Brand Slogans
They are the mighty ones. The giants with money and means. They spend millions, even billions, on advertisements. So it sure makes sense to take a look at what they are up to when it comes to their logos and slogans or taglines.
Top 10 Logos and Taglines of Corporate Giants
1. Apple
Industry: Technology
Brand Value: $154.1 B
Brand Revenue: $233.7 B
Company Advertising: $1.8 B
The famous logo created by Rob Janoff is recognized instantly all over the world. It is often thought to be a reference to the Biblical Forbidden Apple from the Tree of Knowledge, or to Newton’s apple. There is also a story of it being a reference to the cyanide-laced apple that Alan Turing, the father of modern computers, took to commit suicide.
However, the truth behind the creation of the bite into the apple is rather prosaic. Janoff created it to solve the problem of scaling, “so that a small Apple logo still looks like an apple and not a cherry”.
Well, the apple’s here to stay…from Janoff’s rainbow-hued fruit to the metallic gray one we have today.
Slogan:
“Think different”. Pithy and catchy just as good slogans should be. Created by the advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, in 1997, “Think different” is thought to be a witty retort to the “Think” slogan by Apple’s rival, IBM.
2. Google
Industry: Technology
Brand Value: $82.5 B
Brand Revenue: $66.5 B
Company Advertising: $3.2 B
First designed by Ruth Kedar, the iconic colorful Google logo has evolved over the years to reach its present avatar of a sans serif font that works well on multiple devices.
Slogan:
When Google became part of Alphabet Inc. just like its logo, Google’s famous slogan or rather code of conduct “don’t be evil” was also changed. It was replaced by “should do the right thing” in the code of conduct for its employees.
3. Microsoft
Industry: Technology
Brand Value: $75.2 B
Brand Revenue: $87.6 B
Company Advertising: $1.9 B
Logo:
Microsoft Corporate Logo
From the groovy, blibbet, Heavy Metal, to the Pacman logo, Microsoft has seen it all since 1975. The present minimalist Microsoft logo in Segoe font came into currency in 2012. The colored squares are “intended to express the company’s diverse portfolio of products.” So like Apple and Google Microsoft too opted for a minimalist logo that works well across devices and product portfolios.
Slogan:
Like its logo, Microsoft has changed its slogan or tagline quite often. It was “Where do you want to go today?” in 1994. It was later changed to “Your potential. Our passion”. That became “Be what’s next” in 2010. From 2014 till date it is “Empowering us all”. Here the emphasis is on how technology empowers us as “It gives hope to the hopeless, and it has given voice to the voiceless”.
4. Coca-Cola
Industry: Beverages
Brand Value: $58.5 B
Brand Revenue: $21.9 B
Company Advertising: $4 B
Logo:
Coca-Cola Corporate logo
This story is quite well known of how when John S Pemberton finalized the formula for his new drink in 1886, his partner, Frank M Robinson suggested the name Coca-Cola as “the two Cs would look well in advertising”. Then he wrote the name of the company in the Spencerian script.
Coca-Cola’s logo journey has been an exciting one ever since with the red color added to it, sometimes in a fish tail design avatar, sometimes in a red box, with a white wave and bubbles added to it at other times.
Since 2015, Coca-Cola has adopted a one brand strategy.
Slogan:
Coca-Cola’s new slogan since 2016 has been “Taste the Feeling”. This was the first time that one slogan was used for all Coke products. According to Marco de Quinto, Coca-Cola’s chief marketing officer, with this slogan, Coca-Cola is trying to reinforce that “Coca-Cola is for everybody… People want their Coca-Cola in different ways, but whichever one they want, they want a Coca-Cola brand with great taste and refreshment.”
This is their 48th slogan. It replaced “Open Happiness” that had been in use since 2009. Other popular Coca-Cola slogans in the past have been “It’s the Real Thing,” “Coke Adds Life,” and “Have a Coke and a Smile.”
5. Facebook
Industry: Technology
Brand Value: $52.6 B
Brand Revenue: $17.4 B
Company Advertising: $281 M
Logo:
Facebook Corporate logo
Facebook’s simple logo of the name written in lower case in a rectangle is well recognized throughout the world. There is also an icon with only the letter “f” within a box. Designed by Mike Buzzard of the Cuban Council, there have not been many changes in the logo since its inception. In 2013, a minor change was made and the faint blue line used under the “f” of the Facebook logo was removed. The letter “f” was also moved closer to the edge of the box.
Slogan:
Facebook’s slogan is “Be Connected. Be Discovered. Be on Facebook.” Facebook truly wants people to be connected.
This slogan expresses what Mark Zuckerberg recently reiterated in his 6000-word letter published by Facebook, “Today we are close to taking our next step. Our greatest opportunities are now global — like spreading prosperity and freedom, promoting peace and understanding, lifting people out of poverty, and accelerating science… Progress now requires humanity coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community.”
6. Toyota
Industry: Automotive
Brand Value: $42.1 B
Brand Revenue: $165.1 B
Company Advertising: $3.6 B
Logo:
Toyota Corporate Logo
The present Toyota logo with three overlapping ovals first made its debut in October 1989 on their luxury model Celsior to celebrate 50 years of the Toyota car company. Soon it was used in all other models.
“There are three ovals in the new logo that are combined in a horizontally symmetrical configuration. The two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the heart of the customer and the heart of the company. They are overlapped to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between each other.
“The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the outer oval symbolize “T” for Toyota, as well as a steering wheel, representing the vehicle itself. The outer oval symbolizes the world embracing Toyota. Each oval is contoured with different stroke thicknesses, similar to the “brush” art known in Japanese culture.”
Slogan:
Toyota’s slogan “It’s all about the drive” emphasizes Toyota’s continuous effort to improve journeys in their cars. Their slogan expresses their wish to “expand the boundaries of consumer vehicle technology” in order to make their cars more safe and adaptive to changing lifestyles.
7. IBM
Industry: Technology
Brand Value: $41.4 B
Brand Revenue: $81.7 B
Company Advertising: $1.3 B
Logo:
IBM Corporate Logo
The IBM logo was created by noted designer Paul Rand in 1956. The solid letters of the logo were replaced by Paul Rand in 1972 by letters formed by horizontal lines to convey “speed and dynamism”. Popularly known as the “8-bar logo”, it has stood the test of time well and is well recognized all over the world.
Slogan:
IBM’s well-known slogan was “THINK”. It was first used by Thomas J. Watson who led IBM from 1914 to 1956. It was a very popular slogan. There have been many IBM taglines since, like “Solutions for a small planet”, “We make IT Happen”, “IBM Computers help people help people.”, “I think, therefore IBM” and so on.
The recent IBM tagline is “Think 3.0”. This tagline has a futuristic perspective added to the iconic “Think” tagline.
8. Disney
Industry: Leisure
Brand Value: $39.5 B
Brand Revenue: $28 B
Company Advertising: $2.6 B
Logo:
Disney Corporate Logo
Disney uses a logo that is believed to be based on Walt Disney’s handwriting and has not changed the font much. Now the word “Disney” is used instead of “Walt Disney” across everything Disney around the world be it Motion Pictures, Media Networks, Theme Park and Resorts, Consumer Products, and so on.
For example look at the logo of Disney Pictures. From 1985 (The Black Cauldron) Disney has used the logo of a castle with a shooting star in the shape of an arc behind with the words “Walt Disney presents”. From 1995 (Toy Story) a computer animated castle was introduced. In 2011 (The Muppets) only the word “Disney” was used and that has continued till date.
Watch this to get a clear idea.
Slogan:
The first slogan for Disneyland “The Happiest Place on Earth” was created by Walt Disney himself. Later there were many slogans like “Where dreams come true”, ” The most unbelievable vacation on earth”, “Where the ordinary is always extraordinary”, and so on.
The slogans always emphasize happiness, magic, enchantment and fun.
9. McDonald’s
Industry: Restaurants
Brand Value: $39.1 B
Brand Revenue: $82.7 B
Company Advertising: $719 M
Logo:
McDonald’s Corporate Logo
Source
The famous golden arches are instantly recognized worldwide. However, this famous McDonald’s logo is the result of an evolution since 1948. There were many logos like the 1948 winking chef Speedy to the Jim Schindler’s two interlocked yellow arches creating the letter “M” with a slanting line running through it.
There was also the Archie McDonald character around 1962. However, Schindler’s design somehow stuck on though there were several versions of it. The standalone shadowed version has been in currency around 1993.
Slogan:
It’s the famous “I’m Lovin’It” created by Heye & Partner, based in Germany and has been in use since 2003. In 2008, a new slogan “What we’re made of” was used in their ads and packaging to show how McDonald’s products were made.
“I’m Lovin’It” was used only once on the packaging. However, as of now “I’m Lovin’It” continues to be McDonald’s slogan and there seems to be no sign of it being changed soon.
10. GE
Industry: Diversified
Brand Value: $36.7 B
Brand Revenue: $92.3 B
Company Advertising: –
Logo:
GE Corporate Logo
Source
There have been many iterations of the GE logo since the company was founded in 1890 by Thomas Edison. However, the essence of the logo, the two cursive letters G and E were kept constant in all the designs.
In 2004, a few changes were brought to the company logo by Wolff Olins. The round shaped GE logo is a great example of design unity and balance. The blue color adds a dash of freshness to it.
Slogan:
The hugely popular “We Bring Good Things to Life” created by Phil Dusenberry of the New York-based ad agency BBDO was in use since 1979. In 2001, when Jeff Immelt took over GE, he said his “goal was to reconnect with GE’s roots as a company defined by innovation in all spheres”.
GE again chose BBDO to express this message, who gave GE their new slogan “Imagination at work” by David Lucas.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the journey through the identity markers of the mighty brands of the world as much as we did. What do you think of these logos and slogans? Share your thoughts with us…we would love to hear from you.
Postscript: The data shared in the article about the Brand Value, Brand Revenue and Company Advertising of the 10 corporate giants have been taken from the Forbes magazine current at the time of writing the article. The data may have changed now.
IBM’s well-known slogan was “THINK”. It was first used by Thomas J. Watson who led IBM from 1914 to 1956. It was a very popular slogan. There have been many IBM taglines since, like “Solutions for a small planet”, “We make IT Happen”, “IBM Computers help people help people.”, “I think, therefore IBM” and so on.