Tacoma: Your Tagline Here (19. March 2007, 11:36 by Derek Young) ~ Community Creativity
I had a conversation last week with someone about our What Do You Hope For? discussion and its seventy something comments. In the midst of our talk I was told, “What the city needs is a new tagline.” “Seriously? What do you suggest?” I asked. “Oh, I don’t know. ‘America’s Most Wired City’ is so 1998 and ‘City of Destiny’ is hardly actionable or inspirational. Maybe the commenters who had all those opinions about what we need can come up with a tagline that reflects some vision.” So here’s the question, can you think of a marketing phrase, or tagline, for Tacoma that reflects where you want us to go?
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A) Tacoma: Renaissance City
B) Tacoma: Now with 66% less offensive aroma!
C) Tacoma: New and Improved!
D) Tacoma: If you lived here, you’d be home by now
E) Tacoma: Better than Olympia, not as good as Seattle
F) Tacoma: We’re, like, pretty good, and stuff?
OK, so I’m in Finance and lack creativity. I know that. However, you should see the one’s I opted not to publish!
5 | Posted by Rick | Mar 19, 12:35 PM
I’ll second “Renaissance City” ... it has many levels, from the city’s rebirth and redevelopment to the emphasis on arts, learning, music — all those “Renaissance Man” things. (It sounds SO “creative class-y” ...)
6 | Posted by tacomachickadee | Mar 19, 12:45 PM
1) Get over your coma in TAcoma!
3) Tacoma, Where Art Deco ferries go to die
B) Tacoma: Dumping Ground of Sunshine!
6)Tacoma: You Breath in Ass!
7)Tacoma: LOL!1!! WTF??
X)You’ll Like Tacoma :)
8 | Posted by RR Anderson | Mar 19, 12:53 PM
egad I thought of a new one!
2) Tacoma: Renaissance by Committee
9 | Posted by RR Anderson | Mar 19, 12:57 PM
‘City of Destiny’ should never be discarded, as the Emerald City will always fit Seattle – Historic Tacoma needs a re-birth rather than a re-invention. Big Box Retail, a year round farmer’s market, a terminal for Seattle/Bremerton ferry traffic. Think big and fulfill our original destiny!
12 | Posted by Les | Mar 19, 01:41 PM
“You’ll like Tacoma” was used as a slogan here and there, but the picture everyone thinks of was actually installed in Seattle.
Even so I am partial to it. It’s so darn folksy.
13 | Posted by tom waits | Mar 19, 02:03 PM
I kinda like the kitschy “You’ll like Tacoma” too … it’s honest. And subdued. Like Tacoma.
15 | Posted by tacomachickadee | Mar 19, 02:11 PM
Tacoma: Come Get Some
Why? Because some cities are like magnets (Atlanta and Austin for example). They are abundant with opportunity and welcoming. People want to stay there, and people want to move there. Tacoma is poised to become one of those places.
16 | Posted by DtownDweller | Mar 19, 02:17 PM
Good point, Jenyum. “You’ll Like Tacoma” really does sound and feel good, though I haven’t seen this famous poster that some of you have mentioned.
Still I think it would be wrong to dismiss “Tacoma: (Most) Sexually Healthy” out of hand. Or maybe some variant like “Tacoma: Sexy/Healthy”.
18 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 19, 02:41 PM
“Emerald City” for Seattle is a pretty recent creation (last 20 years or so). The best name for Seattle has always been “Jet City,” whether Boeing is HQ’d there or not. “You’ll Like Tacoma” IS folksy. Like my Grandma telling me I’ll like her new Jello recipe. No matter what, it was still Jello. We should make Tacoma something people can sink their teeth into.
19 | Posted by Rick Jones | Mar 19, 02:57 PM
“You’ll Like Tacoma” gets my vote. Because everyone I bring to town for the first time is always surprised and likes the place.
And in a few years we can change the slogan to “We Told Ya You’d Like Tacoma”
22 | Posted by Jake | Mar 19, 04:05 PM
I’ve always liked “You’ll Like Tacoma” I’ts in a 1914 Richards Studio plate glass photo I had blown up and hanging on my wall; taken from the hillside off broadway showing Schuster Parkway (with a boardwalk, trolley tracks and a horse and buggy) Old City Hall and the old NP Headquarters, the first 11’th St. bridge, Half Moon Yard, and the Mountain looming in the background. The slogan appears hanging over the parkway. Check it out on the Tacoma Library photo archive. Type in “Half Moon Yard” or “You’ll Like Tacoma.”
23 | Posted by TheGulag | Mar 19, 05:19 PM
Here’s some from a slogan campaign I worked on last year:
Tacoma: It’s an acquired taste.
Tacoma: It’s a piece of work.
Tacoma: It’s not for sissies.
And my very favorite:
Tacoma: Grit & Polish
25 | Posted by Ann | Mar 19, 06:55 PM
I forgot, there is also a song to go with “You’ll like Tacoma” that is in UW Special Collections digital archive. Titled “You’ll Like Tacoma.” Although I haven’t been able to find it again, I heard it once. Sort of a march. From around 1910, so not really what we’d find ourselves humming while doing the dishes. Anyone else know about this?
26 | Posted by tom waits | Mar 19, 06:57 PM
When I lived in Detroit, I bought a small postcard with a lit-up “You’ll Like Tacoma” banner strung out over Pacific Avenue on ebay. It was a great way to remind me of home.
The postcard was mailed from Tacoma to Salem, Oregon, on August 25, 1910. The sender wrote: “I think Tacoma is a great place, much better than Seattle. Am leaving in a few minutes.”
Other cities that have called themselves “Renaissance” cities include Detroit, Gary, and Camden. I wouldn’t want outsiders to think we were anything like those places. “You’ll like Tacoma” gets my vote.
27 | Posted by drizell | Mar 19, 08:27 PM
I thought the Mecca was in between Broadway and Commerce?
30 | Posted by RR Anderson | Mar 19, 10:23 PM
You’ll Like Tacoma is very versatile. You could put the museums on there to attract tourists. Use picture of the protestors from last week on there to attact… Put something else on there to show our overabundance of our fair share of released inmates. The line could be used for a ton of things – good & not so. RR – Got any ideas for a cartoon using that line?
32 | Posted by M.W. | Mar 20, 06:04 AM
Cole over at GritCity just posted a link to the “You’ll Like Tacoma” song!
35 | Posted by KevinFreitas | Mar 20, 10:14 AM
To paraphrase a line from the Dudley Moore movie ‘Crazy People’: Tacoma: Gritty but Good.
36 | Posted by cck | Mar 20, 12:43 PM
“Cole over at GritCity just posted a link to the “You’ll Like Tacoma” song!”
Very cool!! I didn’t know there was a song…wonder where he got it? What about that Tacoma Aroma song—from the 50’s, I think (?)
37 | Posted by Laura | Mar 20, 03:20 PM
So here’s the question, can you think of a marketing phrase, or tagline, for Tacoma that reflects where you want us to go?
Good challenge. Certainly some good suggestions above.
Here’s a few rules I have thought of in trying to select a tagline.
First, self loathing descriptions should be avoided such as dirt, grit, aroma and any variations. Sitting in rhetorical squalor may offer some comfort but no one is going to want to see a place which despises itself.
Second, over the top positive fluffy phrases should be avoided as well.
Third, weird esoteric statements should be avoided such as “Say WA.” Some cities might be able to get away with a modernistic tagline but Tacoma is more down to earth.
“YOU’LL LIKE TACOMA” is pretty good. Nice, positive and understated. Plus, it has worked for many years in the past with some continued recognition today.
Looks like “YOU’LL LIKE TACOMA” is the leader of the pack here. I like it too, so I’m pleased.
That said, if Nine Inch Nachos would pardon the intrusion, I’d love to have a t-shirt with the legend “Welcome to the Tacomic Age” superimposed on an atom logo (you know, the electron orbit thingy).
41 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 21, 07:52 AM
Is the double meaning intended? I think that we need to be careful with the word “density”.
43 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 21, 08:37 AM
I’m thinking that was a Back to the Future reference, not a serious suggestion…
44 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Mar 21, 11:20 AM
Why not change the phrase to “You’ll LOVE Tacoma”?
Maybe the LIKE in the old posters and the city anthem didn’t do Tacoma justice…
45 | Posted by Gina | Mar 21, 02:22 PM
Jim – that reminds me of the neon sign in Georgetown with the woman placing a finger to her lips and a “sssssh” trailing off to one side.
48 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 21, 06:27 PM
Although I already expressed my preference for “You’ll Like Tacoma,” for its historical significance and contemporary appeal, I think Tacoma’s original moniker “City of Destiny” isn’t getting its fair shake. It tells a lot about the history of Tacoma and it’s inevitable future in three words, even if it might not be as hip as, say, “Metronatural” (Insert: sarcastic emphasis).
Here’s another old tagline from the teens; “Tacoma: The City With a Mountain at its Dooryard.”
Or how about this obscure reference I thunk up; “The Monad Metropolis.
49 | Posted by TheGulag | Mar 22, 12:19 AM
I can understand that self-depreciation may not be for everyone, but I’ve always enjoyed “Just Gritty Enough.”
I’m no fan of “You’ll like Tacoma.” It may be plain-speaking and tug on those historical heart-strings but it’s so simple as to convey zilch.
51 | Posted by alsoelizabeth | Mar 22, 03:46 PM
I have the “You’ll Like Tacoma” poster up on the wall right now.
Might I suggest go back to Vopels’ article two years ago: Keep Tacoma Weird, complete with a Buy Local campaign.
And let’s start the petition to get Mt Rainier returned to it’s original name, Tahoma. It worked for Mt Denali.
52 | Posted by Marty | Mar 22, 04:01 PM
I can understand that self-depreciation may not be for everyone, but I’ve always enjoyed “Just Gritty Enough.”
That sounds like Seattle’s disparaging description of us: Gritty, Gritville, City of Grit, Grit City, Gritons who don’t know their place.
Below are the common meaning of Grit according to Wikipedia
None of the definitions are complimentary. At worst, Grit means a form of dirt or meth.
Here they are:
Grit, the mesh or unit of measure for sandpaper and other polishing materials
Grit (geology), hard, often abrasive granules of a mineral typically produced by thermal weathering.
Grits, a corn-based food common in the Southern United States and Southern Manchuria
Grits, a media term for the Liberal Party of Canada
GRITS, a Christian rap band
Grit, Road salt, used to prevent ice forming on roads.
And of course:
Grit, a slang for methamphetamine.
Thus, the gratuitous descriptions Seattle reporters have been using describing Tacoma as a “gritty city” is little more than calling Tacoma a dirty and drug filled city.
Might I suggest go back to Vopels’ article two years ago: Keep Tacoma Weird, complete with a Buy Local campaign.
Didn’t Austin TX or some other place have a “Keep _____ Weird” slogan?
54 | Posted by tom waits | Mar 22, 04:26 PM
Below are the common meaning of Grit according to Wikipedia
Yes, Erik, but what about the definition of the phrase “gritty?” Let’s at least be accurate in our arguments. “Dirt” does not have the same definition as “dirty” and so on.
According to Merriam Webster, “gritty” can be defined thus:
1 : containing or resembling grit
2 : courageously persistent : PLUCKY
3 : having strong qualities of tough uncompromising realism
Now, for what it’s worth, I don’t think the last two are negative and in fact, are exactly the meaning folks are striving for when they refer to their town as the Gritty City. They don’t mean that it is, literally, full of definition #1.
55 | Posted by tom waits | Mar 22, 04:31 PM
I’ve seen the poster. I’m looking for the photo of the electric sign that states, “You’ll Love Tacoma” at the Alaskan-Yukon Expo. Where can I find that?
56 | Posted by Mark | Mar 23, 07:09 AM
Tom; thanks for posting the above definitions. My use of the name has always been number 3 – with the extra plus of embracing the “reputation” and thumbing my nose at people’s ignorance. Defiance has its pluses, if you trully believe.
Tacoma historically is pretty “gritty”, like a lot of cities. Embrace it I say and use it to our advantage. Use our past and present history. Its all quite colorful.
Ultimately people will think what they want based on experience, or by other’s experiences. Thus, journalists will continue to write stories that feed half-truths and misquotes.
You’ll love Tacoma seems fairly generic.
57 | Posted by dni | Mar 23, 01:21 PM
Tacoma: Point of Defiance
Tacoma: Pointlessly Defiant
Tacoma: Defiant to a Point
Tacoma: Defy Pointlessness
58 | Posted by laura | Mar 23, 02:16 PM
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