New Tourism Campaign Shows How Detroit Is Making a Comeback

PHOTO: Detroit (courtesy Thinkstock)

A new Pure Michigan marketing campaign is telling the story of Detroit’s comeback as one of America’s great cities.  Two new commercials have been launched in order to highlight all that is great about the city and are part of a wider campaign to promote Detroit.

“Soul” is a 60-second commercial that showcases the “downtown playground of Pure Michigan.” 

There is also a shorter spot called “Story of Detroit,” which is a 30-second version The ads began airing as part of the Pure Michigan national advertising campaign rotation on April 11 and the “Story of Detroit” ran on YouTube’s in-steam, non-skippable ads nationwide that day, and generated an estimated 7.9 million impressions.

“This is more than a leisure travel campaign – this is really about challenging and shifting people’s perceptions of Detroit and celebrating America’s great comeback story,” said Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “We want people across the state, the nation and around the world to see Detroit for what it really is – a vibrant city with hard working, passionate people; a place where old and new are uniting in unexpected ways; and, a place where creative minds meet an industrial spirit to forge a new chapter for the city.”

On Michigan.org, there is a new Detroit landing page that features the 60-second “Soul” spot and other stories about the city. And in conjunction with the launch of the two new ads, there is a digital campaign running with TIME to highlight stories of Detroit’s comeback. The TIME component includes original long-form content and photography for TIME.com and print ad placement as well as social media campaigns on Faebook and Twitter. The TIME campaign is estimated to reach approximately 11 million people.

While weather prevented a campaign launch event from taking place, Pure Michigan Day at Comerica Park will offer another opportunity to highlight the new messaging. The day is part of a partnership with the Detroit Tigers that includes Pure Michigan branding on its dugout railings and benches as well as advertising in TigerVision and the scoreboard during regular season.

Representatives from organizations across Detroit had been slated to be on hand to celebrate the campaign launch – including Larry Alexander, president and CEO of Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, but in a statement Alexander conveyed the importance of the new campaign.

“Detroit is the gateway city to the entire state and it is important that travelers know its potential as a visitor destination,” he said. “Our city is experiencing an unprecedented comeback and there is no better time for travelers to visit. Travel Michigan’s new advertising campaign is the perfect opportunity to tell our comeback story to the world.”