Oamaru's lack of a town slogan is to be addressed by a local business group.
One of the first projects in the sights of Venture Waitaki's newly elected board members, sworn in over the past two weeks, was to establish a brand slogan for the town.
Venture Waitaki board chairman Simon Berry said Oamaru's current catchphrase, "Visit Oamaru'', did not represent what the town had to offer.
"We feel that doesn't encompass our core attributes so we'd like to have some activity around that area.''
He said ascertaining what the local population saw as the town's attributes was key.
University of Otago senior marketing lecturer Andrea Insch said it was healthy for a town to revisit how it saw itself and how its slogan or brand portrayed its image.
"Is it actually helping us? Is this actually providing us with some benefit? But it's not always beneficial to change for the sake of change.''
Dr Insch said if a town wanted to create a brand or alter the one it had, it needed to explore what it had.
Also, whatever slogan it developed, it had to be believable.
"Ultimately, the acid test is does it really describe the place?''
Mayor Gary Kircher said a slogan change was not a priority for the council at this stage, but any group that thought it could get public buy-in for one was welcome to give it a go.
Mr Kircher believed Oamaru was working well under its current efforts and was already known by some as the sharpest town or the coolest town.
"We don't need a hackneyed phrase to describe what we are.
"It can be something for local pride, but we're just basically getting on and doing a bunch of things and focusing on what we can do to make Oamaru an interesting place where people visit us and tell others.
"I'm happy to carry on doing that.''
Dr Insch said towns and cities exploring slogan uses needed to first explore whether it was crucial for the area to have a slogan.
"Once you do have one, you do open yourself up to scrutiny ... it's going to take a long time for people to buy into it and believe in it.''
She believed a new phrase or slogan was not necessary for Oamaru at the moment, saying the town could focus on the tourism growth it was enjoying instead.
"Oamaru has done such an amazing job.
"It's put a lot of effort into building itself.''
Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand said cities used slogans and logos to help portray their individual identities.
For example Wellington's "Absolutely Positively Wellington'' slogan was launched by then mayor Fran Wilde in 1992.
The report's author stated other cities and towns followed, although other slogans had trouble and were not so loved.
"In fact, branding is a risky activity for councils.
"Slogans and logos are more often the subject of community ridicule than support.''
The new board members were restaurateur Sally-Ann Donnelly, family businessman Leighton Selfe and photographer Derek Golding.
