Monday, March 9, 2009
News For Brand Atlanta, today was a closing day
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Where the music makes you drop to your kneesThere is no other place I'd like to be
A-T-L, A-T-L (get 'em up, get 'em up, get 'em up, get 'em up…)
Ah, who can forget such deathless lyrics, as penned by Atlanta's hometown super-producer Dallas Austin? Well, actually, I had to look them up to refresh my memory because I hadn't heard anyone play "The ATL" in recent months.
And you probably won't be hearing it much any time soon. On Monday, Mayor Shirley Franklin announced that Brand Atlanta, the city's flashy marketing arm, was being mothballed after three years due to the lousy economy. The marketing effort will no longer have a budget or a staff.
But that doesn't mean you'll never see the familiar bright red ATL bullet hole again. All of Brand Atlanta's existing designs, slogans and other self-described "assets" are city property and can be trotted out any time, Franklin said.
"We can continue to use the logo and song," she explained, referring to the Austin anthem. "Many people like the song; it depends which version you hear."
In fact, two new stores will soon open at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport selling ATL-branded merchandise using designs licensed from the city.
Monday's press conference seemed something of a defensive manuever to put a positive spin on an initiative that many Atlantans regard with embarrassment. While Brand Atlanta chairwoman Peggy McCormick diplomatically conceded that the notorious tagline "Every day is an opening day," did not prove to be a "home run," she said the city's branding campaign as a whole helped boost tourism.
Since 2005, Brand Atlanta has cost about $20 million. Eight million bucks of that were public funds, mostly collected through a hospitality tax; the rest came from private and corporate contributions. Thankfully, Austin donated his songwriting efforts to the city.
Most cities have marketing campaigns and most of those campaigns are less than memorable – just as most commercial advertising campaigns are less than memorable. Quick, can you recite Atlanta's current marketing slogan? It's "City lights, Southern nights.” Not the most original idea, perhaps, but perfectly respectable as slogans go.
If there's a lesson to be learned from Brand Atlanta, perhaps it's that it doesn't pay to over-think these things.
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
dallas austin is a joke. actually, so is mayor franklin. so am i surprised that they worked together and millions of taxpayer funds were spent on this boondoggle? no.
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Mothballed due to lousy economy? ha. Now was just a time they could sweep it under the carpet with an excuse besides incompetence. Early last year (pre-meltdown) I asked a member of city council about the future of Brand Atlanta-- They laughed.
Every Day is an Opening Day... except after 8pm, because there's nothing to do in Atlanta because all of the bars and clubs have been shut down by the city's liquor laws... oh... and all of those awesome festivals we used to have? Just about bankrupt because the city has let Piedmont Conservancy walk all over them... So don't go blaming just the economy for people not wanting to visit Atlanta.... blame Shirley and her cronies. I bet the FBI is going to find some interesting things in her records someday...
I've only lived here three years, but I don't remember any festivals. Must be before my time.
Well, truth be known. the real BrandAtlanta slogan was "We're Open." Some muckety-muck squelched that and replaced it with "Every day is an Opening Day." Brilliance. Now, if it's a festival you want, please join us for the 38th Annual Inman Park Festival April 24-26th.
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