Developing a claim and slogan: making it stick

What a good claim does

• It names a benefit or an attitude.
• It is short and easy to remember.
• It sounds like you, and it is true.
• It sets you apart from the competition.

Approach

1. Clarify your positioning: What do you stand for, and for whom?
2. Gather material: Customer comments, strengths, typical phrases.
3. Write drafts: Many variants, without judging them.
4. Select and test: Read them aloud, and try them on a vehicle, website and business card.

Mistakes

• Interchangeable platitudes (“Quality that convinces”)
• Too long and too complex
• Promises that are not kept
• Legally protected or misleading statements

Types of claim

• Benefit promise: Says what customers get. Check whether you can deliver on it.
• Attitude: Says what the company stands for. It works if that attitude is visible in everyday practice.
• Description: Names the industry or service briefly and clearly. Unspectacular, but understandable.
• Wordplay: Can be memorable, but only suits certain brands and does not always work across languages.

Worked example: from draft to selection

Suppose a landscaping firm collects what customers say about it: punctual, tidy, thinks along with you. First drafts: “Your garden in good hands” (interchangeable, anyone could say it), “Quality that grows” (a platitude with wordplay) and “Finished on time, left tidy” (specific, but long). Testing shows that the third draft describes something genuinely distinctive but does not fit well on a vehicle. It becomes the shorter version “On time. Tidy. Done.” The claim only makes sense if the firm really is punctual; otherwise it does harm. So the choice is decided by content and application, not by sound alone.

Checks

1. Counter-check: Could a competitor adopt it unchanged? Then it is too general.
2. Provability: Can the promise be demonstrated or experienced?
3. Reading test: Say it aloud, show it to someone with no background knowledge and ask what they take from it.
4. Application test: Put it on letterhead, a vehicle, a website header and a business card. A good claim stays legible even when small.
5. Research: Check search engines, the trade mark register and industry directories for identical or very similar claims.

Myth versus fact

Myth: A company absolutely needs a slogan. Fact: A claim is useful if it says something the name does not. If your service is already clear from the company name, a claim may be unnecessary. A weak claim is worse than none. Superlatives matter too: statements such as “the best” or “no. 1” can be misleading if you cannot back them up. Whether a claim is legally permissible and free of third-party rights is, if in doubt, a question for legal advice. Claim and logo should work together; more on this under Logo development.

When a claim may change

A claim is a long-term decision. Do not change it with every campaign, because recognition comes from repetition over years. A change makes sense if your offering has changed substantially, if the claim is no longer true, or if it causes legal problems. Short-term promotions work better under their own motto alongside the fixed claim. That way the brand stays stable, and you can still respond to occasions.

Questions to sharpen your drafts

• Which word would a customer use when recommending you to an acquaintance?
• What do you offer that your closest competitor expressly does not?
• Which word can you cut without changing the meaning? Cut it.

Research beforehand whether a similar claim is already in use. The route there begins with your brand strategy.