In election campaign slogans a fundamental strategy is to make sure voters remember the name of candidate they like when they are in the booth and about to cast their ballot.  Slogans help to assure name recognition and a positive association between the candidate and the voter's motivations.  A slogan encapsulates the platform of a candidate in a few words.

This is true of student council campaigns.  If you are running for a student council position and are thinking about a slogan for your campaign, here are a few basic steps to follow to create a catchy campaign slogan. 

One way to get started with the campaign slogan is to do some brainstorming. Using a mind map can be a good way to keep track of your thoughts as you work through the process. If you are doing this yourself, brainstorming software like bubbl can be a useful tool. It can be used online for free. If you are brainstorming in a group, draw the mind maps on a flip chart or white board.

Write down the name of the candidate and draw a circle around the name. Then write variations of the name in the areas around the circle, circling each one of those names as you write it down and connecting it to the center circle with a line. You should end up with a drawing like the one shown on the left side of the picture below:

This type of diagram is known as a mind map. Once you have some alternate names written down, start a new mind map. Write down positive characteristics in a circle. Then write down all the positive characteristics about the person as they come to mind. Write these in an area around the circle, circling each word as you write it down and drawing a line to connect the circle to the center circle. Some thoughts may be fairly general, so write more specific characteristics around them, connecting them to the central idea with circles and lines.

Repeat this process with a few other mind maps. In one map, brainstorm words associated with what the school or student council needs. In another map, brainstorm words related to action. Repeat this process as many times as you wish, but probably four or five mind maps will give you the words you need. The result should look like the maps in the pictures below:

Once you have four or five mind maps, start making connections between them. Draw lines between words that connect a variation of the candidate's name, a key attribite, a key issue and an action verb. Repeat this process. You don't have to connect the words in any particular order at this point and you don't have to use words from every map. Also, you may wish to use the candidate's name in the slogan or you may decide to have a tagline following the candidate\s name. A tagline is a form of slogan that is not used on its own, but in association with or modifying a name or brand.

Think About What Makes a Slogan Catchy

Take a break from your brainstorming for a minute and think about what makes a slogan catchy and memorable. Usually a memorable slogan contains a figure of speech that makes the slogan catchy. Examples of figures of speech are:

• Alliteration - words start with the same sound
• Rhyme - words end with the same sound
• Pun - words have multiple meanings
• Metaphor - words have symbolic meaning

Now take another look at your mind maps and see if there are any words that fit any of these types of figures of speech. Look for words that rhyme or are alliterative. Look for words with multiple meanings or symbolic meanings. If there are none, brainstorm some synonyms of words that might be catchier that the words you have written down.

As you identify these words, write them down in the form of a slogan. Try to write down these slogans in different forms. Some might be descriptive, some more action oriented, some provocative and some that are calls to action. For more information on what makes a slogan catchy, go to www.stickyslogans.com.

Test Your Choices

Before you make your final selection from the list of options you have developed, test them on a few people. Find out which slogan resonates with voters. You can do this by showing some people a list, reading them out loud as a person listens to them, or by emailing or texting some friends and asking their opinion. After you get some feedback, make what you think is the best choice.

So getting back to the mind map examples earlier, a couple of ideas come from matching attributes or issues with the candidate's name. As an example, three issues that came out of that part of the brainstorming were campus safety, an additional student pub (beer) and lower tuition. Picking up on the key word safety, some alliterative ideas that come from synonyms for beer and lower tuition were suds and savings. These words that start with s work well with the candidate's name, Smith. So a potential slogan might be:

Vote Smith for Safety, Suds and Savings

Another idea came out of the mind maps that compared variations of the candidate's name with some of his key attributes. A few of the words that showed up there have both alliterative sounds at the beginning of the word and rhyming sounds at the end - energy and empathy. These work well with Danny, one of the alternate names for the candidate. A potential slogan using these attributes might be:

Danny - Energy & Empathy

By now you should have some ideas about what makes a catchy slogan and brainstorming with mind maps can be a way to get creative juices flowing to mix and match the right sounds and meanings until you create a great student council campaign slogan. Put your slogan to work at school and on a great Internet campaign.