Client: Lansing, Michigan

Ad Blitz Aims to Boost Lansing Area's Appeal Visitors Bureau Hopes to Attract Tourists with New Campaign

By Susan Stock - Lansing State Journal
October 13, 2004

Stand up.

Put your hand up.

Point to Lansing.

That's the image a local tourism group wants to plant in the minds of mid-Michigan residents and potential visitors as part of its upcoming branding campaign. The tagline: Greater Lansing - Where culture and creativity come together.

"We're claiming the hand symbol and staking our central position within it," said Kent Love, spokesman for the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau, which is running the effort.

The hand - the portable state map for Michigan residents - will become the icon of the first-of-its-kind marketing blitz. The goal is to give Greater Lansing a single identity and attract more leisure travelers. The public will get its first glimpse in December.

The bureau hasn't set a target number of visitors it wants to attract. Already, Greater Lansing draws 5.1 million visitors annually who spend $431 million, Love said.

Among marketing possibilities residents may see next year: print ads, posters, billboards, a revamped CVB Web site and a new CVB logo.

The campaign is built around photos and images featuring the hand and a star marking the capital. Organizers chose to focus on the diverse cultural offerings of the region.

It's an appropriate slogan for the Lansing market, which has seen an increase in cultural fairs, festivals and special events, said Sandy Izenson, president of the Mid-Michigan Jazz Society.

"There are definitely things happening," he said. "We have the East Lansing Art Festival, and there's definitely more live music than there was 10 years ago. Maybe (the campaign) will pull it all together."

Visitors to the region such as Philadelphia native Bill Kelso don't hear much about cultural events they might attend. He visited Lansing for the first time this week for a lawn and garden trade show at the Lansing Center.
"It was OK," he said. "I went and walked around downtown, and it seemed like everything rolled up at 5 p.m. I kind of expected like an Annapolis, Maryland, but that's not what it was."

Work on the campaign began last October, when Lansing residents and business leaders were asked to complete a survey of 30 questions, including quirky ones such as: "If Greater Lansing were a candy bar, what would it be?"
(Answer: Milky Way.)

The questions have a purpose, said Jeremi Griggs, marketing services manager for North Star, the Nashville-based firm that conducted the survey and put together the branding campaign.

"Those kinds of questions allow us to see on a very basic level how each city is unique," he said. "It allows people to have fun and it loosens everybody up."

When asked to describe Lansing as a person, the responses formed a portrait of a man in his 50s, with a blue-collar job, married with kids. His typical outfit is jeans and a T-shirt, since "no one dresses up in Lansing." He's a hard worker - dependable, reliable and a good neighbor. But he's also a little dull.

Local economic development groups are looking forward to the campaign, which will promote one image for Lansing, East Lansing and the surrounding areas.

"We really look at them as a real partner to help promote our programs downtown," said Kevin Green, executive director of the Principal Shopping District. "We don't have a large marketing campaign, so any dual promotion we can do helps everyone."

Contact Susan Stock at 377-1015 or sstock@lsj.com.