What's to love? [02.03.06]
By Jared Read
Do you ever get the feeling that this whole brand thing has gone a bit too far? Only the other week, I was chatting to my builder, a one-man-in-a-van operator, who told me he was looking to re-brand his business and “make it more professional, like”.
Tomorrow, I’ll probably get a call from my nan and instead of asking me to take her shopping in the market, she’ll ask me to reposition her in it.
Perhaps the silliest example of such brand obsession is towns, cities, counties and even countries re-branding themselves. Leeds have just done it with ‘Leeds. Live it. Love it’.
No worries that Hong Kong have been using the self-same strap-line for donkey’s. Why didn’t they dig a bit further down in the old chestnut barrel? How about “Simply the best”, for instance?
Having said that, branding an entire place has got to be a lot of fun. But it’d be even better if you could do it with a degree more honesty than gloss. How about:
Bradford. The world’s curry house.
Barnsley. A great place for a fight.
Otley. The same since the Middle Ages.
Huddersfield. We’ve got electricity!!!
Harrogate. The place without poor people.
London. It’s big. It’s dirty. It’s great.
Any more suggestions welcome on a postcard, please.
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