Companies of all sizes create slogans to round out their brand and attract attention. They’re memorable, too. Chances are you can’t look at Booking.com without thinking, “Booking dot, yeah.”
Slogans are unique, and it takes a lot of time and effort to create an effective slogan that makes sense for the brand. It might come as a surprise to know that AI has been able to create slogans for brands. In a recent study by Quality Logo Products, AI was tasked with creating slogans for 50 mainstream companies, and over 1,000 Americans were surveyed and asked to choose their favorite. In most cases, people preferred the AI-generated slogan over the original one.
In this post, we will look at alternative slogans that AI came up with, as well as the slogans that most Americans liked the best.
What Makes a Good Slogan?
Before we examine AI-generated slogans versus ones created by humans, it helps to understand what makes a good slogan. A slogan is useless if people can’t remember it and relate to it, so companies use a few simple tactics to create a great slogan.
To keep it easy to remember, the smaller the slogan, the better. It needs to be clean and clear, without any extra fluff. Adding in some literary tools helps make a clean, clear slogan be catchy.
Alliteration, or using the same consonant or consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words, helps make a phrase sound catchy. Assonance produces similar results since it’s a repeated vowel sound throughout a phrase.
Consider these tools as used in the AI-written slogans “Engineered for Elegance” (BMW) or “Sip the Sparkle” (Pepsi). The alliteration and assonance used here help keep the phrases memorable. And the language may look simple, but the phrases become both recognizable and relatable.
Finally, the slogan needs to make sense for the brand so that consumers make a connection between the product and the brand. So by keeping it short and sweet, connecting to the brand, and elevating the phrase with literary tools, you can create an effective slogan.
ChatGPT Out-Performs Tech Companies
The study compared slogans created by ChatGPT to the original slogans for 50 companies. The study then used the opinions of over 1,000 Americans to see which ones they liked best. When it came to tech companies, people preferred AI slogans over the original for 10 out of the 11 tech companies used.
Many of the old tech companies had original slogans like “It’s Quick and Easy” (Facebook) or “Don’t Be Evil” (Google). While these slogans are short and catchy, they don’t necessarily connect to the Google and Facebook brands very clearly.
Compare those slogans to the ones done by ChatGPT, which created “Your Digital Neighborhood” (Facebook) and “Explore Everything. Miss Nothing.” (Google). These slogans are still catchy, but they also make more sense based on the brand they represent.
The people in the study also agreed that the most popular slogans for the whole study were the AI slogans for Google, Facebook, and Samsung. Respondents thought the AI-generated, “Technology for Life” made more sense for Samsung than the ambiguous original “Do What You Can’t”.
The original slogans for Adobe, “Changing the World through Digital Experiences,” and Microsoft, “Empowering Others,” fell flat for respondents. They preferred the AI-generated slogans of “Designing Your Dreams” (Adobe) and “Technology for Tomorrow” (Microsoft). The use of alliteration in the AI slogans helps the phrases roll off the tongue, making them catchier than the originals.
In fact, the only tech company whose OG slogan people liked better than AI was Intel, which is remembered because “What’s Inside Has Never Mattered More.” Apple was also a close call, as only 53% liked the AI slogan of “Innovation at Its Core,” while 47% liked the original motto “Think Different.” Nevertheless, people still preferred the AI-generated slogans for the remaining 10 companies.
Food and Beverage Companies Still Come Out on the Top
ChatGPT may have won when it came to tech companies, but the original slogans beat AI when dealing with food and beverage companies. In fact, people preferred the original slogan for 92% of the food and beverage companies used in the study.
Only one person preferred the AI slogan “Fueling your Fight” for Gatorade, while everyone else chose the original “Win from Within.” The age-old slogans for Skittles, Subway, and McDonald’s remained the most popular in the study, as everyone remembers “Taste the Rainbow,” “Eat Fresh,” and “I’m Lovin’ It.”
The only company that was close to having ChatGPT win was Pepsi. Only 52% liked the original “That’s What I Like,” while 48% liked “Sip the Sparkle” instead. This close call is rather ironic, considering that Cardi B starred in the 2019 Pepsi Superbowl commercial, thanks to her hit song “I Like It.”
So how did AI do so well with the tech companies but then lose to the original slogans of food and beverage companies? Maybe it’s because most of the ads and commercials we consume are for food and beverages. You can’t watch a single channel without seeing at least one food or drink commercial. Since we know many of these slogans off the top of our heads, it may be hard for people to choose another slogan over the original.
What Slogans Do You Prefer?
Regarding fashion companies, hospitality, and car brands, the vote remains split. Some people prefer AI-generated more for one sector, while they like the original for others.
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This study shows that people preferred AI slogans over the original slogans 46% of the time. The fact AI could gain a foothold in the study the way that it did is remarkable, considering the belief that AI cannot outdo the human mind in uniqueness and creativity. Perhaps we are entering a new era where AI can do tasks that need a creative spin, such as marketing.
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