Small city, loves slogans

It's the Port City. It's also been the Loyalist City and the Biggest Little City in the East.

When hashtags were all the rage, it was #SaintAwesome.

When you drive into Saint John, you see signs that proclaim the city is "Always Moving Forward."

So prepare yourself: another slogan is about to take over this foggy coastal town: Small city, big heart.

"In Saint John, it's really about telling the Saint John story," said Lisa Caissie, director of external relations for the city.

"Who are we, understanding who we are, knowing who we are, and really having a way to communicate that outward."

But why does Saint John feel the need for slogans and comparatively frequent branding?

"The stakes are higher in Saint John because there's the perception that we're lagging behind other areas," said Greg Marquis, a history and political science professor at University of New Brunswick in Saint John and a local historian.

Marquis said Saint John was on the same economic level as Halifax a century ago, but now it competes with Moncton and Fredericton for biggest city in the province.

At the same time, Saint John suffers from an old reputation.

"A lot of outsiders regarded it in sometimes negative ways, as a gritty industrial town, that type of thing."

As for the need for slogans, Marquis suggested it as a "morale-building" exercise of sorts, to bring confidence to the community and cheer it up.

"I think there's a view out there that cities compete for things, there's maybe only so many investors or immigrants, or newcomers to go around. So how do you get noticed?"  

"So I think that's kind of the bottom line in this place-branding."