Why not brand Indiana with a home (groan) epigram?
Published 2/6/06
State officials are rewriting Indiana’s tourism slogan, concerned that travelers don’t really enjoy Indiana like they used to.
“Enjoy Indiana” has been tourism’s catchphrase for the last seven years. But research reveals that the slogan leaves people feeling, well, neutral. Because officials wanted to “brand” the state with an impression that’s positive, as opposed to neutral, the Indiana Office of Tourism Development announced last December that consultants and experts were developing a new tagline.
But when it comes to slogans and license plates, working stiffs want their say. A couple weeks ago a “New York Times” article told of New Jersey’s write-in campaign for a new slogan. According to the Times, 8,000 slogans were submitted, including “New Jersey: Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted” and “New Jersey: You got a problem with that?” After five finalists were chosen, 11,000 New Jerseyans cast their votes and picked a winner in “New Jersey: Come See for Yourself.” But the story may have carried a word of warning. Before calling for entries, New Jersey had handed the project to an advertising agency, which handed back the slogan “We’ll Win You Over”—and a bill for $250,000. The governor of the Garden State, Richard Codey, was not won over, nixed the phrase and enlisted the help of the Garden State’s grass roots ambassadors.
The Jersey Effect may be rippling across Indiana. December’s announcement from the Indiana Office of Tourism Development made it clear that marketers, researchers, and advertising professionals would create the new slogan and that it would not be a democratic contest. Then just last week, the tourism office’s Web site invited Hoosiers to send in their slogan ideas about the “joy of Indiana travel.” It even posted a few of the suggestions, including “Water is to Fish as Indiana is to Vacations,” “Join the IN crowd,” and “We’ll Jump Through Hoops for You!”
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Right, but we’ve got to work fast and send ours to www.in.gov/enjoyindiana/ because the official slogan unveils in mid April.
Okay, let’s start by getting a few of them out of our system…Indiana: The Land of Lincoln until he left. Remember, Abe moved to Indiana when he was a baby and left when he was 21.
Or Indiana: The Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Versailles, Lebanon and Milan of the Midwest. The presence of these “international towns” in our state might attract travelers who can’t afford to travel abroad. But we can’t pronounce Milan like it was a basketball town.
Okay, let’s get serious here in case there is some prize money to be won. I know the whole heartland thing kind of borders on a cliché, and it’s bad enough bordering on Illinois after they stole from us one of the true heroes of American history. But the word “heartland” does seem to embody a lot of values distinctive to cornfield states but celebrated by many Americans. So how about…Indiana: Feel the beat of the heartland. I’m seeing TV and print ads with nice jazzy, alternative tunes and some “au courant” uptown images, you know, a heartland makeover. Or maybe even: Indiana: Check the pulse of the heartland. Well, maybe not. It might sound like we need an ambulance.
Most Hoosiers have never seen a stranger. So, I’m thinking… Indiana: Get a wave of hospitality. Or maybe play off the “hospitality suite” term with Indiana: Where the hospitality is sweet.
I’m thinking now of those signs that you see when you enter a different state: You are now entering a state of enchantment—Indiana. Hmm. State of enchantment. Has that been used before? How about Indiana: You are now entering a state of contentment. Who wouldn’t want to go there?
Attracting weekenders is part of our state’s tourism strategy. So, maybe…Indiana: Weekend wayfarers welcome or Indiana: A drive through and stay awhile state.
How about telling some of the inspiring stories of Indiana natives? I’m talking Ernie Pyle, Eugene Debs, Sydney Pollack, Gus Grissom, Theodore Dreiser, Hoagy Carmichael, Colonel Eli Lilly. With the slogan Indiana: Land of inspiration, we could play off the mystique of the word “Hoosier” and ask in a series of ads Who’s Your Inspiration?
Okay, Office of Tourism, do I get the job?
Then there’s the catchy phrase of the cop-out copywriter who insists that the state can’t be captured in a few words: Indiana? Indescribable.
State officials are rewriting Indiana’s tourism slogan, concerned that travelers don’t really enjoy Indiana like they used to.
“Enjoy Indiana” has been tourism’s catchphrase for the last seven years. But research reveals that the slogan leaves people feeling, well, neutral. Because officials wanted to “brand” the state with an impression that’s positive, as opposed to neutral, the Indiana Office of Tourism Development announced last December that consultants and experts were developing a new tagline.
But when it comes to slogans and license plates, working stiffs want their say. A couple weeks ago a “New York Times” article told of New Jersey’s write-in campaign for a new slogan. According to the Times, 8,000 slogans were submitted, including “New Jersey: Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted” and “New Jersey: You got a problem with that?” After five finalists were chosen, 11,000 New Jerseyans cast their votes and picked a winner in “New Jersey: Come See for Yourself.” But the story may have carried a word of warning. Before calling for entries, New Jersey had handed the project to an advertising agency, which handed back the slogan “We’ll Win You Over”—and a bill for $250,000. The governor of the Garden State, Richard Codey, was not won over, nixed the phrase and enlisted the help of the Garden State’s grass roots ambassadors.
The Jersey Effect may be rippling across Indiana. December’s announcement from the Indiana Office of Tourism Development made it clear that marketers, researchers, and advertising professionals would create the new slogan and that it would not be a democratic contest. Then just last week, the tourism office’s Web site invited Hoosiers to send in their slogan ideas about the “joy of Indiana travel.” It even posted a few of the suggestions, including “Water is to Fish as Indiana is to Vacations,” “Join the IN crowd,” and “We’ll Jump Through Hoops for You!”
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Right, but we’ve got to work fast and send ours to www.in.gov/enjoyindiana/ because the official slogan unveils in mid April.
Okay, let’s start by getting a few of them out of our system…Indiana: The Land of Lincoln until he left. Remember, Abe moved to Indiana when he was a baby and left when he was 21.
Or Indiana: The Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Versailles, Lebanon and Milan of the Midwest. The presence of these “international towns” in our state might attract travelers who can’t afford to travel abroad. But we can’t pronounce Milan like it was a basketball town.
Okay, let’s get serious here in case there is some prize money to be won. I know the whole heartland thing kind of borders on a cliché, and it’s bad enough bordering on Illinois after they stole from us one of the true heroes of American history. But the word “heartland” does seem to embody a lot of values distinctive to cornfield states but celebrated by many Americans. So how about…Indiana: Feel the beat of the heartland. I’m seeing TV and print ads with nice jazzy, alternative tunes and some “au courant” uptown images, you know, a heartland makeover. Or maybe even: Indiana: Check the pulse of the heartland. Well, maybe not. It might sound like we need an ambulance.
Most Hoosiers have never seen a stranger. So, I’m thinking… Indiana: Get a wave of hospitality. Or maybe play off the “hospitality suite” term with Indiana: Where the hospitality is sweet.
I’m thinking now of those signs that you see when you enter a different state: You are now entering a state of enchantment—Indiana. Hmm. State of enchantment. Has that been used before? How about Indiana: You are now entering a state of contentment. Who wouldn’t want to go there?
Attracting weekenders is part of our state’s tourism strategy. So, maybe…Indiana: Weekend wayfarers welcome or Indiana: A drive through and stay awhile state.
How about telling some of the inspiring stories of Indiana natives? I’m talking Ernie Pyle, Eugene Debs, Sydney Pollack, Gus Grissom, Theodore Dreiser, Hoagy Carmichael, Colonel Eli Lilly. With the slogan Indiana: Land of inspiration, we could play off the mystique of the word “Hoosier” and ask in a series of ads Who’s Your Inspiration?
Okay, Office of Tourism, do I get the job?
Then there’s the catchy phrase of the cop-out copywriter who insists that the state can’t be captured in a few words: Indiana? Indescribable.
posted by Jack W. Williams | 6:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home