Duluth is creating one. Norcross has one in hand and will launch it next month. Suwanee has been promoting its for a few weeks. And the U.S. 78 Community Improvement District has one as well that soon will transform a seven-mile corridor.

Brands and branding are becoming part of municipal life. Communities are trying to re-label, re-invent and re-do themselves, or portions of themselves. They want to change the way people think about particular areas and change connotations to attract new residents and investors.

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Gwinnett communities have distinct logos

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Whether a branding campaign pays off depends on its objectives, said Karen King, head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The campaign directors may start with awareness and move through an attitude change, she said.

"What's crucial is knowledge of their target audience and how well they execute their campaign," King said. "There's no one formula for success."

Here are some Gwinnett brands:

FAMOUS BRANDS

Here are other city slogans from around the country:

1. What Happens Here, Stays Here. Las Vegas

2. So Very Virginia. Charlottesville

3. Always Turned On. Atlantic City, N.J.

4. Cleveland Rocks! Cleveland

5. The Sweetest Place on Earth. Hershey, Pa.

6. Rare. Well Done. Omaha, Neb.

7. The City Different. Santa Fe, N.M.

8. Where Yee-Ha Meets Olé. Eagle Pass, Texas

9. City with Sol. San Diego

10. Where the Odds Are With You. Peculiar, Mo.

11. Where Your Ship Comes In. Gulfport, Miss.

12. Soul of the Southwest. Taos, N.M.

13. Experience Our Sense of Yuma. Yuma, Ariz

14. The City So Nice They Named It Twice. Walla Walla, Wash.

15. There's More Than Meets the Arch. St. Louis

16. Keep Austin Weird. Austin

17. Where Chiefs Meet. Meeteetse, Wyo.

18. City with a Mission. San Gabriel, Calif.

19. Where the Trails Start and the Buck Stops. Independence, Mo.

20. The City That Never Sleeps. New York

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Norcross

Initial cost: $55,000 for research and brand

Slogan: A Place to Imagine

Purpose: To position historic Norcross as "an urban alternative to Virginia-Highland, known for its art, food and music."

Plans: To launch the brand at an in-town April music fest with the signing of an "imagination proclamation."

Future: Staging events throughout the year, plus maintaining an interactive Web site, marketing and merchandising. Cost: $350,000 for first year, paid with hotel-motel taxes.

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U.S. 78 CID

Brand: Evermore Community Improvement District

Cost: $50,000 for research and brand

Purpose: The name "U.S. 78 CID" was too closely associated with just the highway, when redevelopment, code enforcement and graffiti removal are also concerns. The Evermore name will tell "a more holistic story of community," says director Brett Harrell.

Plans: Sidewalks, illuminated street signs, less cluttered intersections, landscaping and streetscaping, as well as a median.

Payoff so far: A mixed-use redevelopment project at U.S. 78 and Highpoint Road named Brookwood Village at Evermore.

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Suwanee

Initial cost: $40,000 for research and brand

Brand: Suwanee Gateway (Lawrenceville Suwanee Road and I-85 business area)

Slogan: Where Excellence Is an Attitude

Purpose: To create a positive perception of the area by making the Gateway an identifiable area. To encourage people to shop there and invest in underperforming properties.

Future plans: $80,000 in motel-hotel taxes to get the word out through billboards, speaking engagements, streetlight banners and brochures, as well as other printed materials.