How To Create A Memorable Slogan, Tagline, Or Course Name

Ever wonder how copywriters come up with epic and timeless slogans for brands like Nike, Apple, L’oreal, and even Wheaties?

Comment below if you know what these famous slogans are!! I’ll reveal them at the end of this blog post…

But HOW exactly do these creative geniuses come up with something that’s catchy, memorable, and accurately conveys a core message of the brand in just a few words?

Does it all just come down to creative talent and luck? Or is there more to this whole process than meets the eye?

In today’s blog, I’m going to take you behind-the-scenes and break down my own creative process for coming up with memorable brand names, course names, taglines and slogans that leave lasting impressions in the minds of fans everywhere. 

Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex. 

I am SUPER excited about this article because it’s one of my absolute favourite things to do as a copywriter. 

And that is—writing kickass slogans, taglines, and brand names! Or even names for your courses and programs!

If you’re new to the crew, welcome! On my blog, you’ll find well over a hundred tutorials covering everything from copywriting, to freelancing, social media, entrepreneurship, and so much more… 

So be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to know when my tutorial goes up. 

Now unless you’re  Don Draper from Mad Men, you probably can’t just magically come up with a totally brilliant, original, and catchy slogan in the blink of an eye. 

And hey—there’s nothing wrong with that! 

The truth is, that there’s a lot more that goes into crafting memorable slogans, taglines, and course names than what popular Television and movies might have you believe. 

That’s right—genius brand slogans don’t just come to you magically in your dreams—or at least 99% of the time they don’t.

In fact, when I’m trying to come up with a great name or memorable slogan for my next course, program, or offer… There is always a step-by-step process that I work through before I “stumble upon” the perfect phrase. 

And like ALL things in copywriting, it all needs to start with…

Step 1: Crystalize The USP

Everything, everything, everything you do in your business needs to be centered around your USP—or Unique Selling Proposition. 

Now, while it’s true that most companies and brands have a broad USP statement that applies more to their general mission statement…

Each product or service that you offer within that brand should also have its own USP as well. I mean you created these products and services to do different things—right? 

They are different. So they need to have different USPs. 

For example, take a look at my brand, the Copy Posse. 

The USP for my entire brand, as a whole is: 

“A global crew of copywriters committed to de-douchifying the internet one word at a time and make caring cool again.⁠⁠”

Sidebar: I almost called the Copy Posse: the Copy Coop—for chicks who love to write. But then I decided I didn’t want to only serve women, so I changed the USP to be a global crew of copywriters… and the Copy Posse was born!

But within my brand, I offer a range of different products and services. Each one of them varies with what exactly it is that they do, who they’re aiming to help, and how they accomplish the end goal. 

• My Write & Ignite Challenge is for entrepreneurs, freelancers and aspiring copywriters who want a proven Sales Page formula to ignite online sales.
• The Own The Inbox Challenge is for entrepreneurs, freelancers and aspiring copywriters who want to learn how to write a high-converting email sequence that’ll land them more clients and turn sign-ups into sales. 
• My 8-week copywriting coaching program, The Launch Files, is for new and existing copywriters who want to launch their freelancing business, from scratch, with a complete, cohesive, and professional copywriter portfolio. 
• And lastly, Reign is my exclusive membership for self-led, ambitious and fiercely empathetic copywriters who are ready to boss up from freelancer to entrepreneur, turn their side hustle into multiple 6-figures, and become the reigning authority in their domain.

See how each and every one of these has its own, completely separate USP statement?

Which leads me to…

Step 2: Brainstorm Product & Brand Names

Alright now that you know WHAT exactly it is that makes this brand, product or service unique, different, or better and WHO it helps…

It’s time to brainstorm a name. Sometimes this will come to you rather quickly after writing out the USP statement.

For example, the Write & Ignite Challenge teaches you how to WRITE a sales page that will help you IGNITE online sales. All I did was take the two main messages and boom—just like that the name Write & Ignite was born. 

My most recent challenge, the Own The Inbox Challenge, actually took me A LOT longer to come up with a great name for. 

We had written the entire sales page and we still didn’t have a name!!

This is where I like to get out a pen and a notebook and just start writing down words that relate to my USP. It’s always a hodgepodge of different words, sayings, and messages… One of the biggest pain points I highlight on my sales page is that you don’t own your social media following…

In other words, it could be taken from you in an instant. 

But your email list is different—because you own it. LITERALLY. 

And boom. I had a play on words that worked great as a challenge name, because not only do you literally own your subscribers… but the course itself teaches you how to figuratively own the inbox with killer messaging and emails. 

See how both of these course names tie into the program itself and are super relevant to what’s actually being learned?

That’s the key to creating a memorable course name. 

If I was to just pick some random, off-the-wall name that didn’t have anything to do with my actual product, it wouldn’t be very memorable. Right?

So, when naming a brand or product, always dissect the USP and use it to help you craft a name that reflects that. 

Yes, it’s nice to have a rhyme, acronym or alliteration in there—but don’t sacrifice clarity for the sake of cuteness. It’s gotta make sense first and foremost. 

Once you have the brand or product name, you can move on to…

Step 3: Write The Slogan or Tagline

Once you have your brand name or course name, you can come up with a slogan. The brand name or product name is like the movie title! Whereas the slogan is the logline… it’s the one-two punch that creates a powerful title/subtitle combo.

Now, you don’t always need a tagline or slogan… and many brands get by without one…

So just like with brainstorming your brand or product name… take some time to examine your USP and break it down into the specific benefits you offer. (Pro Tip: You can use my Feature to Benefit Converter to help you nail down those bennies!)Basically, you want your slogan or tagline to represent your biggest, juiciest benefit!

Start writing down words that reflect what your audience deeply yearns for… is it happiness, love, convenience, money?

Here are some classic examples:

• Disneyland: The happiest place on Earth.
• De Beers: A diamond is forever.
• Kentucky Fried Chicken: Finger-lickin’ good.

Start writing down words and playing around with the emotions surrounding these words…

Then after you’ve gotten a good brain dump out of the way… I like to go back and revisit it all. Asking myself these three questions:

• Is it quickly recognizable?
• Does it have meaning?
• Is it clear and easy to understand without explanation?
• Is there an obvious connection to your brand or product?

Again, bringing it back to my own brand and creative process… when thinking of the slogan for The Copy Posse—The New School of Copywriters…

This was something that came directly from my USP statement.

I created The Copy Posse to teach copywriters a new way of selling.

The Posse is all about using the best of old-school marketing principles and combining them with modern storytelling and branding to create copy that connects and converts. It’s the second coming of copywriting and the Copy Posse is leading the way. We are the new school of copywriters.

It’s quickly recognizable and easy to understand…

Just like Nike, Apple, L’oreal, and even Wheaties.

Which, by the way… have the slogans…

• Just do it.
• Think different.
• Because you’re worth it!
• The breakfast of champions.
  

Alright, guys—I hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes peek at how I do things here at The Copy Posse. 

And I hope you walked away with some great ideas on how to tackle your own badass brand names, product names, taglines and slogans!

Until next time, I’m Alex.

Ciao for now!

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