2. Background
Advertising campaign launched in 2008
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Depicts Michigan as adventurous and rustic
3. Big Idea:
Mackinac
The Mackinac Bridge is the
longest suspension bridge in
the western hemisphere that
offers a 5 mile connection
over the straights of
Mackinac, between Mackinac
City and St. Ignace.
Michigan offers all sorts of unique opportunities, experiences, and activities that the Pure Michigan brand communicates these offers to the public. So we are going to explore what the brand can do to reach their goals and objectives.
Pure Michigan is an advertising campaign that originally launched in 2008 by the Michigan Economic Corporation to improve the economic development of the state of Michigan because the state struggled with out-of-state travelers due to the geographic location. Since then, the campaign has produced a brand that depicts Michigan as adventurous and rustic. The campaign brings interest to the nation’s largest freshwater coastline, arts and culinary hotspots, and endless opportunities.
The big idea to bring the Pure Michigan attention to is the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere that offers a 5 mile connection over the straights of Mackinac, between Mackinac City and St. Ignace. To ensure the bridge remains a structurally sound and safe crossing for everyone, the Mackinac Bridge Authority has scheduled a large amount of long-term preservation over the next several years. The sole source of funding comes from tolls and fees collected at the bridge for crossing. All revenue is collected to maintain, operate, and protect the landmark.
The objectives that we are looking to achieve are to increase regional and national awareness of the Mackinac Bridge and to increase visitor spending by persuading people to cross the bridge and experience the thrill.
The target audience is focused on anyone from individuals to families, adventure and sports enthusiasts, and vacationers. Anyone looking for something new to experience is within the targeted audience. While the bridge is primarily meant for the transportation over the straights, they bridge authority also offers special events throughout the year, such as the Labor day walk, the Memorial Bridge Run, and other crossings.
Social media has become a hub for travel destination decision and Pure Michigan’s presence to bring attention to trips to the Mackinac Bridge is essential. By captivating users to bask in the glory of this historical landmark, they will share their experiences with other users and create more engagement and drive others to participate in Bridge activities.
Creating display and social media ads that describe why the Mackinac Bridge is a place worth visiting, will bring in the audience for the brand to increase the activity that interacts with the website and Pure Michigan itself.
Creating content offers that the brand can market could be special registration prices for races and walks, punch cards for every time you cross the bridge that provide an incentive such as a free ferry ride to Mackinac Island, and/or special print-out activities for children to enjoy. Through Pure Michigan, users will be motivated to travel to the Mackinac Bridge and help the brand accomplish their objectives.
Measuring exposure will help determine the extent to which users are being exposed to the content. This will help improve the process of relevance for online audiences. As more users become interested in visiting the Mackinac Bridge, through the Pure Michigan brand, the exposure of Michigan will expand and more engagement on social media in the form of posts, comments, and tweets.
Creating clear objectives to achieve and building relationships with the audience will create engagement and loyalty to the brand as users investigate more about the Mackinac Bridge and the Pure Michigan brand. With analytics, the brand can prevent wasted resources improve their efforts in what will drive more traffic to Pure Michigan…literally.
