Brands and slogans aren't relevant only for companies and their products. Cities and states have been jumping on the brandwagon for a long time--remember "Virginia Is for Lovers" and "I {Heart} New York"? And the game has only become more competitive and more expensive. And sillier, if Washington State's new slogan, "SayWA," is evidence.
On a recent Talk of the Nation on NPR, host Neil Conan interviewed a brand maven and a reporter on this topic. The brand guy was Randy Snow, whose Las Vegas ad firm, R&R Partners, came up with the spectacularly successful "What Happens Here, Stays Here" for Las Vegas.
The other guest, Indianapolis Business Journal reporter Matthew Kish, talked about a failure. For years, Indianapolis had been represented by the slogan "Enjoy Indiana." The powers that be decided it was too bland and asked 14 civic, business, and nonprofit groups to replace it. And they did, spending $350,000 to develop "The New Midwest."
And then--whoops--they took their creation to some focus groups. Which hated, hated, hated it.
These Indianapolitans thought the word "new" implied there was something wrong with the "old" Indianapolis. And they thought "midwest" had "negative connotations." Which leaves "the," a good start for...something else.
This metro-promo compulsion seems to be a peculiarly American urge, born of early-20th-century Babbitry and refined on mid-century Madison Avenue. As far back as 1910, Reno was calling itself "The Biggest Little City in the World." In a 1911 contest, Modesto, California, chose an immodest but lyrical city slogan: "Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health." (The winner of that contest, Sam Harbaugh, got $3. Modesto was home to about 4,000 citizens then.)
Those slogans endure nearly a century after their creation because they remain--dare I say it--original. But how important is originality? As Mr. Snow candidly confessed, "What happens here..." had been common parlance for a long time; salesmen, for example, have been saying "What happens on the road stays on the road" for decades.
In my own life as a namer, I frequently hear from clients that they want an original solution. When I probe more deeply (gently, of course, but deeply), I learn they want only the appearance of originality--anything too innovative is scary. They want something familiar ("What happens here, stays here") in a new context (Sin City). And they want authenticity, a sense that the name or tagline resonates with their identity--their brand.
Which is probably why "The New Midwest" flopped: It simply rang false to people who live and work in Indianapolis. They know there's something special about their city, but "new" and "Midwest" ain't it.
It comes down to understanding your audience--business travelers? families? NASCAR fans?--and not falling too much in love with your own cleverness. To get back to "SayWA," it probably seemed cool or cute to its coiners, but it's been ridiculed mercilessly in the press and the blogosphere. Say Waaaah? Say D'oh? Say...let's go back to the drawing board.
Comments