creates results.
Get This Moment Counts in your inbox.
How exceptional leaders communicate when the message has to land
I value your privacy. No spam. Just “Great stuff, brilliantly articulated” (to use the words of longtime reader David).