The Origin of Brands Blog

Closing day in Atlanta

Finally the silly slogan for my hometown of Atlanta “Every day is an opening day” has been benched.

Since October 2005 when it was launched, I have been critical of the slogan. Not only is it a generic, meaningless idea, but a better idea is already out there in the hearts of minds of consumers. An idea that is powerful, credible and motivating. Ignoring this idea, which has the potential to become one of the greatest city slogans of all-time, is a marketing crime.

Summarizing the attributes of a city/state/country brand with one word or phrase is extremely difficult. Unlike a toothpaste, soft drink or an automobile, places have an incredible amount of diversity.

Volvo is safe. Coke is the real thing. Crest fights cavities. But what is Atlanta? A southern metropolitan city with a variety of leading industries? Not exactly catchy.

For sure, Atlanta is not where every day is an opening day. One day every spring, the Braves have an opening day. One day every fall, the Falcons have an opening day. And in 2005, the world’s biggest aquarium opened in Atlanta. Aside from that, the “every day” slogan has no connection to our city.

Furthermore, it’s a slogan that could be said of any city with a sports team or a new attraction that recently opened. The mission of a slogan is not just to define your brand, but more importantly to differentiate it from other brands.

One way to test the differentiation factor is to reverse the slogan and pin it on the brand’s major competitor. Does it make sense? Could it define another brand? If not, then the slogan is just plain puffery that is likely to be ignored.

• Scope is the good-tasting mouthwash because Listerine is the bad-tasting mouthwash.

• Target is the place for cheap chic because Wal-Mart is cheap but not fashionable.

• Pepsi is the choice of a new generation because your parents drank Coca-Cola.

Most place slogans would be ridiculous in reverse:

• “Incredible India.” India is incredible because Pakistan is not credible?

• Guatemala: “Soul of the Earth.” Guatemala has a soul because Mexico is soulless?

• Atlanta: “Everyday is an opening day.” Atlanta is open every day because Miami is closed?

Just yesterday New York City unveiled the city’s first global advertising campaign. The theme: “This is New York City.”

What? I’m not kidding the city will spend $30 million on advertising to tell the world “This is New York City.” As opposed to “This is not Boston, unless the Red Socks Win” a long running campaign of its neighboring city to the north.

“This is New York City” is not powerful, memorable or unique. It doesn’t say anything about the city that distinguishes it from any other city. You could easily substitute any city name in the world into the campaign. Paris, London, Rome, San Francisco or even Atlanta.

New York City is the most exciting city in the world. You are at the center of it all when you visit there. Wall Street, Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Times Square. It is home of the financial, media, theatrical and fashion centers of the world.

New York needs a verbalization that reinforces that idea in the mind. The reason to visit New York is because it is the Big Apple. The biggest most exciting city in the world.

One of the best city slogans in recent years is the Las Vegas campaign “What happens here stays here.” Brilliant! In reverse, “What happens at home doesn’t stay at home” is equally as true. Las Vegas has an annual budget of $86 million and it is money well spent.

The idea Atlanta should use would be difficult to sell because it has been around for a long time. It isn’t new, original or creative. After paying an advertising agency millions of dollars, city leaders would likely laugh if the agency came back with an old slogan it wanted to refurbish.

Advertising agencies are focused on creativity, the new and different. Creativity might be good for winning a Gold Lion at Cannes, but it is not necessarily the best way to build a brand.

How should Atlanta be positioned? Let’s look at some of the facts.

• According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport is the nation’s busiest.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta had 72,861 private housing starts in 2005, the highest of any metropolitan area in the U.S.

• No American metro area attracts more young professionals. According to Impress Consulting, Atlanta leads the nation in luring high-educated 25 to 34-year-olds.

• According to Nielsen Media Research, Atlanta is the fastest-growing TV market.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, metro Atlanta added 890,000 residents from April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007, the largest numerical gain of the nation’s 361 metro areas.

• According to the travel discount site Hotwire.com, Atlanta has the best “travel-value index” of the 50 most-visited places in the U.S.

When we arrived in the city back in 1997, a friend called us and his first words were “Welcome to Hot-lanta.”

In addition to all the great things about the city, it sometimes runs over 100 high-and-sticky degrees in the summertime. And sometimes the traffic is terrible because of the rapid growth the city has experienced. But these negatives are worth having if it means no snow in the winter, lots of high paying jobs and an abundance of recreational activities.

One of the silliest rationales for not using the slogan “Hot-lanta” is that city leaders are afraid to remind people how hot it is. What? It would be like ignoring the rain in Seattle, the fog in San Francisco or the gridlock in New York. The best way to deal with a negative is to turn it into a positive.

• Listerine: The taste you hate twice a day.

• With a name like Smuckers, it has to be good.

• Avis is only #2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us? We try harder.

“Hot-lanta,” is a slogan that deals with the negative and turns it into a positive. It is the hottest growing metro area in the country. Who doesn’t want to live in the hot place, eat at the hot restaurant or work at the hot company? Sure, not everybody likes hot. Some people prefer northern Wisconsin because it’s cold and almost completely devoid of people. (Local joke: Wisconsin has three seasons: July, August and winter.)

Building a brand requires sacrifice. You give up the isolation and the snowmobiling to live in Hot-lanta.

For me and millions of others Hot-lantans, it is worth it.

Ukraine and the Cheaper Trap

On Friday, October 13th, Al and I had the pleasure of giving an all-day seminar in Kiev, Ukraine. It was the first trip for both of us.

Ukraine is a country of almost 50 million people, about the size of Italy, and it has enormous potential. The growth in the main city of Kiev is unbelievable. Everywhere you look there are construction cranes working on new building projects. With at least 50 at work in Kiev, we nicknamed it the U-Crane of Cities.

Ukraine is a big, sophisticated, highly-educated country just like Italy, France or Germany. But the GDP of the Ukraine pales in comparison to these other countries. What Ukraine lacks is not size, education or determination. What Ukraine lacks are strong global brands.

Look what Italy has done with fashion brands: Prada, Gucci, Versace. Look what France has done with wine and water brands: Dom Pérignon, Mouton Rothschild, Evian. Look what Germany has done with automobile and engineering brands: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Braun. A country’s economic strength comes from its ability to build global brands.

That’s why globalism has been a boon for the smaller counties of the world. The global marketplace allows companies from these countries to build strong, narrowly-focused brands and sell them worldwide, thereby becoming big, powerful and profitable countries. Look what some smaller countries have accomplished with global brands. The Netherlands and Heineken. Finland and Nokia. Austria and Red Bull. Switzerland and Rolex. Sweden and Ikea.

Can you name one Ukrainian global brand? I can’t. Furthermore, Ukraine as a country has not yet established a position in the mind of the global consumer. What is Ukraine? The recent Orange Revolution did put the country on the world stage, but the subsequent poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, the firing of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and amnesty granted to Viktor Yankovych has given the revolution some setbacks. But as the political situation becomes more stable and less corrupt, the business community needs to work on building brands for the future.

Unfortunately in developing countries the business community focuses on becoming a cheaper source of labor for the brands of other countries, not building their own brands. While in the short term this approach can lead to an economic windfall, in the long term it can lead to stagnation. Sure, the country’s economy grows, but then wages rise and much of the work moves to countries with cheaper labor forces.

That’s the cheaper trap. In the short term, a country can be economically successful by building better products or services cheaper. But in the long term, companies eventually find other countries to do the work cheaper, leaving the country with little growth prospects and no brands on which to build a future.

If you are thinking what I am thinking, you are right. The cheaper trap is currently facing both India and China. Both countries are thriving by making high-quality products and services cheaper. But what both countries lack are strong brands to build for the future.

Sure, there are a few well-known companies like Tata and Infosys in India or Lenovo and Haier in China. But these are companies not brands. There is a difference. A strong brand must be narrow in focus and own something in the mind. The range of products that companies make in India and China is mind boggling.

A global brand also has to have a name that works in English, the second language of the world. While a global brand name does not need to be an English word, it does have to sound right and to be easy to spell for an English speaker.

Pschitt! lemonade from France is not going to make it as a global brand. Neither will Bimbo bread from Mexico or Daiwoo from Korea. Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo would never make it as a global brand either, but luckily the company changed its name to Sony. And today Sony has become the most powerful electronics brand in the world by pioneering such products as the transistor radio, the Walkman, Trinitron televisions and PlayStation game consoles.

But Sony has failed to keep its brand narrowly focused. As a result Sony has racked up a lot of sales, but not a lot of profits.

When your brand is unknown or has been weaken by years of line extensions, you are forced to sell on price. And when you sell on price, you don’t make much money. In the last 10 years, Sony has had revenues of $578 billion, but profits of only $9.6 billion or just 1.7 percent of sales. By comparison, the average net profit margin of the 500 largest U.S. companies last year was 6.7 percent.

So what can Ukraine do? Political stability is job number 1. And that is happening and improving everyday. The rise of strong, charismatic, determined free-market and anti-corruption leaders such as Yulia Tymoshenko are a great help.

Ukraine needs to establish its country brand in the mind and launch global brands to ensure its future success. While we were in town, the city was filled with Scottish men in kilts. Apparently there was a big futbol game. The Scots and the Ukrainians have a lot in common. Both have a history of struggle against dominating neighbors. The Scots with the English. The Ukrainians with the Russians.

To get everybody in the mood, maybe the men of Ukraine could wear orange skirts.

Alta is for skiers

Jumping on the hot new trend is not always the right marketing move. Take snowboarding, the hottest thing in winter sports.

At most mountains snowboarding has taken over the slopes. It was the most exciting, most talked about and biggest medal-producing sport at the Olympics for the US this year. American snowboarders won 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze. It should have been 4 gold medals but one snowboarder who was running away with a race celebrated a little too early and fell.

It light of this overwhelming excitement about snowboarding, what did the Alta resort in Utah do? Did they reposition the mountain to attract snowboarders as well as skiers as almost every other ski resort has?

No, Alta stuck to skiing, said no to snowboarders and according to Alta’s website: “Alta is a skier’s mountain where snowboarding is not allowed. Alta Ski Area is committed to preserving and protecting the skiing experience.”

Why is this such a brilliant marketing move? Because it does three things:

1. The strategy identifies the enemy.

2. The strategy preserves a focus.

3. The strategy creates controversy.

Identify your enemy: Having an enemy is the most overlooked advantage in marketing today. The best way to position a brand is to determine the enemy first; then position yourself as the opposite. That way you can develop a powerful, creative and memorable marketing message.

Preserve your focus: Maintaining your focus is the best way to keep a brand strong. By chasing the latest trend, you unfocus the brand and lose the meaning, credibility and authenticity of the brand.

Create controversy: PR is the key to building a brand, and nothing gets more attention from the media than controversy. Controversy is also the key to word of mouth. Supporters of Alta are excited, passionate and the no-snowboard rule gives them a reason to talk about Alta and skiing. Controversy is not about creating stunts, it is about creating news for your brand by going against an enemy or being first in a new category.

I’m not writing about Alta solely because I am an avid skier and love the mountain, having visited Alta annually for the past 19 years (minus the 2 years I was pregnant and way too big to ski,)

But while there last week I got to thinking about how and why the resort was doing so well. And why going against the grain makes for such a powerful marketing strategy. Everywhere you looked you saw stickers, t-shirts, and signs promoting Alta as the place for skiing with funny, creative sayings and images. What do most mountains have to say in their marketing? We are a great mountain with lots of things for everybody. A boring and meaningless message.

Alta is much smaller than the more famous ski resorts like Vail. But smaller resorts often try even harder to appeal to everyone instead of doing just the opposite. Vail is the largest single mountain resort in the US; they have the credentials to say we are number one and have something for everyone. But can everybody else say?

Warning: Don’t just say your product or service is great for everyone and better than the leader. Follow the principles that have kept Alta at the top of the mountain. Identify your enemy, keep your focus and create controversy.

Hotlanta

Friday, Atlanta officials revealed our city’s new slogan: "Atlanta: Every day is an opening day."

Are you kidding? That is the reaction I had after hearing it. And most of Atlanta did, too.

Every day is opening day sounds like a slogan for the Atlanta Braves. But the post-season record of the Braves is nothing to brag about.

Everyday is an opening day could be said about almost anyplace from Yankee Stadium to the Las Vegas strip.

Atlanta’s new slogan is like most advertising slogans you see these days. It’s totally meaningless and unrelated to the brand. It doesn’t say anything or reinforce anything about Atlanta.

Atlanta must have hired a team from Coca-Cola. They have been responsible for many of the silliest slogans here in town.

• Always.

• Enjoy.

• Life Tastes Good.

Actually the tagline's creator was Grey Worldwide Atlanta. The agency said the new slogan was designed to reflect the feeling of anticipation one gets when something they have been waiting for finally happens.

A powerful advertising campaign takes advantage of what is already in the mind and then reinforces that idea. A powerful advertising concept is almost never an abstract idea.

Why do agencies continue to generate and sell such unmemorable ideas? Because agencies focus on creativity rather than effectiveness. They search for what’s new and different rather than an idea that’s already established.

No agency got paid millions for telling a brand to use an idea already in the mind. And furthermore you can’t win an advertising award with a campaign that is not new and different. 

Coca-Cola is the real thing. In my opinion, there is nothing more powerful and motivating that Coke could ever say in its advertising than Coke is the real thing.

Their latest slogan “Make it real” is close but waters down the idea. I would just say it straight up. Coke is the real thing.

What does the Atlanta brand own in the mind? Since moving here in 1997 the idea we have heard most often is “Hotlanta.”

Atlanta is booming, especially since the 1996 Summer Olympics. Not only is Atlanta growing rapidly, but it’s also the home of Hartsfield-Jackson airport which recently passed Chicago’s O’Hare to become the world’s No. 1 airport.

But, of course, almost no advertising agency would recommend an idea like Hotlanta. It’s not creative because it’s been used before.

Too bad. Advertising agencies would save a lot of money and time dreaming up new ideas and clients would get more effective advertising if someone on either side fist sat down and asked themselves a simple question.

What idea do we already own in the mind?

(Of course, if you can’t answer that question you have no business spending money on advertising in the first place.)

Hotlanta is the idea that Al and I have been telling the city to use. Al wrote a piece on the subject for the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 1999. Atlanta could have taken that for free.

For more on this see:

Al’s article on AdAge.com: http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46744

Atlanta’s official site: http://www.brandatlanta.com/