Company slogans, morphological issues, and corporate communications

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze company slogans which play an important role in corporate identity and corporate communications. Design/methodology/approach – By discussing relevant literature, morphological issues (word formation in sentences), and content analysis, the study investigates 329 companies and their slogans that operate in global and domestic markets. Findings – The study finds that within the areas of corporate identity and corporate communications, company slogans tend to be diverse with distinct forms and morphological features. The work reveals that slogans go through evolutionary changes because of diverse markets and firms’ corporate communications and corporate identities. The study also compares and contrasts slogans from 2007 to 2013 which were used by the firms on their web sites. Practical implications – Interestingly, over half of the companies did not keep their slogans in 2012/2013. Many firms have stopped using slogans on their corporate web sites and systematically capitalize on brands and corporate identities when dealing with the areas of corporate communications. This supports the notion that slogans help corporate identity and corporate communications. Originality/value – The paper’s original value added is in the areas of corporate communications, slogans, and corporate identity.