How Do You Brand A City?

"Unlike Oakland, Calif., which native Gertrude Stein once insulted by saying 'there's no there there,' Greensboro has a 'there.'

That's the consensus of Action Greensboro, which has been working for months to pinpoint that 'there.' Suggestions and comments collected so far are wide-ranging.

One question Action Greensboro posed was whether Greensboro needs to brand itself the way companies, colleges and products do with logos and slogans.

The answer, says Action Greensboro consultant Dabney Sanders, was an overwhelming yes. Only a few, she says, expressed doubts whether a unified brand message should be conceived in a city that, in the words of one person, 'means different things to different people.'"