March 5, 2008

Wisconsin: Cheeseheads discovering stuff...


Catchy, isn't it?

Wisconsin introduced its new tourism "brand platform" yesterday ... yawn.

If you were hoping for something akin to "I (heart) New York," you were bound to be disappointed.

Or the equal of "Big Sky Country" (Montana), or "Vacationland" (Maine), "The Spirit of America" (Massachusetts), "SayWA!" (Washington) or even "Stay Just a Little Bit Longer" and "America's Dairyland" (Wait, that's us!). HERE's a list of all the states' tourism slogans.

To be fair, a brand platform is not supposed to be a catchy slogan or an ad headline. According to the release from the Governor's office, "The brand platform is ... a strategic framework from which a new theme line, advertising concepts and marketing materials will be developed."

The platform was released this week, at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism at The Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. The brand promise, revealed to the audience of nearly 1,000 attending the Governor’s speech, reads:
“Because of the passionate nature of the state’s people to create fun, express themselves in original ways and feel more comfortable doing it here than anywhere else, in Wisconsin originality rules.”
(Translation: beer, cheese and Harleys. No, seriously.)

Or, as the governor put it:
"This new brand platform pays tribute to the state as a place where the people are fiercely proud, passionate, hard-working, loyal and where we have fun. Yes, we can be a state where we both wear cheese on our heads and are making the greatest discoveries in medical science. It's all happening here in Wisconsin." The sound bite is HERE.
Got a few words encompassing that? It would help if they'll fit on a bumper sticker... The state's $13 billion-a-year tourism industry (third largest, behind agriculture and manufacturing) awaits your best efforts.

2 comments:

  1. The tourism industery brings in 13 BILLION DOLLARS to the state- but the state can't afford to spend 71 Cents to help travelers.???

    ReplyDelete
  2. read the Kenosha News about closing ALL Wisconsin tourist information centers.

    ReplyDelete