sense of place - report, marketing plan & funding sources finished
TRANSCRIPT
1
2012
Community Brand and Website Development Report, Marketing Plan, and Funding Recommendations
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Table of Contents Brand Development Report (Part 1)
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3-4
Sense of Place Brand Report ................................................................................................................................. 5-8
Sense of Place Website Development Report .............................................................................................. 9-10
Marketing Plan (Part 2) ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Media Mix ................................................................................................................................................................. 12-16
Budget .............................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Funding Source Recommendations (Part 3) .............................................................................................. 17
Great Up North Place making Alliance ................................................................................................................ 18
Budget .............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
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PART 1 - OVERVIEW
Since mid-October of 2011, Northern Lights Creative Marketing of has been working at the
direction of the Cheboygan County Economic Development Corporation to fulfill the mission of
the Sense of Place Marketing Project of the county.
That mission is to introduce our area and its recreational assets to (1) a new generation of
tourists, (2) those looking to retire in a northern paradise and, (3) entrepreneurs seeking a
perfect location for their businesses. And it’s important to remember that a principal goal of the
project has been to get our message into the market for this coming tourism season, the
summer of 2012, by implementing the marketing strategy beginning this spring.
The tourism branding project has been a three-fold effort.
One – Create the Marketing Brands.
Northern Lights Work with the communities of Aloha, Cheboygan, Indian River, Mackinaw City,
Topinabee, and Wolverine to enhance or create their marketing brand (logos and taglines). The
goal of this place making-branding exercise was to develop logos and taglines both compelling
and reflective of the most important destination marketing assets of each community.
Equally important, the Sense of Place Project calls for the creation of a county-wide marketing
brand which serves as a marketing engine for getting the word out there that this a recreational
and lifestyle destination like no other, made up of communities with unique and enticing
characteristics for the potential visitor audience.
The marketing branding part of the project also calls for the creation of websites and social
media marketing pages for the communities with little internet marketing presence and also for
assisting those that do have websites and social media underway with integrating their efforts
into the broader tourism marketing strategies of Cheboygan County.
The brand development phase of the project is complete and the websites are under
development
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Two – Develop a Marketing Plan.
This is the single most critical element of the Sense of Place Project. Does a tree make sound
when it crashes to the forest floor if there are no ears there to hear it? That old expression says
everything about the importance of both creating a Marketing Plan that reaches our target
audience effectively and funding the Marketing Plan.
Naturally, the plan focuses on driving our audience to our marketing websites and our social
media instruments at the same time.
It also contains a plan to create a County-wide Marketing and Placemaking Alliance made up of
people from all the communities of Cheboygan County and leadership from the Economic
Development Corporation. This Alliance will help ensure the sustainability of the marketing plan,
especially in terms of tasks relative to keeping the websites up to date with fresh and current
content as well as contributing to other aspects of community strategic place-making efforts and
fundraising.
This Marketing Plan is included in this final report and, in short, recommends some traditional
media with a heavy dose of internet marketing and agency management. After all, over 90% of
American, Canadian and European destination seeking visitors use the internet to help them
make their decision.
Three –Assist the EDC in Identifying Funding Sources.
At this point of the project, Northern Lights Marketing has identified a number of possibilities to
generate the funding support for the Marketing Plan. We can create wonderful brands and
develop a great marketing campaign but without an adequate budget to implement the
marketing plan, success in delivering the message to our targeted audience will, of course, be
impossible.
Elements of the Funding Source Plan are outlined in this report.
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SENSE OF PLACE BRAND REPORT
Through the branding workshop process, follow up online surveys, and additional meetings and
phone conferences with stakeholders in the communities, key tagline ideas were identified and
refined. Images immerged for graphic design applications for logos. Marketing messages
highlighting both place-making themes and marketing assets of the communities were
developed and honed along the way.
The participants in the project on both the community and the EDC Study Committee level
understood and contributed to the understanding that the marketing messages to the tourism
and future employer audiences had to mesh and create a true and compelling reason to
consider Cheboygan County as both a vacation destination and a place to do business.
Our County-wide Brand
Michigan’s Great Up North – The county-wide brand identifies and presents to audiences what
Cheboygan County and its residents believe to be real and true about the place they live. The
word Great intones pride in our four season outdoor recreational paradise, its natural beauty
and natural resources. It also speaks to pride in our communities and our way of life. It promises
a memorable experience to the potential tourist and/or the potential entrepreneur.
Of course, we live in the heart of the northern Great Lakes. The word Great is part of our
heritage.
As for Up North, the words are a constant in the vernacular of downstate Michigan residents
and people throughout Indiana and Ohio, our principle geographic markets, and it almost always
means northern Michigan.
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The Great Up North tagline, Land of Endless Discovery, like the logo itself, is a promise to the
potential visitor audience. It’s a promise that is easy to deliver on when people come here. We
have limitless natural wonders for people to experience when they arrive in Cheboygan County:
endless trails, never-ending shorelines, inspiring natural beauty, timeless history, and
welcoming communities with unique and fascinating cultures. To those of us who know this
place intimately, these images and ideas come naturally to us.
It’s in the scope of this project to tell the rest of the world about this place.
Community Brands
Aloha – The name speaks for itself in many ways. In Hawaii, the word means both hello and
goodbye. Paradise to a camping family is being at Aloha State Park. Arriving at Aloha in the
summer means bliss imagined all winter long in down state Michigan and at least to the Ohio
River. The design speaks to that emotion. The tagline says it, too. It’s one of the premier
lakeside camping destinations in the upper Great Lakes.
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Cheboygan – The Cheboygan Area Chamber of Commerce (representing the businesses of the community as well as the area tourism bureau) branded the Inland Waterway in their logo and tagline with associated logo art reinventing the traditional lighthouse image of the city into a more modern design. The font however, calls out the past, the days when lumber was king and resort launches plied the rivers and lakes of the Waterway. The brand points to pride in the past and a vision of a bright future.
Indian River – In Indian River, a community that was not envisioned in the original scope of
work for this project, embraced a new theme, logo, and tagline that represents what the people
of Indian River believe to be their greatest assets: a location at intersections of wonderful
northern Michigan recreational trails and a place at the very heart of northern Michigan’s
greatest rivers and amazing inland lakes. Both the Chamber and Tourist Bureau of Indian River
are adopting it for their websites and other marketing efforts.
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Mackinaw City – Mackinaw City’s marketing tagline is Living History. Making History. It speaks
to the remarkable assets of the Michigan State Historic Parks and Mackinaw City being the
gateway to Mackinac Island which is so important to the tourism business in the entire region. It
also says that history is still being made there. The tagline has been in place for some time and
the Chamber, Tourist Bureau, and Village of Mackinaw City have incorporated it into their
marketing messages.
Topinabee – The Topinabee Development Association and many residents of Topinabee
participated in the development of the Topinabee marketing brand. The focus from the start was
getting Mullett Lake into the marketing message and expressing confidence and pride in the
village’s four season recreational lifestyle. The “sunflake” represents that as does the tagline.
The main logo typeface was chosen for its 19th century train station look as recognition of their
historical culture and the train station library in the heart of town.
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Wolverine – The citizens of Wolverine agreed through the branding workshop process that the
village and area needed to embrace and brand as their own the Sturgeon River. Images in the
logo had to capture the imagination of what the Sturgeon River could mean to potential visitors,
touching on fly fishing, and to suggest magnificent wildlife in the area, centered on the greatest
elk herd east of the Mississippi. The tagline needed to brand the river most of all.
Trademarking of the above logos, with the exception of Indian River and Cheboygan, will use
the “collective mark” registration method. This will ensure that there will be control of how the
marks are used.
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT REPORT
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The building of the Great Up North website and its social media instruments are nearly finished.
The same is true for Topinabee, Wolverine, and Aloha. The Cheboygan Area Chamber of
Commerce funded its own website with its new brand funded by the project. Mackinaw City has
well established and operating chamber and tourism bureau marketing websites and social
media platforms.
Indian River’s chamber and tourism sites are both going through self-funded overhauls to reflect
their new brand.
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PART 2 - MARKETING PLAN
The Marketing Plan of the Sense of Place Project is driven by three questions:
Who are we trying to reach?
Where are they?
How do we get our message to them?
Target Demographics
Lifestyle – The people we seek to reach share a zeal for outdoor activity in a place that is rich
in natural beauty. This audience looks for vacation destinations with pristine water resources for
all types of boating adventure. They want endless trails and beautiful forests for hiking and
biking with destination opportunities along the way. Their eyes seek dramatic landscapes and
elbow room.
Our audience includes those concerned with getting in shape and staying healthy, people who
like to be active and exercise while enjoying breathtaking scenery. By themselves, with their
families, or with friends, they choose a destination because it is a perfect place to enjoy their
favorite, active outdoor recreation.
They kayak, they hike, they bike, they swim, they go scuba diving, they go boating on lakes and
rivers, and they take day trips to nearby attractions. They explore.
They often belong to clubs and enjoy traveling in groups to share their passion for their favorite
recreational pursuit with good friends.
Of course, this audience craves rest and relaxation, too. They appreciate discovering a favorite
restaurant while exploring their destination. They’ll seek out museums. They’ll make new
friends. They like to travel a fair distance from home to do it. And when they fall in love with a
place they come back again and again.
Our audience has disposable income but cares about affordability, too.
Ages and Gender – Our target audience crosses two generations. It includes all baby boomers
and most of their children.
In this age group, 21 to 66, the plan targets the college educated audience primarily, from
current students to recent graduates and to those retired or about to retire. It also focuses on
family household incomes of over $75,000 and for singles, $40,000 and higher.
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The plan calls for reaching men and women almost equally in our marketing efforts, with the
exception of specific sport recreation marketing. For instance, pleasure boating would be more
targeted to men and kayaking would tilt to women who now equal the number of men enjoying
the sport and are by far the fasted growing segment.
Passion Interests – The plan calls for reaching those empirically identified for having a passion
for a specific recreational sport or other interests. Those sports and interests include but are
limited to boating, sailing, kayaking, cycling, golfing, off-roading, hiking, fishing, hunting, and
history.
Geography – Our target market in terms of where our audience comes from is pretty
straightforward. This plan focuses its message on the suburban middle and upper middle class
audiences in key downstate Michigan markets with the same said for select statistical areas in
Ohio, Indiana, and beyond.
For example, among others we’re targeting the suburbs of Grand Rapids for cable and social
media advertising, the same for Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Lansing, and select other markets,
including some areas of north and northwest suburban Detroit if the budget allows it.
Great Up North Marketing and Placemaking Alliance
We recommend the establishment of a community-wide marketing and placemaking alliance. It
would be an organization of volunteers for each community who are keenly interested in leading
the year-round marketing (especially maintenance of website content and social media),
fundraising, and place-making efforts in their respective communities. Cheboygan County
should be an active member of the team and provide coordination of this alliance. Our
suggestions for members of this alliance are included as an appendix to this report.
We recommend the county investigate how to make this alliance a legal entity under the laws
and acts of the state of Michigan.
Media Mix
Cable Television Advertising – The Marketing Plan proposes an initial cable buy for the period
May 1, 2012 to August 31, 2012 to launch the campaign.
With cable television, we can reach a vast number of people in our target market by matching
programming and time slots to the demographics we are trying to reach. This plan recommends
both 60 and 30 second commercials, produced by a creative agency.
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Programming and Times:
Costs are approximately $4 per 30 second commercial for the 6 AM to midnight period and $8
per 30 second commercial for the 6 PM to midnight period.
We will place the commercials strategically in zip codes of the target geographic markets
mentioned above and run both 30 second spots and 60 second ones.
The plan calls for investing approximately $50,000 in cable advertising in the campaign in the
first year and evaluating that amount in year two.
Special Interest Internet Advertising – The plan calls for specific recreational interest website
banner and sidebar advertising on online magazines.
Most banner or sidebar ads run at $100 to $300 per month with yearlong packages available
which include outbound newsletter advertising which we recommend.
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Total annual cost would be approximately $20,000.
Social Media Advertising – The plan outlines an advertising campaign on
Facebook. Facebook advertising also delivers a special interest audience. The
plan calls for reaching boating, kayaking, and biking fans in our demographic
range. The plan calls for spending approximately $3,500 per year targeting that
audience through several different advertising programs with Facebook.
Social Media Marketing – The plan also calls for the implementation of an aggressive social
media marketing plan for the Great Up North and the community websites.
The Great Up North Magazine – Published twice a year (spring-summer and fall-winter) by a
private for profit printing enterprise and will be supported exclusively by advertising. The
magazine will be distributed at all MDOT Welcome Centers and offered free at special interest
retailers and other important locations throughout the state.
The Great Up North Magazine is published at no cost to the marketing project of the Great Up
North and provides modest income to help sustain the marketing effort.
Merchandising – The project calls for licensing the brands of the Sense of Place Project to a
premiums and promotions supplier. There is no cost to the county and the shirts, sweatshirts,
caps, coffee mugs, etc. will be sold at outlets throughout the county area and will provide
modest income for sustaining the marketing effort.
Items will also be sold through the online store on the Great Up North website.
Pure Michigan Advertising – The plan calls for
coordination of our marketing efforts with Travel
Michigan’s Pure Michigan social media campaign.
Pure Michigan has over 1.4 million fans on Facebook,
for instance, and through a daily posting of pertinent information about the Great Up North, its
tourism assets, and special events taking place in our area, we can garner a great deal of
attention with a very qualified audience about why they should visit Cheboygan County.
Sister Community Relationship Development – The plan calls for the development of a
“Sister City” relationship with a comparable European region.
A “Sister City” program can greatly increase awareness of the visitor assets we have in the
Great Up North and over time increase tourism to Cheboygan County from not only the sister
city but also the entire region or country of that city.
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Public Relations Campaign – Third party endorsements of our recreational assets are
essential. The plan calls for press releases and article development support activities with both
print publications and internet special interest magazines.
Billboard Advertising – A billboard campaign is proposed. Three (3) locations have been
identified one just north of Saginaw and one just north of Clare, and ending with the last one as
you enter Cheboygan County which says welcome to the Great Up North.
The campaign is centered on building curiosity in our target audience about the Great Up North
for those who have not been reached by other media and providing message reinforcement for
those that have.
We also capture with this location strategy those already in northern Michigan (those in our
target market already traveling in our direction) and invite them to discover a wonderful new
destination… the Great Up North. The billboards will prominently advertise the website
addresses of the Great Up North to help drive traffic to the sites. Billboards are offered by
Lamar, CBS, and another smaller billboard company.
The billboards average approximately $700 per month on mostly yearly contracts. The budget
for this aspect of the campaign is $25,500.
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Marketing Agency
We believe this plan needs the coordination and professionalism of a marketing agency and
highly recommend that the county or the marketing alliance seek a Request for Proposal from
companies qualified to do the following:
Creative Development and Copywriting
Collateral Materials Development and Management
Advertising Management
Media Negotiations, Contracting, and Placement
Website Marketing Content Management
Video Production and Editing
Social Media Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Websites
Public Relations
Sister City Marketing and Communications
Cable Television Advertising Production
Merchandising Program Management
Results Tracking and Reports
To ensure the successful and professional implementation of the Marketing Plan for the Great
Up North and the communities’ tourism brands, this plan recommends a budget for this activity
of $4,000 per month in a contract with an agency for a minimum period of two (2) years. All the
above activities, to be clearly identified in terms of percentage of time, should be included in the
monthly fee.
This agency work could be contracted by either the county (which provides for more control of
message and accountability) or by the new Great Up North Marketing Alliance if it becomes a
legal, non-profit entity.
SUGGESTED ANNUAL MARKETING BUDGET
Cable Television Advertising $50,000
Special Interest Website
Advertising
$12,000
Social Media Advertising $3,500
Marketing Agency $48,000
Billboard Advertising $25,200
Total Annual $138,700
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PART 3 - FUNDING SOURCES RECOMMENDATIONS
Over the past few months, Northern Lights Marketing has discussed possible funding for the
project’s marketing plan with many individuals and groups. Below is a synopsis of those
explorations.
Area Tourist Bureaus – This is perhaps the single most important element of the funding plan.
All over the state of Michigan, local city, village, and Tourist Bureaus are considering or have
already raised their room taxes from 2% to 3, 4 or 5%. These state mandated “head and bed”
fees are designed to promote their local areas in order to bring in new and more visitors. The
minimum is 2% of the room rate before sales tax.
One of the reasons is the need to be competitive for the tourism dollar as the economy recovers
and to also take advantage of and connect to Pure Michigan marketing. It’s all about economic
development in the long run.
In Cheboygan County, there are three (3) Tourist Bureaus. They are Cheboygan, Indian River,
and Mackinaw City. All of them currently charge the 2%. There has long been the feeling in this
region that the communities of the area were in competition with each other, room rate to room
rate, location to location. Instead, this initiative is the opposite. It calls for a marketing alliance
where the additional funds raised by an increase in the head and bed tax goes to promoting the
recreational and lifestyle advantages of the Great Up North.
The core thesis here is that we to tell a lot more people about what is unique and makes this
area a terrific destination of choice. That’s more important than a couple of dollars per room
advantage or disadvantage.
Northern Lights Marketing recommends discussions with our local tourist bureaus to accomplish
the goal of getting their financial support for the marketing alliance.
Target Funding: $60,000
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Corporate Sponsorships – There are corporate sponsorship (advertising) opportunities on the
Great Up North website and within the community’s websites. Businesses, if marketing
programs can drive significant traffic to the websites, would find excellent media advantages to
sponsoring or advertising on the sites. It would be a brand worth associating themselves with
and every business owner or manager in Cheboygan County knows how critical it is to bring
more visitors and companies here and how that positively affects business growth overall.
Northern Lights Marketing recommends a marketing campaign be developed to find sponsors
for the Great Up North website and the community websites. It would need to be completed and
produced with quality graphics and with sponsorship/advertising rates established.
Target Funding: $20,000
Public Sponsorship – County, townships, villages, cities… this is a marketing alliance. With
economic recovery throughout Cheboygan County being so connected to the successful
marketing of our tourism assets, each level of government interested in economic development
will need to contribute to the campaign.
It is understood that many levels of government are struggling economically all over Cheboygan
County. To support this initiative, budgets should be analyzed and opportunities explored to
support the Great Up North marketing campaign with funding. This is critical to creating
sustainability for the campaign and its results.
We believe if every community entity of government is approached for a fairly apportioned
contribution, the following funding opportunity exists:
As stated earlier in this report, we recommend the establishment of a community-wide
organization known as the Great Up North Placemaking Alliance. It should be an organization
of volunteers from each community who are keenly interested in leading the year-round
marketing and fundraising efforts in their respective communities. Cheboygan County itself
should be an active member in this organization.
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The Great Up North Place making Alliance (Suggested Team Members)
Aloha:
Steve Crusoe
Barb Hall
Richard Kowalcyk
Cheboygan:
Matt Friday
Marshall Beck
Kirsten Guenther
Mike VanFleet
Emillie Kwiatkowski
Indian River:
Dawn Bodnar
Patie Anderson
Guy Wadsworth
Kevin Tucker
Sheryl Marsh
Jane McGinnis
Mackinaw City:
Dawn Edwards
Deb Spence
Jack Keck
Topinabee:
Tom O'Hare
Mary O'Hare
Brian Callahan
Derek Schittekat
Jeff Comps
Wolverine:
Ralph Ochs
Tal Babcock
Beth Carusi
Bob Unthank
Carol Unthank
Target Funding: $50,000
Service Organization Sponsorship – Service organizations in our community are concerned
about economic growth as part of their missions. They know as well as other groups in
Cheboygan County that this area needs tourism marketing and the benefits of bringing potential
new visitors and residents to their communities.
Northern Lights recommends a fundraising campaign to the service organizations of Cheboygan
county for their assistance creating a sustainable and successful marketing campaign for the
Great Up North brand.
Target Funding: $20,000
The Annual Magazine – With private sector management of this resource, a percentage of
advertising revenue from this glossy high quality publication would be designated as set aside
for helping support the Great Up North overall marketing efforts.
Northern Lights suggests the Cheboygan County Economic Development Corporation call for
presentations and proposals for licensing the Great Up North brand to a publisher-printer,
preferably local.
Target Funding: $5,000
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Merchandising – Licensing the Great UP North Brand to a supplier of t-shirts, sweatshirts,
hats, and other merchandise who would sell them at a profit, a portion of which is set aside to
help sustain the marketing campaign year to year. Merchandise could be offered in retail outlets
in the county and online at the Great Up North website.
Northern Lights recommends exploring potential suppliers of merchandise and terms of the
program.
Target Funding: $15,000
Great Up North “Made in Cheboygan County” Online Store (TBD)
We believe there are opportunities for selling non-perishable goods “made in Cheboygan
County” on the online store of the Great Up North website. Participation by vendors would be
free with a portion of proceeds going towards sustaining the marketing plan.
FUNDING SOURCES BUDGET
Area Tourism Bureaus $60,000
Corporate Sponsorships $20,000
Public Sponsorships $50,000
Service Organizations $20,000
Annual Magazine $5,000
Merchandising $15,000
Total Annual $170,000
If the above amount can be raised, additional media buys could be made, such as cable
advertising, special interest websites, social media advertisements, or billboards,
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