The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a slogan as “a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising.” Slogans are often called taglines in the United States or straplines in the United Kingdom and have been used for centuries. People and companies use slogans to convey a message about their services or products or even a cause they represent.
Every company worth its salt has a slogan that makes them instantly recognizable to consumers. Some even combine their motto with a musical jingle for added effect. Slogans help a company stand out from the crowd, which is vitally important for new, up-and-coming markets such as those offering sports betting in Maryland, where competition is fierce.
Nike – Just Do It
Nike is the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel, but that has not always been the case. Nike started life as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 as a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger, a Japanese shoemaker. That relationship ended in 1971, and Blue Ribbon Sports rebranded as Nike, named after the Greek goddess of victory. It was not until 1988 that the world-famous “Just Do It” became synonymous with Nike and its products.
Dan Wieden, the co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency, credits the slogan’s creation to Gary Gilmore. Gilmore was on death row when asked if he had any last word.“Let’s do it,” came the reply. Wieden loved the forthright phrase, which inspired him to create the Just Do It slogan, so many of us read and hear seemingly daily.
They created the slogan in 1988 when rivals Reebok directed its advertising at aerobics during the 1980s fitness craze. Nike’s response was to target all Americans, regardless of age, sex, or gender, to stop putting off improving their fitness and just do it.
To say the slogan was and is a success is an understatement. Nike increased its North American domestic sport-shoe market share from 18$ to 43% over the next ten years. That equated to going from $877 million to $9.2 billion in worldwide sales!
L’Oreal – Because You’re Worth It
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You may be surprised to learn that the “Because You’re Worth It” L’Oreal slogan is more than 50 years old; it started life as “Because I’m Worth It” in 1971. L’Oreal intended it to reflect the women’s rights movement of the time.
Ilon Specht was a 23-year-old copywriter working for L’Oreal’s New York agency in 1971. Specht was frustrated at writing commercials delivered through a male perspective. She did not want to create another advert for beauty products selling them because women should look good for men. Specht wanted to empower women to look their best just because they want to do so, doing so because they are worth it.
American Joanne Dusseau was the first model to bring those few powerful words into life. Since Dusseau, the likes of Diane Keaton, Andi MacDowell, Jane Fonda, and even Beyonce have featured as L’Oreal have all said one of the world’s most-used slogans.
McDonald’s – I’m Lovin’ It
“I’m Lovin’ It” is the longest-running McDonald’s advertisement in the company’s long history. It launched to much fanfare in 2003 when Justin Timberlake helped launch the marketing campaign. Equally as famous as the wording itself is the “ba da ba ba ba” jungle that accompanies the slogan; you only have to hear it in the background to know a McDonald’s advertisement has just played on the television or radio.
McDonald’s spent more than $1.35 billion pushing the I’m Lovin’ It campaign during its first year, including paying Timberlake $6 million for singing the jingle, which is one of the reasons it spread so far and wide. The slogan and jingle are more famous than Timberlake’s rendition of the I’m Lovin’ It song, which only reached 79 in the UK Single Charts.
