Case study – Pure Michigan – good example of tourism PR
When the Pure Michigan campaign launched in 2006, the state was suffering from
negative press about the auto industry. When most Americans thought of Michigan, they
thought of Detroit, not of the beautiful scenery of the Great Lakes. The campaign faced the
challenge of changing the public’s perception of Michigan and of persuading individuals
to come to the state.
“We did some small focus groups research in Cleveland, Ohio,” said Mark Lantz,
creative director of the Pure Michigan campaign. “The people we talked to didn’t know why
they should come to Michigan. Michigan has a unique nature because it’s a drive-to state not
a drive-through state. One of the individuals even said, ‘Michigan is like Alaska only
closer.’”
After talking to the focus groups, Lantz decided to center the campaign on Michigan’s
distinctive natural aspects. According to Lantz, there are two types of vacations: indulgence
vacations and value vacations. Value vacations give consumers the chance to reconnect with
what is most important in their lives. Pure Michigan aimed to communicate the feelings of
a value vacation throughout its campaign.
“[Michigan is] less like everything is and more like everything is supposed to be,” said
Lantz. “You can reconnect with your family and yourself. We used the idea of the three m’s:
majestic, mythic and magical.”
The campaign launched a series of simple advertisements that communicated the
untamed nature of Michigan. In March 2008, the campaign went national. Pure Michigan
proved to be a historically successful campaign.
“The Pure Michigan campaign more than pays for itself,” said Gov. Jennifer Granholm in
a recent radio address. “Last summer, visitors from outside the Great Lakes region who were
inspired by the campaign to come to Michigan paid $17.5 million in state taxes. That’s a
return on investment of $2.23 for every dollar in advertising.”
The campaign also achieved high returns through social media with nearly 180,000
Facebook fans. According to an article on PR Newswire’s website, nearly three quarters of
Pure Michigan Facebook fans learned about places and activities in Michigan they didn’t
know about previously. Additionally, a third of those fans were motivated to travel to
Michigan.
In a world with so many forms of advertising, it is important to remember the value of
simple communication. This campaign is successful because it embraces a brand strategy
that has an important message.
Questions:
1. What do you think was the best PR tool used in this campaign?
2. How do you suggest to support such campaign?
3. How do you will continue to keep the trend of this campaign, what do you suggest as
next step of PR campaign?
Suggest a similar campaign to one tourism destination in Poland – choose aim, target group,
slogan, orientation of campaign
chose PR tools – how, when, why you promote the region