Welcome To Scotland

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:32 pm

:yh_rotfl

Scotland turns on the soft sell

By Paula Kruger

Posted Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:42am AEDT

Updated Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:37am AEDT

The Scottish Government says the slogan is about substance, not style. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin)

Audio: Scots ridiculed for new tourism slogan (PM)

Not since "Where the bloody hell are you?" has there been such a ruckus about a tourism slogan.

Scotland is about to begin a six-month campaign, costing nearly $300,000, to freshen up its image and the slogan they have unveiled with much fanfare is "Welcome to Scotland". Needless to say, the Scots are underwhelmed.

Australia can hardly claim to be a world leader when it comes to tourism slogans. Some of us had only just managed to shrug off the cultural cringe from the very successful "put another shrimp on the barbie" campaign when we were confronted by a bikini-clad Lara Bingle asking the world "Where the bloody hell are you?"

But at least a bit of 'bloody hell' was not boring. And boring is exactly what Scottish authorities are being accused of after unveiling an elaborate campaign with a welcome-mat catchphrase.

In a highly orchestrated process the campaign will take six months to roll out across the country.

Scotland's External Affairs Minister, Linda Fabiani, has defended the new look, saying it is not all about flashy slogans and is more real than that.

Many Scots have criticised the slogan, a common argument being that it is far less interesting than the previous Scottish tourism motto: "Scotland, the best small country in the world".

The reality is, the tourism slogans for other countries are not that inspiring either. There is Germany, the "travel destination", and Canada once had a campaign asking Americans to "Come see our beavers".

Switzerland has "get natural". London is "totally London". Shropshire is "love from Shropshire". And then there is Ireland's Donegal county, which says "up here it's different".

So after all that, is "Welcome to Scotland" really that bad?

Anthony McClellan, who happens to be of Scottish heritage, is also principal of the AMC Media strategy company.

Mr McClellan says governments often lean too far to the conservative side when marketing their countries.

"I think it's fairly typical of much marketing and sloganeering that's done by governments all around the world," he said.

"They all seem to appear to take an unbelievably boring pill before they decide to implement plans like this. I think it's incredibly uninventive."

He says Scotland's Government could have benefited from taking a leaf out of Australia's book.

"I think the difference with the 'where the bloody hell are you?' campaign, it had the cut-through component," he said.

"I think the Scots have really let the side down and to have paid in Australian dollars about $300,000 for somebody to come up with that brilliant slogan, that's about $100,000 per word.

"I think I'm in the wrong job, I'm flying immediately to Glasgow to give them a hand."

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:39 pm

:wah: That is the best they could come up with for $300,000 dollars..:-3

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:45 pm

Theyre going for substance not style. :yh_whistl

koan · Post by **koan** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:26 pm

Canada actually had "Come see our beavers" as a slogan?

oh, my

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:47 am

What's Ireland's tourism slogan I wonder? What is the USA's tourism slogan? Hmmnn, I must check that out.

Scotland though, yeah its one beautiful country thats for a fact, though Glasgi is maybe not the prettiest part, though its a cool city. Edinburgh, Inverness, and Stirling are all very pretty and of course the Highlands are spectacular and spellbinding. I would say that scenery-wise Scotland is one the only country I can say is actually more Beautiful that my own country, though our climate is little more clement than theirs. I really like the victorian gothic architecture that they have going on up there, and the people are great. My slogan would be.

Scotland: Take the higher road. eh eh?

Post by **spot** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:53 am

A brief comment on England's main radio station yesterday suggested that "You're more than" should be added before "Welcome to Scotland". Unkind, I thought.

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:55 am

spot;729872 wrote: A brief comment on England's main radio station yesterday suggested that "You're more than" should be added before "Welcome to Scotland". Unkind, I thought.

Funny though! :wah:

Wales's is "Big Country" what do you think of that?

Post by **spot** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:11 am

Galbally;729875 wrote: Wales's is "Big Country" what do you think of that?I remember a few years back setting out on a whim with a mate and beating the bounds of Wales in 24 hours taking in as many castles as we could, and that was a lot of castles. A dawn breakfast at Portmerion was a highlight. I don't think a country you can circumnavigate in a day qualifies as big. England's so tight-packed with traffic these days that I avoid the roads during daylight. I had to go to Brighton yesterday and just the 350 miles there and back took an outrageous length of time, the train through London would have been faster.

All three countries in Great Britain have a great variety of scenery, the contrasts are huge. One of my favourite places is Blaenau Ffestiniog surrounded by the slate quarries, it gleams in the rain. I've never seen the place dried out, I don't know if it ever dries to be honest. You'd think people growing up there would have monochromatic vision from having seen the world in shades of grey and black for so long.

I really will get to tour Ireland sometime, it's been on my want-to list for decades.

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:27 am

spot;729888 wrote: I remember a few years back setting out on a whim with a mate and beating the bounds of Wales in 24 hours taking in as many castles as we could, and that was a lot of castles. A dawn breakfast at Portmerion was a highlight. I don't think a country you can circumnavigate in a day qualifies as big. England's so tight-packed with traffic these days that I avoid the roads during daylight. I had to go to Brighton yesterday and just the 350 miles there and back took an outrageous length of time, the train through London would have been faster.

All three countries in Great Britain have a great variety of scenery, the contrasts are huge. One of my favourite places is Blaenau Ffestiniog surrounded by the slate quarries, it gleams in the rain. I've never seen the place dried out, I don't know if it ever dries to be honest. You'd think people growing up there would have monochromatic vision from having seen the world in shades of grey and black for so long.

I really will get to tour Ireland sometime, it's been on my want-to list for decades.

I have been around a lot of England and Scotland. Obviously Scotland is very Scenic, but then again England has a lot more scenery than people realize, and of course its full of history and interesting things to visit. I guess most people don't see much outside London and the Home Counties. Wales I don't know much as I have only passed through it. Ireland, yeah, you wouldn't make it round Ireland in a day. Its a lovely country, though Dublin is a bit of a mess as the planning has all gone astray during the boom so its a bit of a nightmare to get around, though the city centre is small so you can see a good bit on foot. When you do come over I recommend, Kerry, West Cork, Co. Wicklow, Mayo, Co. Galway and Connemarra, and the Burrin and west Clare. Their are other little treasures all over the place though so you could take a lot of time here and not get bored.