Welcome To Scotland
Posted: 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."
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."