Raleigh: We’re not sure either
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Raleigh is a really nice place to live. Better than most places. However, it really has no major hook. And quite frankly, compared to most cities, Raleigh is a bit bland. Blandness could be highlighted with tongue in cheek slogans:
“Keep Raleigh Bland”
“RALEIGH: Smart, High Tech, and just a little bland”.
" Raleigh: College Hoops, High Tech, and only slightly bland."
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“Raleigh, if you want it we likely have it, just not to much”
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Love it. Time to stop defend our town and embrace it 
“Raleigh is bland and that’s okay”
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I think that’s a surprisingly good idea for civic branding. We don’t have to present our city as something perfect and edgy; it can be a bit more realistic or self-deprecating in a humble way. I’m reminded of Greenville, SC, and how they’ve managed to create such a brand — “Yea, THAT Greenville.”
They’ve come from nowhere to be one of the most promising cities in the South, and I’m of the opinion that their tongue-in-cheek slogan has helped them. Like Raleigh, they didn’t have much of an identity, and essentially had to create something from scratch to draw people in. Unlike Raleigh, they had the unique challenge of having to stand out against over 30 other places in the country with the same name (including one in NC).
We’re not in the exact same situation as Greenville, but I think our brand could learn something from theirs. Some of the recent suggestions in this thread are a pretty good start.
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I feel like we’ve had several good ideas that have withstood some scrutiny, now. …plus I just realized this is a feature that we can use on this forum.
Out of what we’ve discussed on this thread (and elsewhere), which ideas do you think could be worth treating a bit more seriously? Which narrative do you think can be Raleigh’s best foot forward?
Which would you actually bring up in conversation? Which ideas do you feel like you might identify with or actually start embracing?
Obviously, this is NOT a binding or scientific poll. I’m just curious about how people are feeling at this point about what’s on the table.
- Friendly, smart, down-to-earth innovators
- Physically active, health-conscious, surrounded by nature and vitality (“City of Life”)
- Surrounded by nature, environmentally diverse (the other “city in the forest” / “southern gateway”)
- Varied living options, diverse yet segregated (“a park for everyone”)
- Intellectual (“smart + ___”)
- Humble, realistic, blank slate/new start, hidden gem (“Raleigh, the bland”)
- I’m sure there’s an identity Raleigh can be proud of, but it hasn’t been brought up yet…
- No storyline or brand can successfully elevate Raleigh’s reputation to the world.
- We have no need to try aiming higher or for unifying our narrative.
0 voters
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https://www.pictureyourselfinraleigh.com/
Nice campaign for SXSW! Check it out
Why not have a sister even SXSE in Raleigh or something similar
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I’ll stop by when I’m there soon!
I think that’s the space SparkCon is supposed to fill but I’m not sure if the branding works. Do people just think it’s a fireworks convention… an electricians convention?
Reminds of this. I think this came out around the time that a Charlotte Observer writer wrote this scathing article about how boring Raleigh is compared to CLT (for the record, I don’t want to invite a CLT-RAL spitting contest). Actually I think it’s my favorite branding of the city. http://www.houseofswankclothing.com/keep-raleigh-boring-shirt-mens/
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You know the lamest thing about all that. Some business in Charlotte copied that slogan as well.
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Bruh, I didn’t know that and now I’m big mad about this.
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Haha, even better because the slogan came from a Charlotte columnist ranting how boring Raleigh was with a lazy unresearched click bait article. Couple Raleigh businesses adopted the slogan to mock him.
[edit: whoops, should’ve scrolled up to read the post with the picture]
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Raleigh’s new slogan: “This article is a stub, you can help wikipedia by contributing to it”.
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Our brand is clearly about “quality of life.” We’ve been on top of this best place to live, best place to raise a family lists for 20+ years. That’s clearly why our population has boomed. It’s a combination of economy, climate and cost of living.
It may not be sexy or cool. But that’s what we are known for outside of NC. That and basketball.
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…so this?
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I like that idea. SXSE
I really like the copy in that link. The narrative that they lay out does a really nice job talking about Raleigh.
There’s actually something hipster-counter culture about that moniker that resonates with me too. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but it’s sort of like how hipsters make horned rimmed and cat-eye glasses cool again after decades of ridicule.
With that moniker, it’s like basically owning ones authenticity that instantly makes it cool.
Although I like the phrase, “Keep Raleigh boring” it makes me think of those who “really” are in the NIMBY group…but that’s just my little ole opinion…lol
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Lol, yeah. Some people probably also don’t get that it’s tongue-in-cheek.
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