Glasgow's miles better was a 1980s campaign to promote the city of Glasgow as a tourist destination and as a location for industry. It was developed by Scottish advertising agency Struthers Advertising, and featured the phrase "Glasgow's Miles Better" wrapped around the cartoon figure of Mr. Happy. It is regarded as one of the world's earliest and most successful attempts to rebrand a city, and received a number of domestic and international awards. [1] [2] [3]
In 1982, Struthers Advertising had undertaken an anti-smoking campaign for the Scottish Health Education Group featuring members of the Scotland national football team under the theme "The squad don't smoke". Later that year, the then Lord Provost of Glasgow Michael Kelly announced plans to make Glasgow a no smoking city by the year 2000. John Struthers wrote to Michael Kelly offering assistance with the No Smoking aim. The Lord Provost said he was simply the figurehead for the No Smoking group but he and John Struthers met over coffee. During that meeting, the Lord Provost said how much he wanted a campaign for Glasgow similar to the highly successful I Love New York campaign, but the City had no money to fund such an initiative.
As a result of that meeting, John Struthers undertook not only to create but also initially fund the development of a campaign capable of meeting the Lord Provost's objectives. Various concepts were developed and rejected, but in March 1983 Struthers presented the Glasgow's Miles Better proposal to Kelly supported with a fund raising strategy. [4] The Lord Provost loved the whole concept and personally took it on board. Struthers and Kelly made a formidable combination that gave the whole campaign an impetus hitherto unseen in UK civic marketing activity. The campaign was launched in June 1983 by the Lord Provost to immense media attention and comment, and in a very short time, the slogan "Glasgow's Miles Better" had entered the UK vocabulary.
Some £100,000 was raised as a result of the Struthers fund raising proposals followed by the Scottish Development Agency (now Scottish Enterprise) agreeing to match this sum pound for pound. The reason for their contribution was due to a report they had commissioned, part of which suggested that the City of Glasgow would derive significant economic benefits from increased external marketing activity. When this funding was put in place, the City of Glasgow finally decided to offer financial support from their Common Good Fund amounting to some £60,000.
The campaign ran across UK media and was supported by extensive PR initiatives. One of the most remarkable PR stories concerned Glasgow's rival city Edinburgh. One of the Struthers recommendations was to target tourists during the Edinburgh Festival, so a modest campaign was booked to run on the sides of six Edinburgh buses. In the 1980s, Edinburgh buses were owned by Edinburgh Council, which took umbrage at the thought of Glasgow being promoted on their buses, and as a result, they banned the campaign. [3] Within days, the story of Edinburgh banning Glasgow had gone worldwide and even made the front page of the Wall Street Journal. The coverage was immense, and the Miles Better campaign owed a debt of gratitude to the City of Edinburgh for their assistance in promoting Glasgow to a global audience.
Glasgow had previously suffered from a reputation as a hard-drinking, gang-ridden, working-class city. The campaign initially targeted the citizens of Glasgow and encouraged them to support the activity which focused on the cultural richness of Glasgow, its environment (more parkland per capita than any other city in Europe), its mild climate and its suitability for enterprise.
The result was a very significant change in the way Glasgow was perceived externally, and the figure of Mr. Happy from the Mr. Men children's books appeared on posters and badges alongside the slogan. In analysing the campaign, Brown, Moran and Gaudin (2013) suggest it "is considered to be one of the best city promotions ever mounted by any British city. It put a smile on a city that was both down on its heels and negatively perceived." [5]
John Struthers was the man credited with devising the "Glasgow's Miles Better" campaign. [6]
The catch-phrase is a famous example of a null comparative.
In later phases of the campaign, the catch-phrase was adapted in a number of ways, such as "Glasgow smiles better".
Edinburgh apparently responded to the campaign with a billboard and banner advertising campaign bearing the slogan, "Edinburgh: Count Me In". [7]
The politics of Edinburgh are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of the City of Edinburgh Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand.
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United Kingdom. Following local government reorganisation in 1975, the title of "royal burgh" remains in use in many towns, but now has little more than ceremonial value.
A lord provost is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow have a lord provost; other Scottish local authorities have provosts or convenors, which are similar offices to that of a mayor. Perth previously termed its civil leader a "lord provost", but from the Second World War onwards has preferred the simple term Provost of Perth.
Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operator formed in June 1985 as a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group, created from part of W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd. The company operated as Midland Scottish until 1991, when it was renamed Midland Bluebird in preparation for privatisation.
Michael Kelly is a Scottish Labour politician and businessman. He graduated from the University of Strathclyde and became a lecturer in economics there and a Labour councillor. From 1984 he was managing director of Michael Kelly Associates, a PR company. He held the position of Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1980 to 1984, and was Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1984 to 1987. As Lord Provost, he was instrumental in the city's adoption of the Glasgow's miles better campaign and slogan, which is credited with an important role in Glasgow's cultural renaissance during the 1980s. A member of one of the families that had controlled Celtic F.C. since its foundation, he sat on the club's board of directors until 1994, when the club reached the verge of bankruptcy and the much-criticised old regime was ousted by Fergus McCann's takeover.
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh and honorarily the Admiral of the Firth of Forth. It is the equivalent in many ways to the institution of Mayor that exists in many other countries.
A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate. Baillies appointed the high constables in Edinburgh, Leith and Perth. Modern bailies exist in Scottish local councils, and the position being a courtesy title, appointees are often requested to provide support to the lord provost or provost - the ceremonial and civic head of the council - in their various engagements.
A Glasgow smile is a wound caused by making a cut from the corners of a victim's mouth up to the ears, leaving a scar in the shape of a smile.
George Drummond was a Scottish politician and accountant who served as the Lord Provost of Edinburgh multiple times between 1725 and 1764.
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars. The Kirkyard is operated by City of Edinburgh Council in liaison with a charitable trust, which is linked to but separate from the church. The Kirkyard and its monuments are protected as a category A listed building.
British Coachways was a consortium of independent coach operating companies in the United Kingdom. Formed immediately after the deregulation of coach services in October 1980, it competed with the state-owned National Express and Scottish Bus Group on a range of long-distance routes. Initially composed of six members, it varied in size and composition over its two years of operation to include a range of ten different companies.
Edinburgh City Chambers in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the meeting place of the City of Edinburgh Council and its predecessors, Edinburgh Corporation and Edinburgh District Council. It is a Category A listed building.
Events from the year 1812 in Scotland.
The history of advertising in Britain has been a major part of the history of its capitalist economy for three centuries. It became a major force as agencies were organized in the mid-19th century, using primarily newspapers and magazines. In the 20th century, It grew rapidly with new technologies, such as direct mail, radio, television. In the late 19th century, home-based British agencies were swallowed up and became branches of international firms, but London remains one of the world's most important advertising centers. Radical changes have come recently because of the new roles for the Internet and smart phones. For current conditions see Advertising.
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"Catch It, Bin It, Kill It" is a slogan used in several public health campaigns of the British government to promote good respiratory and hand hygiene by recommending carrying tissues, using them to catch a cough or sneeze, disposing of them immediately in a waste bin and then killing any remaining viruses by washing hands or using hand sanitiser. In 2007, following evidence that good respiratory and hand hygiene might reduce the spread of flu, the phrase appeared in a government campaign that publicised the directive "Catch it, Bin it, Kill it" throughout the NHS, on buses and trains and in libraries, shopping centres and police stations.
The Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup comprised two separate football tournaments played in aid of the Lord Provost's Rent Relief Fund in 1921. Held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, both were one-off competitions. Various other tournaments and events were held to help the unemployed in 1921.
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