The enduring power of the slogan—and why the world’s most memorable brands still use them.

I grew up with slogans. Back when the slogan was the ad. Cross-legged in front of what my parents affectionately called “the idiot box,” I soaked up every line:

“Pop pop fizz fizz” — Alka-Seltzer’s fizzy jingle that promised instant relief and made medicine sound like a game.

“I’d rather fight than switch” — Tareyton cigarettes’ defiant campaign featuring people with black eyes proudly pledging brand loyalty. Controversial even then, unforgettable all the same.

“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” — M&M’s breakthrough claim of mess-free chocolate, a promise delivered with upbeat jingles and animated candy mascots.

And of course, Kellog’s Tony the Tiger’s iconic growl: “They’re grrreat!” — a line that sold sugar-frosted cornflakes with such cheerful conviction it made breakfast feel like winning.

What my parents saw as passive screen time turned out to be a masterclass in branding. Those lines weren’t just catchy—they were sticky. They got inside your head and rattled around. They were identity. And they helped shape a generation’s relationship to products, whether we realized it or not.

It’s probably the reason I ended up an adman. Over a long career, I’ve written hundreds of slogans, taglines and jingles—for radio, TV, print, digital—for brands like Coca-Cola, Marriott, Sony, and Samsung. I’ve pitched hundreds more lines than ever made it past research, creative reviews, or the client’s spouses and siblings—because that’s the job. You write dozens to get to the one. I’ve also watched what happens when a line works—and when it gets shot down, watered-down or forgotten.

Which brings us to now and the slow disappearance of the slogan from branding conversations, and why that absence matters more than many marketers may want to admit

The Slogan as Strategy

While many brands continue to use taglines, a significant number have moved away from them in favor of broader brand narratives or sweeping mission statements. This shift reflects a growing obsession with purpose-driven branding and story-first marketing. But what’s been lost in the process is clarity—and with it, memorability.

There was a time when the slogan was the campaign. A short line wasn’t a tagline tacked onto the end of a strategy—it was the strategy on which a brand lived and breathed…sometimes for decades.

Think of:

• Because You’re Worth It — L’Oréal 
• The Ultimate Driving Machine — BMW 
• It Gives You Wings — Red Bull 
• The Best a Man Can Get — Gillette
• Think Different — Apple 

These weren’t decorative. They were definitive. Each compressed a brand’s voice, purpose, and emotion into a phrase that lived in the culture long after the ads stopped running.

In fact, a study by The Manifest found that nearly half of consumers (47%) consider a company’s slogan or mission statement important when deciding to make a purchase. That’s not a nostalgic response—it’s a behavioral one.

Today, many marketers dismiss the slogan as outdated. Yet nearly half of consumers (47%) say they consider a brand’s slogan or mission statement important when making a purchase decision.  If it still matters to them, why doesn’t it seem to matter to more marketers?

A great slogan isn’t just copy. It’s your brand’s memory, repeated back to you by the people who actually matter.

The Fog of Modern Branding

Somewhere along the way, the slogan fell out of fashion. The line gave way to the brand manifesto, the mission video, the values wheel. Brands traded focus for fluff and clarity for complexity.

According to MarketingProfs, 77% of brand positioning statements now rely on the same five words: empower, elevate, sustainable, inclusive, journey.

What started as an attempt to add meaning became a race toward the generic. Brand voices softened, blurred, and often became indistinguishable. We now live in a world of beige messaging, where a deodorant may claim to support your inner growth and a beverage wants to join your mindfulness journey. Most of them have one thing in common.  They’re forgettable.

Modern examples of slogans drifting into oblivion include:

• Together we thrive — used by multiple industries (indistinct)
• Live your best life — adopted by everyone from wellness startups to frozen dinner brands (devalued by ubiquity)

And when brands do update their slogans? A 2023 Forrester study found that 68% of those who changed their tagline in the last decade saw lower consumer recall. That’s not evolution. That’s erosion. A great slogan tell the world what your brand stands for.  Change it at your peril.

The Poll That Proved the Point

We ran a poll asking: Do taglines and slogans still matter today? The results were definitive—92% said yes.

And when we asked respondents to drop their favorite tagline or slogan into the comments…the one they still remember…the one that made them stop, smile, or think, the response wasn’t just affirmative—it was enthusiastic and emotional. They quoted:

• “Don’t stop—grab a Snickers.”
• “Just Do It.”
• “Have a break, have a Kit Kat.”

Decades later, the lines hadn’t faded—they’d fused to memory. Proof that when a slogan is good, it doesn’t age—it embeds.

According to Ipsos, 89% of consumers can recall a brand with a memorable slogan. That number drops to 62% for brands that don’t use one. That’s not just a gap—it’s a chasm.

Now compare that to many of today’s startups and DTC brands, which often rotate campaigns quarterly and bury their identity beneath a haze of mission-speak. Their themes are ephemeral. Their messaging, disposable. There’s no line to hold onto.

Because slogans don’t just advertise. They anchor. They are the one part of a brand people volunteer to remember.

The Melodic Power of the Jingle

And what of the jingle, once dismissed as outdated? It turns out, it never left.

Some of the world’s most powerful brands still rely on full-fledged jingles—actual musical lines that build memory through repetition. In India, Nirma’s “Washing Powder Nirma” remains instantly recognizable decades after its launch. It’s not just a jingle—it’s pop culture. In the Middle East, Almarai—one of the region’s largest dairy and food manufacturers—frequently uses music-driven branding that centers on family, trust, and heritage. Spinneys and Carrefour have embraced jingle-style audio in seasonal campaigns, especially around Ramadan, where music reinforces emotional resonance across radio and social platforms.

In the U.S., McDonald’s “ba-da-ba-ba-baa,” State Farm’s “Like a good neighbor,” and Farmers Insurance’s “We know a thing or two…” continue to run because they continue to work. These jingles haven’t faded—they’ve outlasted slogans, mascots, even full rebrands.

And in recent years, this musical memory work has evolved into a new branding layer: sonic logos and audio identities. Netflix’s “tudum,” Intel’s chime, and Mastercard’s melodic branding suite are designed for modern, multi-platform attention spans—but they still follow the same rule jingles have always obeyed: make it short, repeat it often, and make sure it sticks.

A 2023 Veritonic study found that brand recall was 20% higher among consumers exposed to sonic branding than those exposed to visual logos alone. In media markets where audio-first consumption dominates—like India, the GCC, and much of Southeast Asia—sound remains one of the most effective and underleveraged tools in branding.

In a media environment increasingly driven by short-form video, background listening, and scroll-stopping sensory cues, brands are remembering what old-school ad execs like me already knew: rhythm works. Repetition sticks. Sound sells.

Why a Great Line Still Matters
Research from City University in London suggests that the most effective slogans are short, omit the brand name, and rely on linguistically frequent and abstract words—suggesting that the art of the line isn’t just creative; it’s cognitive.
While some companies without consistent taglines, the exceptions only prove the rule. For most brands, a well-crafted slogan remains one of the most efficient tools for brand recall and emotional connection.
Consumers are overwhelmed. The digital landscape is crowded. AI has introduced more content, faster—and more sameness, faster.
In this context, a great line is not a nostalgic luxury. It’s a differentiator. A filter. A flag in the ground.

Want more proof? Consider:

• Impossible Is Nothing — Adidas 
• We Try Harder — Avis 
• The Few. The Proud. — U.S. Marines 
• What’s in Your Wallet? — Capital One 
• Open Happiness — Coca-Cola 
• Designed for Humans — Samsung 
• Belong Anywhere — Airbnb 
• The World’s Local Bank — HSBC

According to Gartner, only 13% of CMOs believe their brand voice is truly differentiated. That’s not a creative failure. That’s a strategic one.

Meanwhile, slogans gone badly, even for famous brands, continue to prove the value of doing it right:

• Forever Faster — Puma’s failed attempt to counter Nike
• Built Ford Proud — confusing update to a once-proud heritage line: Built Ford Tough 
• Progress Is Beautiful — LG’s awkward 2022 attempt at mission-speak

The Takeaway

If you’re building a brand—or rebuilding one—don’t start with a positioning matrix. Start with a line. If your brand can’t be remembered in one sentence, it probably won’t be remembered at all.

Because in the end of the day, a slogan isn’t just a flourish. It’s the thing people carry away with them. And if you write it well enough, they’ll carry it for years.