FROM JERSEY JOURNAL
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Slogans have made top news lately. Maybe Jersey City needs its own new slogan or perhaps Newport does.
New Jersey spent $250,000 with an advertising agency to pick a slogan promoting the state as a tourist destination. "We'll win you over" was what we got for our money. Acting Gov. Richard Codey hated it, calling it too negative. Good for you, governor: It was negative.
Next, Codey opened up the process, asking citizens to offer suggestions. The winning entry from a field of 8,000 tries: "New Jersey: Come see for yourself."
I think that embodies the pride that we have in our state," Codey was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "We know it's a great state. We're more than just the Turnpike, that's for sure. There's a lot of beauty out there."
Jersey City faces a similar public relations problem. We know how great it is to live, shop and work here, but how do we change the minds of people who may have heard disparaging remarks about our city in past years?
Behind the new state slogan is a concerted effort to change how New Jersey is perceived. No matter how much we change and improve statewide and here in Jersey City, the world doesn't know about it unless the people come and see it for themselves. Moreover, the world does come so enticingly close - it swarms just next door in Manhattan.
Perhaps the answer to our dilemma lies in the soaring skyline of Jersey City's Hudson River waterfront, which includes Newport. Our ever-growing skyline gets automatic attention from the streets of Manhattan. We are so tantalizingly near downtown Manhattan that our glittering skyline stands like a giant, a free billboard that advertises our presence.
Could we not nurture that natural inquisitiveness people feel, at last attracting New York residents and New York tourists alike, to come over for a visit? Somewhere within that idea, there must be a winning slogan for Jersey City.
"High times in Jersey City" or "Jersey City: See Manhattan from a whole new perspective" are just two possible slogans we could use to attract visitors and affect how we are perceived. Advertisers call it using your assets to the fullest potential. I call it a common sense appeal using the curiosity of human nature.
For Newport specifically, I would probably play up access to Manhattan. How about "Newport living and shopping: Manhattan-quality lifestyle at a discount"? OK, so that one is not so great. Show me up. Do you have a better slogan? Let's hear it!
"THE VIEW FROM NEWPORT" appears every other week in the Waterfront Journal. Contact Larry Garland at GarlandOnHudson@aol.com.