Since I moved to New Hampshire five years ago, our state has advertised itself under at least three different marketing slogans: "The Road Less Traveled,""Make Up for Lost Time" and "You're Going to Love it Here."

Of course, everyone knows what our real state motto is: Live Free or Die.

As the Legislature stands poised to add the real motto to road signs welcoming visitors to New Hampshire, here is a thought: Let's take it a step farther. Let's make Live Free or Die our official, permanent marketing slogan and end the cycle of temporary, generic taglines that leave our state without a clear image.

Any successful branding campaign has three parts: getting people to associate a tagline with your product, using the slogan to reinforce a positive image of the product and making sure it prompts a purchase or sale.

After 50 years, Live Free or Die has already achieved the first goal far more than any new slogan could ever hope to. Few states have such a simple and well-known motto. Let's take advantage of it.

Live Free or Die has great potential for reinforcing a positive image of our state. It's easy to picture the various ways people come to New Hampshire to add a little bit of freedom to their lives: a skier soaring over freshly packed powder; a shopper with bags full of sales-tax free goods; a group of friends hiking through Franconia Notch State Park; grandparents strolling hand-in-hand under a covered bridge; a golfer in full back-swing; a group of motorcycles pulling into Bike Week; or young kids gazing up at the statue of a Revolutionary war hero.

New Hampshire isn't just about quaint villages. It is about the many different ways people find freedom and a better quality of life.

Live Free of Die can help the economy by attracting not just tourists but also shoppers and new employers. Whether you agree with our state tax environment or not, we should do our best to maximize its benefits. And that means selling visitors and new businesses on our tax advantage, our philosophy of restrained intrusion into people's lives and our belief that we all have a chance to take our future into our own hands and succeed.

The state has invested tens of thousands of dollars in You're Going to Love it Here, but it is sure to be replaced by another plastic slogan in a few years anyway. We have smart and capable people at the state's travel and tourism office. Let's give them the tools they need by making an investment that makes sense, with a marketing slogan that will be here for good.

(Colin Van Ostern of Concord is president of Washington Street Communications.)

By COLIN VAN OSTERN

For the Monitor