The “American . . .” er, what?!

So … I was reading The Washington Business Journal recently and stopped at a story with a headline, “Tourism Officials to Unveil New D.C. ‘brand’ research.” The people who run the Washington, D.C., Convention & Visitors Corporation had conducted new research to help the nation’s capital to develop a new “brand.”

Halfway through the story was this line – “For nearly a decade, D.C. has used ‘Washington, D.C.: The American Experience.’”

When I read that, my reaction ran from slight embarrassment to curiousity. Why had I not become aware of a slogan that has been in use for nearly ten years?

Not to be deterred, I Googled, “The American Experience.” The first page Google had sites related to the PBS television program of that name and to a Native American Web site, but nothing about Washington, D.C. A couple of Google pages later, I found some results, of sorts … a modest-appealing and static Web site for Washington.org, the “official” site for tourism in the nation’s capital.

Yet … and here was the really curious part … the Washington.org site failed to define the catch phrase, “The American Experience,” or its relevance to the nation’s capital. That is a primary pitfall of relying on slogans, taglines and catch phrases – they most often lack emotional or logical context.

Still feeling a little disappointed that I was not aware of Washington’s tourism slogan, I conducted a straw poll of 60 people who all have a close connection in one way or another with the nation’s capital. I emailed one question which read, “With no prompting (or Googling), can you tell me what Washington, D.C.’s tourism promotion slogan is? Yes or No.” 

My random survey group included newspaper reporters, people at marketing and public affairs agencies in Washington, nationally known syndicated columnists, network and local journalists and broadcasters, a realtor in Washington, local business owners, the leaders of trade associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some friends.

And . . . the results to date of my ad hoc survey? 46 folks have responded out of 60. 45 said they did not know DC’s tourism slogan … one did. That’s a 2.17% awareness level. 

Now, you might respond that Washington’s tourism slogan is intended not for the locals but for potential tourists around the country, and I would agree up to a point. But one of the easiest and most effective ways for any organization or city to sell itself is from the inside out … by beginning at home or within your organization to get people excited.

I suppose that years as a communications strategist have taught me that slogans and taglines will never replace authentic messages that seem to reach inside and connect with our emotions.