I suppose when you position yourself as a global branding expert, and the very city you live in spends millions on a new branding campaign without asking you for an opinion, you won’t be happy it.
Needless to say, Al Ries is less than impressed with Atlanta’s new branding initiative in his new column on AdAge.com:
“Opportunity. Optimism. Openness” is the new, compelling branding strategy backed by a red-and-white trademark with the letters “ATL” highlighted.
Opportunity, optimism, openness: Sounds like a slogan for the state of Ohio and not a very good one at that. I’ll guarantee that few people will remember the three Os, let alone connect them with a name that doesn’t have a single O in it.
Actually, I agree with Al here. And being a resident of Ohio, I can attest that there’s very little opporunity, optimism, and openness up here.
