Brand Atlanta announced their new tagline at an Atlanta Conventions and Visitor’s Bureau on Oct. 18th. The new tagline “City Lights, Southern Nights” will replace the old, lackluster “Everyday is an Opening Day” slogan in an effort to revive a campaign that has struggled since its inception in 2005. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle article, Brand Atlanta will use the new tagline to target yuppies and empty nesters nationwide, as well as families a short drive from Atlanta.

As you might know, Jaymus, partnered with CHANGE, was a part of the initial strategy and concept tage. A writeup of the project can be found here. Though the “This is Atlanta” campaign showed very promising focus group feedback, Brand Atlanta officials chose to develop Lattimer Moffitt’s “Southern Nights” further.

The new “City Lights, Southern Nights” effort, which is arguably another swing and miss for Brand Atlanta, will “…create a very strong brand impression of what Atlanta has to offer.” One of the new ads feature “images of classy women, drinking mint juleps in front of the Midtown Atlanta skyline at night.”

Oddly, the campaign does little to change the sleepy impression of Atlanta outside the south. Ads about Mint Juleps certainly aren’t going to help. Not to mention the new slogan carrying the name of the Atlanta adult novelty store “Southern Nights,” which somehow escaped observation. This is a classic example of how politics and design-by-committee can undermine a potentially great campaign.

Here’s an article from the local paper, Creative Loafing. Be sure to read the comments, some are hysterical.