Utah brand doesn't elevate all readers

Tourism officials have touted Utah's new "Life Elevated" tourism brand as aspirational and inspirational. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. even said there is "no better way to describe the experience that is Utah."

But some Deseret Morning News readers, responding to a call for a critique of the brand, used other words to describe "Life Elevated."

They include "stinks," "drivel," "vacuous" and "stupid."

In an unscientific poll, their e-mailed assessments were not all negative. They ranged from "the perfect tag line" to "lame-brained," from "average" to "ambiguous," from "a great ad campaign" to "virtually meaningless."

"A pretty, great slogan; full of inspiration and aspiration — as long as it is understood that we in Utah look down on no one," wrote Kirk Strickland of Layton.

"The slogan sounds to me like they are saying Utah and Utahns are better than people who don't live here," wrote Mike Brooks of Magna. "So if you want to be better, come to Utah."

But other respondents wondered if the new brand would actually result in tourists flocking to the state.

"My reaction is: 'elevated' to what?" asked William O. Shaw Jr. of Centerville. "It's ambiguous with no meaning. It may be too 'deep' for me, and it could be too 'deep' for people outside of the state."

Phil Brueck of Saratoga Springs found nothing in the new slogan "that would make me want to visit if I didn't already have some reason for doing so" and found it difficult to believe that "our tourism 'experts' couldn't have come up with something better."

"The real test, I think, is that if Alabama or another state far away had come up with that slogan, would it entice us to want to visit there?" he wrote. "It doesn't ring my bell!"

Joshua J. Steimle of Draper wrote that he was neither disappointed nor thrilled with the new brand. He also believes it will not, by itself, affect tourism, "even if it were an amazingly good brand."

"As far as $20 million for marketing and advertising, that will definitely have a positive effect that could only be detrimental if the advertising were absolutely botched, which would almost be difficult to do," Steimle wrote.

"Play a word game and fill in the blank after 'Elevated,' " suggested David Nicol of West Jordan. "Possible answers: taxes, blood pressure, fuel bills, stress, credit card debt, ego. Is this the word we want on our license plates?"

Other criticism was point-blank harsh.

"As a writer, editor and entrepreneur who created some book titles that were duds — along with some for editorials, newspaper columns, books, articles — and trademarks, that were pretty good, 'Life Elevated' ranks with those I should have trashed," wrote Dr. Glen C. Griffin of Mapleton.

"I'm almost 70 years old. I've lived in Utah my entire life. I worked most of my adult life for one of the world's most prestigious and successful sales organizations (IBM), and I've seen and heard more than my share of lame-brained ideas, but 'Life Elevated' pretty much tops the list and dethrones all that went before," wrote Ronald L. Erickson of Bountiful.

Erickson found the brand "elitist."

"Do not succumb to the 'elitists' that know what's best for everyone else. . . . Find a slogan or motto that's understandable by the 'average Joe,' and that carries a message that Utah is simply a great state, with great people, scenery, opportunities, work ethics, (changing) climate, and every conceivable outdoor opportunity and sport," he wrote.

Respondents also had mixed feelings about W Communications, a Salt Lake ad agency that worked on the brand with the Utah Office of Tourism.

Chris Drysdale of Salt Lake City predicted many people would not like the new campaign. "It's human nature when asked for one's opinion to try and find something wrong," he wrote.

"Although I have no connection to W Communications, I want to congratulate them on the beginnings of a great ad campaign and share a message with state tourism officials: Don't try to please all the people all the time. You can't. Take even more chances than you're taking now. Trust your agency. Do fun and entertaining work and your target audience will fall in love with the campaign and our state," Drysdale wrote.

Tom Christenson of Sandy noted that $400,000 was spent for 7 1/2 months' work on the brand, or $53,333.33 per month.

"The governor said, 'a simple phrase with deep meaning.' The real meaning: 'Never have so much of Utah's limited resources been given for so little!' " Christenson wrote.

Beth Rhoades of Ogden said W Communications "had to come up with something quick" after dragging its feet, and she believes the agency did not consider any of the public comments during a so-called "branding tour."

"I think W Communications bombed in their attempt and wasted time and money," Rhoades wrote. "The logo and slogan don't make me want to jump to my feet and elevate my life."

Garr Ovard of Sandy suggested the state would have done better by offering $50 to "any high school kid who could come up with a catchy slogan."

"To me, the words are vacuous and virtually meaningless. Why did someone pay an advertising agency big bucks for such drivel?" said David Timmins of Brighton.

A few respondents found fault with the lettering used in the official brand. A few found the letter "U" in "Utah" to be either "stylized" or "weird" but nonetheless distracting.

"I really like the new tag line, but think the state's name in the logo could be presented in a more exciting font that better reflects the energy of the new brand," wrote Philip Jensen of American Fork.

"I think I like it. It's not an easy catchy phrase to say, but it's OK," wrote Sharla Allen of Magna.

Allen, however, was confused by what she called the "twin towers" on the side of the new stickers, wondering if it represented the church office building or the Wasatch Mountains. "If it's suppose to be the letter 'U,' why doesn't it look like the one in 'Utah'? If I got one of those stickers, I would cut that part off," Allen wrote.

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com