Does your town have a slogan? Does it convey anything unique, or could it apply to any number of other towns? Generic lines like “Best Little Town” or “Heart of…” don’t really tell your visitors anything.
Our friend Mike Knutson of Reimagine Rural brought up this idea, after reading this list of South Dakota town slogans. A selection:
Tripp says, “Easy to Find, Hard to Leave.”
Tyndall is “A Place Where Families Grow.”
Philip is “Where the sun kisses the earth.”
But do any of those tell you anything about the town? No. These are not good slogans because they are something that almost any town could claim.
Here are 100 more town slogan examples, found on (of all places) a truck camping forum.I pulled out these six examples that I think are good. Each of these tells you something about the town.
- Hooker, Oklahoma: It’s a location, not a vocation
- Buckley, Washington: Below the snow, above the fog
- Show Low, Arizona: Named for the turn of a card
- Britt, Iowa: Founded by rail, sustained by the plow
- Tombstone, Arizona: The town too tough to die
- Hyder, Alaska: Friendliest ghost town in Alaska
If you are ready to work on your slogan, another of our friends Ross Kimbarovsky of crowdSPRING has an excellent article on How to Make Your Tagline Stand Out From the Crowd.
Do you know of an example of a town that manages to tell a story with just a few words?
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Edited 1/30/2014 to add more clarification about what makes a good slogan.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
I just received a question from a town considering using “easy to find, hard to leave” as a town slogan. I advised against it. It’s too generic. And most towns are using something just as boring. Be unique! Be interesting! Include what makes you special.
Look again at those good ones. “Below the snow, above the fog.” That tells you something. “Friendliest ghost town in Alaska.” That’s informative and fun.
Pick just one thing that makes your town interesting. Put that in your slogan and nothing else.