> We should have a slogan competition, perhaps with a prize?

I am all for a competion, but only after we have thought about the
positioning (the functional and emotional benefits) that we would
like to communicate. This also requires some thought about what
competitive database systems are trying to communicate. Brand values
should be timeless and remain relevant for many years.

If we just do a competition, we will end up with a cute phrase that
is okay now, but will prove poorly chosen next year. This is how we
ended up with the current slogan. It is how Sun ended up with the "We
are the dot in dot-com" disaster.

Functional benefits for Firebird could be:
- easy: low/no admin, self tuning, single file db possible, etc.
- scalable from embedded to high-end
- rich, world-class feature set; innovator
- strong developer and user community (i.e. future proof)

Emotional benefits could be:
- low/no risk of failure & angry bosses/customers
- be part of pushing out the technology frontier
- open, international, friendly and helpful community

The above is just from the top of my head -- let's discuss. The idea
that the above benefits and values will continue to be at the core of
the project for many years; they have been for the past 20.

The slogan should vividly and succinctly convey the message. It does
not have to be a phrase (see Coke example).

Also, the slogan is but a part of it. Once we have agreed on the
benefits we need to build up "proof": little examples, stories and
comparisons that show that we are better, more credible and more
trustworthy than others at the benefits that we claim.

This is why I phrased my question the way I did, asking what are we
trying to communicate?

Paul