Even the smallest brand can take off in a big way with the simplest of slogans. Here we look at a few of the most famous slogans used by Irish brands to keep their products on the tips of our tongues over the years.

“So fresh its famous.” – Pat the Baker

It always helps if you can roll your slogan into a catchy little song. That’s just what Pat the Baker did way back in the 80’s along with a colourful animated TV spot. The tune still rings in our ears today, bright and early every morning…

“Guinness is good for you.” – Guinness

Guinness have become the masters of marketing over the years but this early slogan established the beginning of their marketing mastery. Later slogans would include other Guinness classics like “Good things come to those who wait.”

“The fillet of cheddar.” – Kilmeaden Cheddar

This one is a little left field but it comes from the kind of creative thinking that produces the best slogans. Not only is it simple enough to be catchy it manages to give what could be just a plain old block of cheddar an air of sophistication.

“Every day should have it’s golden moments.” – Barry’s Tea

Barry’s first ever TV commercial hit us with this snippy little number. It had to be good because it was up against Lyons tea’s “Extra quality, extra flavour, Lyons the quality Tea” jingle.

“Today’s bread, today.” – Brennan’s Bread

Between Pat the Baker and this one from Brennan’s, bread manufacturers seem to have the lions share of the slogan market in Ireland. Nothing could be simpler than this slogan, it’s only two words.

What Makes a Great Slogan?

Brevity is obviously an important ingredient in a successful slogan. No one is getting a paragraph of text stuck in their head. Like the chorus of a catchy pop song the slogan needs to be short enough that it can roll around in your head over and over again without getting too annoying or tiring.

Alliteration is a technique that helps phrases to stick in people’s minds. “Guinness is Good for you” and “So Fresh  it’s Famous” use this well. Its not just about having the same sound repeat, it must also  have its own rhythm.

What makes creating a successful slogan so challenging is not only do you need to make it short and memorable, you also have to speak to the qualities of your product that you want to promote.

Brennan’s slogan is a great example of this. At face value it is almost nonsensical, what other type of bread are you going to have today? But the implication of freshness is obvious. It tells its audience that their bread is delivered fresh everyday, freshness being the ultimate selling point of any bread.

However the tone and pacing of the the two words and their repetition creates a sense of comfort and familiarity. “Today’s bread today.” doesn’t just tell you that the bread is fresh, it suggests the feeling of warmth and reassurance we get from eating that most nourishing and essential of foods.

So finding that perfect slogan to promote your brand might take weeks or months of trying out ideas and reflecting on the qualities and characteristics of your brand, but once you get it it comes in a flash. And its potential value to your company could be priceless.

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The use of promotional gift items is a tried and tested method for creating brand awareness as well as providing recurrent promotion. However, the temptation is often to spend that money on a marketing approach that has a more demonstrable ROI even if that ROI is less.

That can be understandable, particularly when those expenditures have to be explained to an accounts department at the end of the year. Ultimately, this approach only does yourself and your business a disservice. Business benefits from the most effective marketing, not the marketing that is easiest to account for.

Fortunately, the PPAI conducted a study into the effectiveness of promotional gift items. Some of the figures in the study might surprise even the biggest proponents of Promotional Gift Items.

Action and Reaction

Two of the main areas the study looked at were how consumers felt about promotional products and how they acted on promotional products. According to the study 83% of those interviewed liked to receive a promotional product with an advertising message. Almost half said they would like to receive them more often and 38% said they felt that promotional products worked as a continuous reminder of the advertiser.

Those surveyed were also asked how they would respond to promotional products being handed out at an event, trade show or shopping centre. While only 23% said they would take any type of promotional product, 63% said they would take a product that they found to be useful. This illustrates how important utility is in the deployment of promotional products.

This is why items such as pens are so consistently effective. But taking note of the weather forecast could make a promotional umbrella particularly effective on a rainy day.

Interestingly only 5% said they would take an object primarily because they found it to be attractive. Just 3% said they would never pick up a promotional product meaning promotional gift items can potentially be effective on 97% of people.

Continuous Promotion

The final part of the study looked at the persistence of promotional gift items. Respondents to the survey were asked to recall the product, the advertiser and the message of a promotional gift they had received in the previous two years.

Astonishingly, 76.2% of respondents were able to recall all three pieces of information. This figure illustrates one of the key benefits that promotional gifts have over other forms of promotion: staying power.

To show how this works those conducting the study asked about promotional items respondents had in their house. 55% had a promotional item in their bedroom or storage space, 74% had an item in their work space and a huge 91% said they had at least one promotional item in their kitchen.

Promotional items engender affinity with customers by giving them a gift for free. They also serve to continuously reinforce your branding and company messaging, especially if that promotional item is the mug your customer drinks coffee out of every morning.

The diversity of promotional capabilities that branded gifts provide means they really cannot be left out of a comprehensive marketing campaign.

The post Just How Effective are Promotional Gift Items? appeared first on Upper Case.