Brand Question | Hometown Poster
Posted by T_Admin @ 8:20 AM May 12, 2008
I was passing a window the other day that displayed this poster. The artwork seemed interesting, but the logo and tagline really caught my eye. It reads, "Louisville. Do something original."
Recently, we've seen a large campaign (paid for with alot of our tax money) go towards branding Louisville. The tagline has been "Possibility City." We've even looked at the Possibility City Website here on CreateLouisville.com.
Question(s): Is this good branding? What kind of branding allows for multiple taglines? Are we a "possibility city" or are we to "do something original"? Who is handling the oversight of this campaign? On another note, who produced the artwork? Is it original or clip? Agency work?
T_Admin
Feels like advertising people talking to advertising people. You may have planned the brand to have the ability to survive different tags, but how is the rest of the world supposed to know that? Your everyday person will see a different message, not a limitless brand strategy.
Without consistency, it just feels like every other misused brand in Kentucky.
There's a great deal of consistency in the position. And the brand doesn't "survive" taglines; it's expressed through them.
As for the message, surely that's supposed to change?
I admit, having an open approach to slogans sounds contrived and advertisey, but again, it's completely within the context of a creative and accessible position.
Would you prefer a brand like Kentucky's flaming horse head — which seems to have no credible position whatsoever, but rather, consists (and is defined by) of strict and formal graphic guidelines? Does having that rigid level of identification express the brand effectively, or simply define its limits?
The Louisville brand has great integrity because it goes so deep, unlike most brands, which seem to be little more than symbols and over-exercised puns.
I instantly see G I Joes. My biggets beef with Louisville Branding is that it changes every year, which is nice for ad company's but doesn't do much for our "brand"
1. Pip says:
May 12, 2008 3:21 PM
I think BCH did the ad (since they're LCVB's agency), but I'm not certain.
As for the "slogan," we (Red7e) worked on it -- and there's not actually a slogan or tagline. There is, however, a position, which is that pretty much anything is possible in Louisville. if you dream it, want it, work hard enough for it, or pay Red7e to express it.
This position is designed to inspire or educate "taglines": LCVB's, "Do Something Original" clearly falls into the creative / aspirational tone, as do "It's Possible Here," "Possibility City," "It's Happening Here," "CreateLouisville.com," and a host of other optimistic, inventive, and entrepreneurial messages.