Driving through Manotick these days you will notice that every third lawn sports a sign that says "The Village Speaks". It's part of a campaign to prevent Minto, a large developer, from building an additional 2000 homes on the south side of Manotick. Minto's plan would more than double the size of the village, and we simply don't have the infrastructure — roads, sewers, and shops — to accomodate another 2000 homes.
Whoever dreamt up this slogan should be shot. It means absolutely nothing. Nada! I've been awfully tempted to take a quick stroll around some night, magic marker in hand, and change a few to read "The Village Idiot Speaks". It would be fun, and the signs would be no more or less meaningful than they are now!
Slogans and taglines should be immediate, obvious and compelling. If they're an inside joke, then you've wasted your money.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
