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Branding Portland
In kind of a follow up to my earlier post on how States brand themselves, I was wondering how cities brand themselves.
I did a little research into a couple of city web sites and this is what I came up with. Much like their big brothers the States, it seems like many of them have fallen for the lure of a “creative” but totally ineffective slogan.
Worst Tagline
WTF? Now I liked the Muppets as much as the next guy and Kermit is a pretty inoffensive character, but somehow it’s a good idea to brand ourselves after a sock on the end of some guy’s arm? And what’s so hard about being “green” anyway?
There’s that damn tree again too!
Most Ironic Tagline (and Worst Abuse of a Keyboard Character)
Seeing as Seattle is generally thought of as the rainfall capital of the US (It’s not. That distinction lies with Ketchickan, Alaska) – Soak It Up is a particularly ironic catchphrase. If their agency was trying to be cute, emphasizing the fact that it dumps with rain in your city most of the year probably isn’t the best feature to be talking up.
Plus the iconic representation of Seattle (“See”- At Sign – L) is just way too lame to even bother commenting on. What exactly am I “seeing” at L? And where is “L” anyway?
Most Meaningless (like the alliteration here?)
Huh? Like in going to a baseball game? The Braves aren’t a bad ball club, but what does this mean exactly? Atlanta is home to overpriced beer and juiced up muscleheads?
(hat tip here for pointing this one out)
Most Vague
Umm. I dunno.
And just to prove that I don’t hate every city tag line out there…
The “OK – Not So Bad” Award
Hits on all the three major themes I’d expect to see. Red, White and Blue.
Comments
Let’s include the state of New Jersey in the mix as well. . . $260,000 to come up with ‘New Jersey: We’ll win you over’? The strategy seems sound considering all the negative preconceptions about the state, but laying it out in the open like that makes the whole idea seem like a joke.
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