Slogan examples: 30 lines sorted by technique, and how to write and check your own

Slogan, tagline and motto: what each word actually means

Most lists of slogan examples skip what counts as one. The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries define a slogan as an easy-to-remember phrase, used for instance in advertising, to catch attention or suggest an idea quickly. The word comes from the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, from the words for army and shout. Wikipedia adds that medieval slogans served mainly as passwords, so people could recognise each other at night or in battle.

Tagline is largely a regional word for the same thing: Oxford Learner's marks tag line as North American English, while strapline is British. Wikipedia's article on taglines offers a test, since a headline is dropped when the information changes, while a line printed beside the logo is likely a tagline. A motto points inward, and Oxford describes it as a phrase stating the aims and beliefs of a person or institution, used as a rule of behaviour. Avis turned one into the other, adopting "We Try Harder" as its corporate motto in 1962 and using it for 50 years, Wikipedia says.

The four jobs a business slogan does in one line

The first job is memory. Wikipedia's article on slogans names memorable, very concise and appealing as the usual attributes, and the European Commission's IP Helpdesk says the aim is a message that sticks in the minds of consumers. The second job is a promise: what the customer gets, in words they would use themselves. The third is difference, a reason to pick this company over the one next door.

Avis is the textbook case of difference, because "We Try Harder" put a positive spin on being the second largest car rental company in the United States. Apple's "Think different", used from 1997 to 2002, has been widely taken as a reply to IBM's slogan "Think". The fourth job is tone: "Reassuringly Expensive", the UK line Stella Artois ran in the 1980s and 1990s, states a price strategy and an attitude in two words.

Famous slogan examples built on a benefit, a promise or a challenge

The plainest technique states the benefit. Ronseal, the British wood stain maker, is known for "Does exactly what it says on the tin", which Wikipedia credits to the agency HHCL. M&M's introduced "the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand" in 1949, a line rooted in its sugar coating. Apple launched the first iPod in October 2001 with "1,000 songs in your pocket", a specification turned into a picture.

A promise line commits the company to behaviour. John Lewis, the British department store, ran "Never Knowingly Undersold" from 1925 as a policy to match or beat lower prices from national high street rivals. It dropped the pledge in 2022 as less relevant in an online market and revived it in September 2024, Wikipedia records. A promise slogan is an operating rule in disguise, only as strong as the policy behind it.

A challenge speaks in the imperative. Nike's "Just Do It" was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting, and Adidas's "Impossible Is Nothing" flips a familiar phrase. The European Commission's IP Helpdesk lists both, with "Think different" and Samsung's "Do what you can't", among famous slogans registered as EU trade marks.

Catchy slogan examples that use rhythm, wordplay or the brand name

Rhythm and repetition make lines stick. Kit Kat's "Have a break... have a Kit Kat" was created in 1957 by Donald Gilles at JWT London, according to Wikipedia, and it slips the name into the second half. Heinz launched "Beanz Meanz Heinz" in 1967, a line credited to the advertising executive Maurice Drake. KFC first used "finger lickin' good" in 1956, and it sounds like a customer talking rather than an agency writing.

Wordplay on the name is the second family. Maybelline adopted "Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline" in 1991, building the line out of its own name. Specsavers runs a long campaign on "Should've gone to Specsavers", the punchline to any story about poor eyesight. When the name sits inside the line, nobody can borrow the slogan without also advertising you.

Contrast and understatement form the third family. Carlsberg's "Probably the best lager in the world" was created in 1973 for the UK market, and its first word sounds modest while claiming the top spot. De Beers' "A Diamond is Forever" was coined by the copywriter Frances Gerety in 1947, and Advertising Age named it the best advertising slogan of the 20th century in 2000. None of these lines runs past seven words.

Illustrative slogan examples for five invented small businesses

The lines below are illustrations written for this article for invented businesses, not real companies' slogans, and they would still need the checks described later. For a neighbourhood bakery, "Baked before you wake" states a benefit, "Warm at seven, gone by noon" uses rhythm, and "The bake time is printed on every bag" offers proof. For an accountant serving freelancers, "Receipts in, worry out" uses contrast. For a cleaning company, "Same crew, every visit" works only if staff turnover is genuinely low.

For a dental clinic, "Gentle on nerves, strict on plaque" pairs opposites without a medical claim that would need proof. For an invoicing app, "Invoices that chase themselves" turns a feature into a benefit. Compare "Quality you can trust", which fits all five businesses and therefore helps none. GOV.UK makes the legal version of the point: a statement as common as "we lead the way" is too non-distinctive to register as a trade mark.

How to write a slogan from your positioning, step by step

Start with the one promise the business can keep for years and the proof behind it. If both do not fit on two lines, the problem is positioning, not wording. Then write fifty lines in one sitting, using every technique above. Keep lines short enough for one breath, specific to your trade, unlike any competitor's claim and easy to translate.

Wikipedia notes that regional McDonald's operations choose the language of "I'm lovin' it", so Austria runs it in English, while Audi keeps "Vorsprung durch Technik" in German in the UK. Test the last five lines on five customers, and a day later ask which one they remember and whose it was. Then hold the line against conduct. Audi's US slogan "Truth in Engineering", used from 2007, was lambasted after the 2015 emissions testing scandal.

Checking that a slogan is free to use and that its claim holds

Trade mark rules belong to each country or region. The USPTO's page on common application problems says a phrase used in everyday speech to express an ordinary sentiment, such as "Think green", is likely to be refused. The same page rejects merely descriptive marks like "Cold" for ice cream and tells applicants to search its database for similar marks first. In the UK, GOV.UK says the Intellectual Property Office checks applications against existing marks, and that registration costs at least £205, lasts 10 years and covers only the UK and the Isle of Man.

For the EU, the European Commission's IP Helpdesk explains that slogans are often refused as a mere promotional formula or as descriptive. It cites the Court of Justice in the Audi case, which held that being seen as promotional is not enough on its own to deny distinctive character, and it names wordplay, several meanings, surprise and unusual syntax as features that help. Wikipedia adds that Nestlé sought to register "Have a break" in 1995 and that, after a ten-year dispute, the European Court of Justice sent the case back to the British courts in 2005. The Helpdesk recommends an IP lawyer when in doubt.

A slogan that states a fact is also an advertising claim. The UK CAP Code requires documentary evidence for objective claims before publication and allows obvious exaggeration that does not materially mislead. The FTC's policy statement on substantiation requires a reasonable basis for claims before they run in the United States. Whiskas reworded its line after a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority to "In tests, 8 out of 10 owners who expressed a preference, said their cat preferred it". Rules differ in the EU, the Gulf and elsewhere, so have any factual line checked for each market by a specialist.

Writing the slogan yourself or ordering positioning and a messaging hierarchy

Writing it yourself fits when the promise and proof are clear, you sell in one language and the line is for a sign, a profile or a first campaign. Outside help fits when the difficulty sits upstream and you cannot say in one sentence why a customer should choose you. Then the slogan is the last line of a messaging hierarchy, running from the value proposition down to the website and the packaging. Either way, prepare competitors' lines, your proof and three phrases customers use about you.

VITON13 Studio builds brand positioning as a fixed-scope project, with a competitive frame, a value proposition and a messaging hierarchy among the deliverables named on its service page. That page lists it from $73 with AI assistance or $93 human-led, in 5–8 working days with 2 revision rounds, and the scope is confirmed in writing. Whichever route you take, the slogan examples you collect should end in one line that is short, true and yours.