New City Tagline.. "This is living...this is Roswell"

This is the 21st post in a series of posts this December that will chronicle the 25 things we would most like to see in Roswell. None of these are actually happening... at least in the way we'd like them to. Please enjoy and have a happy holidays!

This post isn't the same as the others in the Wish List.  I just heard about the Roswell branding campaign and had to get my $0.02 in.  So, the city is officially embarking on a branding campaign to roll up what the city has to offer into a marketing campaign.  According to Joan Durbin at the Roswell Neighbor, the city council has agreed on the tagline "This is living...this is Rowell."

I think it's just okay.  I certainly like it better than the tagline that was created for the city of Atlanta by the now defunct Brand Atlanta campaign.  "Every day is an opening day" just didn't seem to do it for me.  The newer slogan "City lights, southern nights" is a bit better but still not worldchanging.

There are many folks out there who wonder whether a branding campaign is really necessary. Personally, I kind of waver.  At the end of the day, a brand isn't going to make your community better.  What the people within your community do is what makes your community better.  However, if your brand is strong enough to get folks to rally around, then it might just work.  So, the question is, can you embrace "This is living...this is Roswell" and rally around it?  Will you talk about it to your friends, family and coworkers?  I'm not so sure and my rationale is below.

Compare our new slogan to some other city brands that you may have heard:

• New York - I love New York (I've seen lots of t-shirts.  People must like this one)
• Las Vegas - What Happens in Vegas... Stays in Vegas  (A little naughty but it fits the city well and I hear it EVERYWHERE)
• Duluth - Capture the spirit of good living (hmmm.. Have you ever heard anyone say this)
• Norcross - A place to imagine (not terrible but what are we imagining and have you ever heard a person from Norcross refer to where they live as 'A place to imagine?')
• Lilburn - A past to remember. A future to mold (YIKES.. could have done without the word mold)
• Alpharetta - Enjoy, Experience, Explore; Everything's possible  (except walking anywhere meaningful.  This one sounds like it was born on a PowerPoint slide in a suburban office park board room.)

So, when I look at the two most successful slogans above, I think they share three main characteristics. They are simple, a normal person can say them in normal conversation and they are fun.  All of the others are trying to be something and create an idea but if the idea isn't easily passed along in conversation, then I don't think it works.  

So, are you ever going to say "This is living...this is Roswell" in normal conversation?  If you do, you're going to get some really strange looks.

Here are a few ideas that I cooked up: 

• You gotta get out...   That's the motto that the strip mall retailers had 10 years ago.
• What happens in Roswell... SOMETHING HAPPENED IN ROSWELL??...  That's probably what they would think ITP.
• You can't spell Roswell without Swell...  Hahahaa.. could you ever say that to anyone with a straight face?  I could actually see someone saying it though.
• All's well in Roswell...  This one might work.. I could actually say that and see other people saying it.

So, at the end of the day, I'm not sold on the new slogan.  It needs to be fun, conversational and simple.  Add your slogans to the comments if you have any ideas.