Brand and advertising ten options, each explained

Slogan and tagline writing

A slogan, also called a tagline, is a short phrase that travels with the name of a company or product and explains why it matters to people. We write slogans for brands: after a brief and a look at your market, we give you ten options, and for each one we explain what it rests on, where it will work and what it risks. The choice is yours, and the grounds for choosing are on the table.

What one option looks like

01 Definition

What a slogan is and why a brand needs one

A slogan stands next to the name and answers, every time, the question: why is this for me?

A slogan (in advertising also a tagline or strapline) is a phrase, usually two to seven words long, that a company uses all the time: beside the logo, on the website, in signatures, on packaging. An advertising slogan fixes one main idea about the brand in memory.

It is needed when the name explains nothing by itself. "Even Cup" could be a café, a service or a yoga school. A slogan beside it says: "We maintain office coffee machines."

Types of slogans

Brand-level. Lives for years and sums up the brand's position. The main type, and the one we develop.
Product-level. Tied to a product or a line.
Campaign. Lives as long as the campaign, usually a few months.

A slogan doesn't sell on its own. It isn't a promise that revenue will grow afterward but a tool: it helps people grasp faster how you differ and remember it better.

Roholeva does copywriting, websites and promotion under one roof. So we test a slogan right away in the places where it will live: in a site headline, in an ad and in an email signature.

02 Examples

Slogan examples: what works and why

First, well-known slogans that outlived their authors, then invented ones for small businesses. The famous ones are here only to take apart their techniques, and we have no connection with these companies. The invented examples were written for this page.

Slogan	Brand	Technique	What works
"Just do it"	Nike	A command	Three words, doesn't name the product, fits any sport
"Think different"	Apple	A stance, not a description	Says who the buyers are, not what is in the box
"I'm lovin' it"	McDonald's	A personal statement	Sounds like a rhythm, easily becomes music
"Because you're worth it"	L'Oréal	Speaking to the person	Turns a purchase into an entitlement, not a whim
"A diamond is forever"	De Beers	An image, a metaphor	One idea, ties the product to lasting feeling

Invented slogans for small businesses

Slogan	For whom	Technique	Breakdown
"Diagnosis first. Invoice second."	Auto repair shop	Order of actions	Removes the client's main fear: paying without knowing for what
"Coffee you don't have to decode"	Coffee shop	Antithesis	Sets itself against places with a menu that needs a glossary
"Comfortable on the first walk"	Shoe store	A promise that can be tested	The customer tests it in the fitting room
"Never the last bottle"	Water delivery	Speed as a scene	A tiny scene in place of the word "fast"
"Talk first. Grammar later."	English school	Contrast of methods	Explains the method without the word "methodology"
"The kind of clean you stop noticing"	Cleaning service	Comparison with the client's own standard	Sets a bar everyone knows

There may be many similar slogans on the market, so anything we invent we always check for matches before handing it over (see the section on checking below).

03 Criteria

What a good slogan looks like: length, rhythm, honesty

We select options against these six criteria. You can use them on slogans you came up with yourself.

Short. Two to seven words. If a slogan isn't remembered the first time, it is too long.
One idea. Price, quality, speed and care together turn into "everything for you".
True. A slogan doesn't promise what the company can't prove. People skip an unsupported "best", and regulators and ad platforms can demand evidence.
Rhythm and sound. We read it aloud. A slogan that is awkward to say won't survive in conversation or in a radio spot.
Different. Put a competitor's name in its place. If it stays true, it says nothing about you.
Durable. The phrase isn't tied to a fad, a year or a promotion. In five years it should sound the same.

04 Forms

Slogan forms: what they are built from

These are not templates but ways of thinking. Each form suits a certain kind of brand. We offer different ones within the ten so that you compare positions, not variations of one word.

Promise

What the person gets

"Never the last bottle." Good for services where the benefit is concrete.

Call

What the person should do

"Talk first. Grammar later." Works when the brand has a strong method or ritual.

Statement

A fact about the brand

"Building since 1994." A plain form that needs the fact to be truly impressive.

Antithesis

A contrast

"Coffee you don't have to decode." Shows how you differ from others.

Wordplay

A double meaning

Memorable but risky: a pun that doesn't work aloud confuses people. We use it only when the play is light.

Rhythm

Repetition and rhyme

For household goods and mass advertising. Sounds good in video and on radio, and tires quickly in print.

05 What you get

Ten options with reasoning: what one of them looks like

A slogan with no explanation is a set of words you choose among by taste. So for each of the ten we write a card. Below is one, for an invented auto repair shop.

Option 4 of 10

"Diagnosis first. Invoice second."

The idea. The order of actions as a promise: the client knows the sum before work begins.

What it rests on. In the brief the owner said most customers ask about cost first. Competitors' slogans say "fast" and "reliable".

Where it works. On the website under the name, on the shop sign, in email signatures, in a Google Ads ad.

Risks. It promises that the diagnosis is free or at least discussed in advance. If that isn't so, the phrase loses.

Length: 4 words. Language check: reads naturally aloud in American English. Matches: in a real project, the result of the search goes here.

Why you need it

Grounds for choosing

You choose by arguments rather than by feeling: who your client is, how you differ, what the risks are.

The reasoning can be shown to colleagues and partners, and everyone talks about the same thing.

If none of the ten fits, you know why, and that is likely to point us in the right direction.

06 How we work

How to come up with a slogan: brief, research, options, selection

A slogan comes together in a few days, but the preparation takes longer than the search for words. This is the order we follow.

01
Brief
A questionnaire about the business, clients, values, tone of voice and words that can't be used. Twenty minutes of conversation with the owner.
→ day 1
02
Market research
We read the slogans of 10 to 15 competitors and look for empty places: which idea nobody occupies.
→ days 1–3
03
Options
We write thirty to forty lines, select ten and test each against the criteria above.
→ days 3–5
04
Reasoning and delivery
For each slogan we write a card and deliver a document in Google Docs. You choose, and we talk through the choice.
→ days 5–7

07 Language

Slogans in English: language traps and stock phrases

A slogan in English shouldn't read like a translation, and it shouldn't read like the thousand others already out there. These are the mistakes we see most often.

Stock phrases. "Quality you can trust" and "Your satisfaction is our priority" fit every company, so they identify none.
A command with nothing behind it. "Feel the difference" works if there is a difference to feel. Otherwise it is an empty call.
Filler words. "Best", "unique", "professional". Everyone uses them, so they separate nobody.
Wordplay that doesn't travel. A pun on a local idiom can fall flat with half your audience, and an idiom can mean something different in British and American English. We pick one spelling and one voice and keep them.

If a brand is going to other markets, we write the slogan for each language separately instead of translating. A word-for-word translation usually loses rhythm and shade of meaning. If you are entering Ukraine, the Ukrainian line is written from scratch too, since a calque from English sounds foreign there. See also the page on copywriting in other languages.

08 The difference

Slogan, motto, name, USP and headline: what is the difference

These terms get mixed up, and as a result the task blurs. The table helps you avoid commissioning all five things at once.

Term	What it is	How long it lives	Example
Name	The brand's name	Years	"Even Cup"
Slogan	A phrase that sums up the position	Years	"Diagnosis first. Invoice second."
Motto	A principle the company adopts for itself, often internal	Years	"We don't promise what we can't deliver"
USP	The proposition of how you differ, for the client	While the advantage holds	"Diagnosis is free, and the sum is known before work"
Ad headline	A line in an ad or on a page	A campaign	"20% off winter tires until November 30"

Headlines for a campaign belong to ad copywriting.

09 Checking

How we check a slogan for matches and originality

A slogan can coincide with someone else's, and finding out after the signs are printed is expensive. So before delivery we check each of the ten.

A Google search for the exact phrase and close variants.
A search of social networks and marketplaces, where similar wording often turns up.
A look through public trademark databases, such as those of the USPTO and the EUIPO: whether a similar phrase is registered in your class of goods.
Notes on each card: what we found, how close it is, what to do about it.

This check reduces the risk but doesn't replace the opinion of a trademark attorney. If you plan to register a slogan as a trademark, go to a lawyer who works in intellectual property. We will prepare the explanation of why the phrase is what it is.

10 Generators

Slogan generators and AI: what they give and what they don't

A free slogan generator will produce a hundred phrases in a minute. As material for thinking it is useful. As a result it isn't, and here is why.

No market research. A generator doesn't know that all your competitors have "quality and reliability" in their slogans.
No check for matches. Whatever a neural network produced may already be someone's slogan.
No reasoning. You get a line but don't know what it rests on.
Flat language. Automatic options lean on the same stock phrases everyone else has already used.

We use AI for supporting tasks, such as grouping options, looking for synonyms and checking length. The writing and the selection are done by a writer and an editor. We don't hand over machine-generated text as written by a person.

11 Small business

A slogan for a company, a salon, a café or a garage: where to begin

Small businesses often think a slogan is for the big ones. In fact, on a sign, a business card and under the name in Google Maps it helps even more, because the name of a small business rarely explains anything.

Business	The client's question	What the slogan is about	A sample move (invented)
Hair salon	Will they ruin it, and will it come out as I want	Result and trust	"A haircut you won't hide under a hat"
Café	How are you different from the ten nearby	Atmosphere or product	"Breakfast until you're done with it"
Auto repair	Will they overcharge me	Transparency	"Diagnosis first. Invoice second."
Shoe store	Will they be comfortable to walk in	Comfort	"Comfortable on the first walk"
Law practice	Will you understand my situation	Clarity	"The law, in plain English"

If you are only launching a business, it is better to make the slogan together with the name and the first screen of the site. Then they don't contradict each other: that is landing page copy and homepage copy.

12 Mistakes

What most often goes wrong when working on a slogan

The slogan is ordered before the logo, not with it. Then it turns out the phrase doesn't fit next to the mark.
A vote across the team. Eleven people pick the least risky option, which means the weakest.
Expecting the slogan to raise sales. It helps people remember you but doesn't replace the offer, the website and the service.
Changing the slogan every year. Memory of a phrase builds over years. A new one starts from zero.
A demand for "quality, price and care, all at once". What comes out is "everything for you".

What helps: give a brief that names one main idea, and ask yourself what exactly you want the client to remember.

13 About the price

What you pay for when you order a slogan

There are cheaper offers on the market: ten phrases without explanations. Our price is higher because it covers all the work around the phrases: the brief, the market research, a selection from thirty or forty lines, reasoning for each option and a check for matches. A writer and an editor work on the project.

We don't promise that a slogan will "make the brand". We promise you options you can choose between with understanding, not at random.

14 Prices

The price of slogan writing

A project with ten options and reasoning costs from $900 and takes 5 to 7 days. If the slogan is needed for another language, the adaptation is priced at the rates for copywriting in other languages.

Prices are given as "from". We name the exact sum after the brief.
Service	What's included	Turnaround	Price
Slogans and taglines	Brief, 10 options, rationale, one refinement round	5–7 days	from $900 / project
Ad copy	Several headline and body variants sized for each platform	2–3 days	from $0.28 / word
Homepage copy	Structure, headlines, block copy, meta tags	4–5 days	from $800 / page
Website and landing page copy	Brief, competitor review, wireframe, copy for every block	5–7 days	from $1,200 / landing page
Copywriting in other languages	Copy, review by a language editor	4–5 days	from $0.22 / word

15 Questions

Questions about slogan writing

What is an advertising slogan?

A short phrase of 2 to 7 words that a brand uses constantly beside its name. It sums up the main idea: how you are useful and how you differ.

How much does slogan writing cost?

From $900 per project. The price includes the brief, market research, ten options with reasoning for each, and a check for matches.

How do I come up with a slogan for my company?

Formulate one main idea: what the client should remember. Look at competitors' slogans and find a place that is free. Write thirty lines, select the best by the six criteria above and check them for matches.

How many slogan options do you offer?

Ten, each with reasoning. They differ in form so that you compare positions, not variations of one word.

What should a slogan be like: length, language, rhythm?

Two to seven words, one idea, true and easy to say. We read it aloud and substitute a competitor's name to check that it is really about you.

How does a slogan differ from a name, a logo and a USP?

The name is the brand's title, the logo is its sign, a USP is the offer to the client, and a slogan is the phrase that accompanies the name and sums up the position. See the comparison table above.

Do you check a slogan for originality and matches?

Yes: a Google search for the exact phrase, a look through social networks and public trademark databases. This reduces risk but doesn't replace a trademark attorney's opinion if you are registering the slogan.

Do you write slogans in more than one language?

English and Ukrainian, each from scratch. We write a slogan for each market separately instead of translating, since a word-for-word version loses rhythm. Mixing languages is justified only when it suits the character of the brand.

Can a slogan be generated by AI?

You can get a hundred phrases that way, but they haven't gone through market research, a match check or language editing. We use AI for supporting tasks. Slogans are written by a writer and an editor.

What do you need from me: a brief, values, competitors?

Answers to a questionnaire, twenty minutes of conversation, a list of competitors and words that can't be used. If you have a logo or a name, send those over.

Do you guarantee that the slogan will help sales?

No. A slogan helps people remember a brand, but sales depend on the offer, the site, advertising and service. We answer for the phrase being true, clear, checked and fit for use.

Do you write slogans for anniversaries and events?

Yes. For promotions, anniversaries and campaigns we write slogans on a shorter scheme. For greetings and verse there is a separate page: greetings and poems.

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