Catchy slogans do not have to be short

Creativity & Communication

It is a widespread misconception that a slogan has to be short to be catchy: in fact, a few extra words are often required to create a striking rhyme or rhythm. For example, it would have been quicker for FedEx to adopt the one-word tagline “Overnight”, but opting for the longer “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” gave the tag its memorable turn of phrase. The line also captured the emotional state of the package-sender: a desire for certainty.

Behavioural principles

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

Short, plain-English explanations of the principles behind this post, with links to related books and examples in the archive.

Framing effect

Equivalent facts can lead to different choices depending on how they are framed.

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Affect heuristic

We lean on how something feels when making a fast judgment.

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Processing fluency

Easy-to-process things feel truer, safer, and more appealing.

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Catchy slogans do not have to be short

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

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