Creating Brand Value

In 2004, a big Automobile company launched a massive advertising campaign in
India with the slogan, “For a special journey called life.” 

Almost a year later, does anyone, outside of the client and its agency, knows “What car one deserves for the special journey called life?” 

Unlikely. And that’s been the trend for advertising not only in
India or on the other side of the
Atlantic, but the problem is more acute right here in
Bangladesh. Companies are spending millions on an advertising program but not leaving a brand idea in the customer’s mind. 

Some might argue that ours is a totally different market with a totally different set of purchase drivers. Agreed. When marketers in developed countries are struggling with cluttered media and grabbing people’s attention for a brief second, ours is long way away from that. Blessed with limited media options, our challenge would be not to grab attention of the prospect, but to make effective use of the listener’s attention span, leave an indelible benefit impression, remind the USP and induce trial and repeat purchase.  

Note :  Nowhere, in this strategy is mentioned that “We need a catchy slogan that will make the ad look creative” 

The slogan however, if properly used, can be a very effective
Marketing Tool. The slogan must verbally summarize the brand concepts. It is not about “Playing with words” or “Make it sound easy”. Research shows that even if the customer can state the slogan word by word from memory, if the slogan is not related to the brand benefit, the advertising money is wasted. Because, that slogan will always be remembered by Customer as “Clever Words”, not as a “Hook for Purchase” 

Bangladesh has seen its fair share of great slogans that positions the unique brand benefits. GrameenPhone showed their strength claiming “We Cover the Most”, Maggi Instant Soup positioned them effectively claiming “Maggi provides the taste of Restaurant in House”. If the advertising reinforces the brand’s key concept, then the advertising is likely to be successful whether or not it contains a memorable advertising slogan. 

What makes a brand successful anyway? It’s usually because the brand was first in a new category.             • djuice, the first youth mobile phone.            • Coca Cola, the first soft drink. 

As soon as a brand becomes successful, its owner usually quickly forgets what made the brand successful in the first place. And off they go trying a few meaningless advertising slogans.             When a company is challenged by limited resources, a good route to follow is the leadership route. Is the brand the leader in its category? If so, it should reinforce the leadership with an advertising campaign that does two things: (1) Tells prospects the brand is the leader, and (2) Tells prospects why the brand is the leader. 

If one can do both in three or four words, you have a powerful advertising slogan that can last forever. 

The automobile brand that claimed to take you on a “special journey called life”, is actually “Chevrolet”. But it could have been Ford, Honda, Acura,
Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan or hundreds of other brands that get promoted with the same kind of meaningless advertising slogans