Ashburton's "Whatever it takes" welcome sign begged the question, to do what?

OPINION: There's nothing like filling the car up and hitting the road on a good summer's day in New Zealand.

And there's nothing quite like the laugh you get when you come upon those signs welcoming and farewelling you in and out of regions.

Since the 1990s we've seen such gems as:

BILL KEARNS/FAIRFAX NZ Wairoa's sign emphasised the good old days: "New Zealand the way it used to be"

- Ashburton: "Whatever it takes"

- Wairoa: "New Zealand the way it used to be"

- Porirua: "P-Town"

- Hamilton: "More than you expect"

- Dannevirke: "Take a liking for a Viking"

- "Right Up My Hutt Valley"

- "Taranaki – like no other"

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Documented in council minutes will be the, no doubt, large cost of creating these masterpieces.

What is not so clear is what their purpose was. Are they designed to attract tourists or new residents or perhaps make the current residents feel good?

What process did they use to come up with these taglines – some of which are clearly created by a committee, others possibly by a comedian.

A committee in Auckland is in fact right now working away on a new brand to replace many before: City of Sails, Auckland A, Big Little City. The new one has the very big job of attracting visitors, events, skilled migrants and investment.

More recently regions have developed a call to action. Wellington's "Send yourself to Wellington", in the 90s was a genuine attempt to address a real problem that hotels were empty in the weekend.

Hawke's Bay appears to have ditched its well proven "Wine country" tagline in favour of " Get me to Hawke's Bay." I suppose it's a promise there's something there worth getting to (it's still the wine I say).

But while those regions are clearly looking for visitors, Dunedin's 'It's alright here" is targeting the residents. And while that is apologetic – the concept is not silly.

The Capital's "Absolutely Positively Wellington" campaign was all about getting the locals to admit they liked the city. It was an effective forerunner to the tourism campaign. After all, it's no use trying to attract visitors if the locals are still openly dissing the place.

Here's a challenge for you. Imagine you're talking to someone overseas about where to go in New Zealand. In less than three minutes come up with what you think are the best places and how you describe them.

There's a phrase "it is what it is". Everyone has history and regions should build on what they already are.

What is dangerous is to let a committee decide the outcome. Because what inevitably happens is a collage of imagery from a town offering you everything. Which in fact is offering you nothing specific at all.

Visitors need a reason to visit, residents a reason to stay and traders a reason to do business.

Way back in the 1990s ad guru Brian Richards urged New Zealand to market itself in regions.

He said we'd tried to homogenise ourselves instead of recognising the value of our tapestry.

I get his point. While the 100% Pure New Zealand brand is very successful, imagine if underpinning it was a coordinated effort amongst regions to brand themselves in a way that told the story of New Zealand region by region.

New Zealand's story would be enhanced and the regions would show their place in Aotearoa through trade and through tourism.

On a practical level, regional investment in branding would pay off and it wouldn't be frequently changed because it was part of a bigger story.

In the meantime, beware of the dangers of laughing hysterically while driving into New Zealand townships.

Cas Carter has worked in marketing, public relations, branding and journalism for 20 years.