Spread The Word

West Haven and the state look to energize campaigns

It’s hard to say what a good slogan will do for you. Just after two years, the State announced that it was ducking the “Find Your Vibe” slogan that carried the state through a majority of the pandemic for a new slogan called “Make It Here.” Nearly concurrently, the City of West Haven announced that they too had a change of heart and proposed “Miles of shore and so much more” to reinvigorate their economic development.

The state is of course promoting the state as a whole and not just any one town or sector, as it launches the campaign in April to last through the end of summer. The slogan had been soft launched in October of last year showing and “spurred by research that found only 50% of residents are proud of the state and only 21% would recommend the state to others.”

Anthony Anthony – who had humorously assured an assembled CCM Leg Comm meeting that that was in fact his name – said “The ‘Make It Here’ campaign was designed to help Connecticut stand taller than our regional peers and inspire greater pride among our residents. By shining a light on the state’s underlying identity that has always been present, we’re telling a more authentic story about Connecticut today, and better showing where we’re headed tomorrow.”

So too is the proposed West Haven campaign. It would not shock anyone in the city if the only thing an outsider knew about West Haven was its miles of public beaches. And while that is great for the shore, the city’s Economic Development Commission wants to insist on the “And so much more” part as well.

Mayor Dorinda Borer said in an article from the New Haven Register that she wanted to engage a professional firm for a slogan, but had not heard about the idea from the Economic Development Commission. They had proposed it as part of a larger economic development plan, but had not been instituted in any official capacity as of yet.

West Haven will still be revolutionary with its motto of “nil desperandum,” according to the Register article, with Thomas Painter watching British ships approach the shore. But “never despair” is not a selling motto, and apparently “Still Revolutionary” wasn’t for the state either. A good motto is worth its weight in gold –Just Do It, I’m Loving It, America Runs on Dunkin – but you have to have the goods to back it up. West Haven and the State are betting that they do.