By Brooke B. Sellas, {grow} Contributing Columnist
I’m a sucker for good marketing slogans. And a jingle! Don’t even get me started on catchy jingles.
However, bad marketing slogans make me cringe. Who approves this stuff?!
Apartments.com started me on this ranty rage, and well, I just couldn’t stop there.
Here are three marketing slogans I’d change ASAP!
Apartments.Com
I adore Jeff Goldblum. I actually really like him in the quirky Apartments.com commercials.
But I hate their marketing slogan.
Maybe it’s because I used to work in real estate and sold millions of dollars of apartments for my multi-housing developer.
I realize it’s tongue-in-cheek humor they’re using here. But it would be so much better if it were, “Change Apartments, Change YOUR World.” Or, “Change Your Apartment, Change Your World.”
Because that’s what happens when you move into a new place. I moved a zillion times when I worked in the multi-family world. From one-bedrooms to two-story penthouses, I tried them all on for size.
And it wasn’t world-changing, but it certainly changed MY world. Even when I moved to a different unit in the same complex, my world shifted a bit because there are new neighbors, with new habits, and new scenes that play out during your routine.
Plus, it’s just more personal. It’s speaking directly to someone versus using that humor to play out through the end.
Be humorous. I like that. But make it about me! Be customer-centric.
Time Warner
Time Warner’s “Better Guarantee” has them slapping “Enjoy Better” on most of their sites.
Enjoy better? Enjoy what better? Terrible TV service that has one-star ratings and some of the lowest marks?
The “Enjoy Better” marketing slogan is seemingly a trend or theme with brand slogans: trying way too hard to be aspirational.
What’s up with verbs next to an indefinite pronoun? Has anyone else noticed this trend?
Plus, it just sounds wrong. Even when they’ve gone and added places in, like, “Enjoy HOME Better” I still don’t like it.
I’d just take the top sentence in their offer and make that the marketing slogan.
“More of what you love, online.”
Or …
“More of what you love, OnDemand.”
Victoria’s Secret
I’m gonna be spiteful here and say I’m glad this company is in trouble. We all know the truth when it comes to bodies and this mega lingerie brand: unrealistic body image.
Do a quick image search and you’ll see stick-thin models in every picture.
So a few years ago when they came out with their “The Perfect Body” campaign, people were outraged. They got so much backlash that they ended up changing the campaign to, “A Body For Every Body.”
Which is what I want to pick on today. Are they selling bodies?! Or lingerie?
It literally makes no sense.
My simple but honest change makes way more sense for this “perfect” body brand.
“A Body For Every (Under Size 2) Body.”
Or …
“Perfect lingere for perfectly skinny people.”
Marketing Slogans Need Meaning
Above all, you really have to think about your audience when crafting a marketing slogan that will last.
Other tips …
- Differentiate
- Be specific (“enjoy better” could be any brand or thing!)
- Make it last
- KISS (keep it short & simple)
Not to toot my own horn, but I love how our slogan at B Squared Media, “Think Conversation, Not Campaign” has carried us through the last seven years.
Yes, we create campaigns. But we like to focus on human-centered marketing and I think our slogan represents that beautifully.
What marketing slogans do you detest? Let me know in the comments section below!
Brooke B. Sellas is the CEO & Founder of B Squared Media, an award-winning done-for-you social media management and advertising agency. Recently, she joined Mark Schaefer as the Co-host of the Marketing Companion Podcast. Brooke’s marketing mantra is “Think Conversation, Not Campaign” so be sure to give her a shout on Twitter!
