Even though I work in the industry, there’s an evil little part of me that loves it when advertisers screw up completely – as long as they’re not my clients. My latest bout of marcom schaudenfreude came from an article in the Daily Register that was sent to me by a friend of mine.
Apparently, the Scottish Tourism Board has just launched a new campaign to rebrand and re-invigorate Scotland to the rest of the world. So, after six months, and about $250,000 they launched the fruits of their efforts:
Welcome to Scotland.
It’s catchy, right? Makes you feel welcome, lets you know that you’re in Scotland. What more could you ask for?
From the Daily Record:
The new artwork was unveiled at Glasgow airport yesterday by culture minister Linda Fabiani. She said: “These images will welcome people arriving in our country and Scots coming home, giving everyone a taste and glimpse of the very best of Scotland.
“This is not about developing flashy slogans.
“This is about showing what a modern, vibrant and successful country Scotland is.”
But Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “If ‘Welcome to Scotland’ is the best Alex Salmond’s government can come up with, it shows the SNP have had an imagination bypass. It sounds more like a road sign at Berwick than it does a must-do invitation to visit our country.”
Maybe they should have gotten the agency that developed the slogan for Biggar, Saskatchewan:
“New York is Big, but this is Biggar.”
If nothing else, this is the kind of slogan that should make Ottawans not feel so bad about the $200,000 “Technically Beautiful” fiasco from a few years back.
