Thursday, October 18, 2007
News Brand Atlanta 2.0
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Thu, Oct 18, 2007 at 8:39 PM
This is not a joke.
Brand Atlanta, the municipal marketers who spent millions embarrassing the city with that idiotic "Every day is an opening day" marketing campaign, have unveiled a replacement.
Shockingly, they've managed to come up with something even worse:
"City lights, Southern nights"
Atlanta has electricity.
Atlanta has nighttime.
Come visit us.
Please.
We're begging you.
Other than cleverly combining the names of a leftist bookstore and a porn shop, what does Brand Atlanta suppose this slogan will help accomplish?
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
The slogan will support a marketing campaign geared to find yuppies and boomers online, on cable networks and in magazines, or in other words, where they are most likely to be influenced to make buying (and travel) decisions, said Melinda Ennis-Roughton, executive director of Brand Atlanta.
That sound you don't hear in the background is the sound of yuppies and boomers not flocking to Atlanta.
Why, oh, why does Brand Atlanta suck so badly?
The Atlanta Business Chronicle story offers a clue:
The new creative approach was created by Lattimer Moffitt Communications, one of the original ad agencies that worked on the Brand Atlanta campaign.
To help it come up with, among other things, an online marketing campaign, Brand Atlanta selected a firm, Lattimer Moffitt Communications, that doesn't even have a website. They/it/he/she have apparently never had a website.
That's good marketing.
Comments (14)
Showing 1-14 of 14
So what are the defining features of a southern night? I looked over the lyrics to the old Glenn Cambell song Southern Nights and found nothing helpful. "Free as a breeze" doens't give me any real info. I guess the 'city lights' might be a draw for someone who lives in a small town and wants to see the bright lights on tall buildings at night for a change. "Hey Tammy - looky here - this tv commercial says they've got big skyscrapers all lit up like a Christmas tree in Atlanta! Fill up the tank!" What yuppie doesn't already know about the lights in a big city like Atlanta? Weird. I hope somebody at Brand Atlanta starts giving some answers on this southern night thing. I'm confused. And I've got that damn song stuck in my head now.
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There's a fine line between marketing and desperation. Why won't the city just stop wasting this money and embarrassing ourselves and just let the place find its own identity naturally? Might take a little more time, but at least it'll be authentic.
Look on the bright side. Least they didn't choose a slogan with the word "water" in it. Although I kinda like the sound of "The ATL - Ain't Got No Water, Ho. Now Go Yo Ass On Home." Or how about: "Come To Georgia. Watch Us Seceed From The Union Again!"
The new and improved logo has Whatizit and Spuds Mackenzie playing saxophones in front of the 1982 skyline.
atlanta is excitenin it's roads be a little bit frightenin kinda like white lightenin but we work hard on our readin and writinen come see Bbib and it's backwards crib plucked straight from adam's rib like a drooling road builder's bib
New Brand Atlanta Executive Director Melinda Ennis-Roughton was quoted in the AJC as saying this about Atlanta-- "It's New York with Southern manners and charm". WHAT???!!!! It is nothing close to New York- that's just a lie and deception (great way to sell something Melinda.) Tha AJC also metioned that Brand Atlanta was going to online advertising and will be putting ads on Wikipedia.... Does some one need to tell Melinda and the team that Wikipedia doesn't have any ads? This is about as funny as Brand Atlanta debuting "The ATL" song during halftime on Monday Night Football, only to find out that the NFL doesn't broadcast MNF halftime shows. A lot of noise was made when Brand Atlanta spent so much of their budget advertising in Atlanta- their response-- They needed to get the city behind the campaign. That's just swell.
Pretty ironic to tout our "Southern nights" when the city has spent the last half decade passing regulations to curtail Atlanta nightlife. What exactly are tourists supposed to do here on Southern nights? Look at the pretty city lights, then go to bed?
I think that this new slogan shows the city's commitment/obsession with the whole Midtown mile concept. It doesn't do a very good job of going beyond Peachtree Street to describe the city's "vibe" or anything that happens while the sun is out .
"Atlanta: Currently Under Construction. Y'all come back in a few years and buy one of these swell condos (at night)."
A friend of mine e-mailed me a great one this morning: Atlanta: Good to the last drop
Are we serious? What wife/husband of a city official is Lattimer Moffitt, and probably got their marketing degree from The Sally Struthers Institute? And if they are legit, do they really think this is a "winner"? What other cities are doing this besides Vegas? Maybe we should take the millions that were paid for this venture and by a big lake to spread some liquid over Atlanta. Isn't Southern Nights a porn shop on Cheshire Bridge?
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