Friday, September 28, 2007
News It's about time
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Fri, Sep 28, 2007 at 5:35 PM
If you call Atlanta City Hall and get put on hold, a recording of Andy Young will remind you over and over that "Every Day Is an Opening Day" until you want to scream, slam down the phone and move to Bainbridge, Ga.
Well, your misery is about to end. The Brand Atlanta campaign has finally realized that the city's two-year-old motto isn't working, according to a front-page story in today's Atlanta Bidness Chronicle (subscription required). Local PR guru Bob Cohn is quoted hitting the nail on the head:
"This was really a joke from the beginning," Cohn said. "It wasn't 'Virginia is for Lovers' or 'I Love New York.' It was trying to capture everything, and that was a mistake."
Cohn was apparently too polite to point out that the tagline also blows greasy chunks.
To be fair, the motto isn't embarrassing so much as it is bland, meaningless and forgettable. In contrast, the Ivan Allen-era claim that Atlanta was "A City Too Busy to Hate" was visibly false, but at least it memorably articulated a shared yearning to make Atlanta a better place for everybody.
The Brand Atlanta campaign has so far cost nearly $15 million, says the ABC article, with about $8 million coming from city taxpayers and the rest from private sources. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the $90 million a year that Las Vegas spends on its "What Happens Here, Stays Here" campaign. But it's arguably money that's been flushed down the crapper, as studies have shown that the Atlanta branding campaign has had no discernable impact on tourism.
The downside to the city's belated realization is that Brand Atlanta isn't going away. On the contrary, it plans to debut a new branding campaign early next year. Anyone know a good realtor in Bainbridge?
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
I love the section in the story when some jackass thinks someone in Chicago, given the opportunity to get away for the weekend, is going to choose Atlanta. C'mon. If I'm in Chicago and looking for a winter getaway, it's Vegas or Florida. Duh. The only people who think Atlanta is a good weekend getaway are folks with family/history here, people who like full nudity and booze combined (and who doesn't really), or people from crappy nearby cities like Birmingham, Columbia or Macon. Do we really need a marketing campaign to achieve that?
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Mr. T, Victor Jones, a familiar face around these haunts, is going to get on to you about that Macon comment. Watch. Your. Back.
I'm curious how many police officers/fire fighters that $8 million could have hired. Or how many miles of sidewalks along MARTA routes where there is only dirt paths, or how many streets could have been re-striped with bike lanes. I wonder if that money could have been better spent cleaning up downtown. Instead of talking about how great Atlanta is, that $8 million could have made it a better place for its taxpaying residents. Wow, I can't wait to throw more good money after bad with the next lame-assed marketing campaign.
How about this for a slogan: Atlanta: City of Butt Plugs! Hey, Mr. T! Check out Acworth Beach! It's a real place, Dog. Acworth: the only city in Metro Atlanta with a FUCKING BEACH! (not counting that fake shit at Lake Spivey!)
Mr. Acworth Beach has been spending too much time at Times Beach. He misses us. Atlanta: An Independent Audacious Style.
since Thomas rolled out the scarlet carpet for Maconites, all i can think that the letter T in mrT stands for is... hope you're all sitting down... Timely. the best time to buy is when there is blood in the streets and next to burma and atlanta, we're in vogue down here in macon. but we have a new mayor coming on board shortly and the ship is fixin to turn around. but if andisheh's math is correct, the 8 million could support 300 people in Macon, rather comfortably and there would be virtually no time spent in traffic, which would leave time for four part time jobs, which President Bush thinks is the norm of Americanhood these days. i've said too much. hope to see all of you down for First Friday Macon on Friday October 5, 2007, details at newtownmacon dot com. Then October 6th is Bill Lucado's world famous (per travel channel) Shuck & Suck in surrounding Jones County. (no relation). Featured musicians are Aubrey Ghent, Jimmy Hall-Wet Willie, Taj Mahal and probably more Surprise Southern Rocker guests than you've ever seen in one place. S&S is invitation only but if CL wanted to do a story, i could probably help arrange a couple of passes. Saturday Oct 6, Noon to 9, music starts at 2p.m. Oysters, whole hawgs, quail, chees grits, boiled peanuts & beer. last year, every politician in the state of georgia was there and i've got pics of them all having too much fun, which is why i'm still six feet above ground. but i wouldn't be a good honorary atlantan if i didn't mention Rocktoberfest at the 14th street Playhouse starting Tuesday Oct 9 and every Tuesday in October and then there is the italyatlantafilms dot com "life is beautiful" finale in early Nov-details on website . all of us here could use an attitude adjustment occasionally, so get some babes with good shoes rounded up and meet us at Callanwolde. i've almost said enough. but please ask John and Andisheh to come help me dissect Net Bank et al and do currency conversions at Peach Pundit when they finishes rolling out the red carpet for Shirley. i've said enough but it's all fun stuff. as far as the atlanta branding campaign is concerned, it was my foreign friends that first enticed me to atlanta and keep me coming back but it's the traffic that keeps me away. The Italians, Danes and Leichtenstienians have upstaged our once southern hospitality, so, take that Mr T !!!
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