Atlanta is a great city. Lots to do, relatively low cost of living. A semi-vibrant tech community. I am sure that there are many places in the world that are better to live, but I have been pretty happy here for 14 years.

Last year the city decided that it needed to brand itself. To do so they formed Brand Atlanta. A little bit of a warning went off in my head when they did this. Branding by committee is never good.

However when they came up with the Three O’s I thought they had a chance.

At the heart of this effort is the essence of Atlanta summed up in three simple words: Opportunity, Optimism and Openness. Our city’s boundless optimism and spirit of universal openness create a place of opportunity for everyone.

The stated goal of the group was to brand the city in the same way that Las Vegas did. It’s worth mentioning that LV approached this by going to a single agency.

Brand Atlanta came up with the tag “Every day is an opening day in the ATL”. While it does not exactly roll off the tongue, the Braves were thrilled. Stakeholders talked it up.

Reaction on the street was quite different. The only viral elements were ridicule. With people more closely associated with the city and the campaign, only silence.

I am going to speak up. The tag is bad. It needs to go away. The world is never going to think of ATL as the every day is an opening day city. It says nothing.

Brand Atlanta is starting to extend its campaign beyond the borders of Georgia. Hopefully they will be making some adjustments before they waste a bunch of time and money.

Update: Just found this:

ATLANTA GETS IT WRONG WITH NEW BRAND PITCH
City Joins a Long List of Meaningless and Unmemorable Ad Slogans

By Al Ries

Not bad company.