ESCANABA — Being aware of something is the first step to connecting with it. We all make purchases, travel to destinations, and even choose new locations to live based on our knowledge of a product or place. Therefore, creating a well-known brand is coveted by the biggest businesses in the world and they keep spending more and more to make sure their customers remember and choose them when they are deciding.

If you watch the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks you will see a lot of very expensive commercials. Some of them from the big brands that you expect to see and some from new up and coming businesses that want to raise your awareness about them. We can all guess the likely brands that will be seen, and we are probably very familiar with their products and how to buy them, but the companies still spend the money on ads for the big game because they want us to think about them.

The Pure Michigan brand is one of the most powerful brands in the world and has been attracting people to come to our state for years by making people think about Michigan. People come on vacation, some come here to start a new business, for a career opportunity, or maybe even to retire. They end up choosing to start their new adventure here because they formed a connection with the state. Pure Michigan has positioned our state to be the final choice by highlighting Michigan’s beauty and attractions for years. This campaign brings more talented people to our state, more businesses, jobs, and has a significant economic impact across many industries.

We have seen the impact on a local level as well building off the success of Pure Michigan with destination marketing at Visit Escanaba. The amount of money spent on lodging in the area has increased significantly as we implement campaigns to raise awareness about Delta County. More people are seeing images and videos online across the Midwest and then choosing to come here. While increased profits at hotels and short-term rentals is nice for the economy, this marketing will have an even bigger economic impact in Delta County. Businesses have more highly accessible digital content to attract new talented workers that they desperately need, and potential residents will decide to choose this area because of the natural beauty and attractions that they have been introduced to.

I do not think I have explained anything new to you in this commentary, but I do want to remind you that good regional branding efforts do more than just influence tourism. Raising awareness about our freshwater and gorgeous outdoor activities helps drive prosperity across all industries. Pure Michigan is and has been the foundation for our state’s branding and attraction and gives all our local businesses and organizations a leg up in their marketing efforts. Building off this successful campaign has helped guide our local marketing strategies and is critical to the continued growth of this community.

There is a lot of information available online if you would like to research more about the history of Pure Michigan and the impact it has on our state’s overall economy. I encourage you to do your own research. What I have found is that every dollar invested in Pure Michigan has generated more tax dollars for the state than is spent on the campaign which provides more overall funding for our state’s budget. It is also worth noting that the Pure Michigan brand and campaign is so successful because it is very good. They constantly work on new ideas and work with the best agencies to make sure Michigan has the best awareness campaign of any state in America. Attraction marketing is working in our state and in Delta County in many ways. I look forward to new innovative content from Pure Michigan and Visit Escanaba in the coming years that will attract new businesses and residents to this great state.

— — —

By Robert Micheau is executive director of Visit Escanaba