L&T Publisher Earl Watt
After years of trying to be known as the “crossroads of commerce,” the City of Liberal adopted a much better slogan in 2024, “From generosity to prosperity.”
That slogan is based on scripture and how it applied to Seymour Rogers, Liberal’s founder, who hand-dug a water well and then gave the water away free to travelers. His generosity earned him the title of being a “liberal” fella, and the fledgling community that sprouted up adopted the name Liberal.
The town continued to prosper and grow, reflecting Proverbs 11:25 which states, “A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
From those humble beginnings Liberal thrived and grew into the town we know today with major chain stores and restaurants, a major beef processing plant, community college and so much more.
“From generosity to prosperity” is a hopeful, confident message. It provides us a common thread from the past as a way to envision our future.
When the slogan was adopted by the Liberal City Commission, the logo remained dated. Still, the city updated the antiquated logo with the new phrase (seen above to the right), incorporating them into one visual.
Last year, the City of Liberal updated its logo with a clean, fresh design.
The logo has since seen the addition of the slogan, but there have been times when the slogan was not implemented.
That may be changing as the most recent rendition of the logo shows the phrase emblazoned under “Liberal,” and this is a positive improvement for many reasons.
The slogan and logo are basically one, just like the previous design.
By doing this, we reinforce our slogan every time we see our logo, and so does everyone else.
According to HubSpot Marketing, there are some tips one how to make people remember a slogan.
Their first suggestion is to keep the slogan short with eight words or less.
Check.
HubSpot also suggests making the slogan emotionally resonant.
There’s no doubt “From generosity to prosperity” pulls at the heartstrings of our past and our vision for the future.
Check.
HubSpot the recommends integrating the slogan consistently across all platforms, “including signage, emails, social media, and verbal communication.”
That’s the key.
When the message is spread at every possible opportunity, our entire community will start to identify with it. We will take pride in it, and we will live up to it.
Last week, Rex Petty visited with the Liberal City Commission during public comments and suggested that the logos that will be used with park signs and other signage include the new logo with the slogan included.
It’s not only a good suggestion but also a good marketing tool.
The logo is flexible enough to incorporate other phrasing underneath, like “Kansas” or “Community Band,” Water Dept.” etc.
Integrating the logo and slogan will affect an entire generation and build on our humble beginnings.
