Pure Michigan launches new website, fall campaign

Pure Michigan has unveiled a newly designed michigan.org just in time for the launch of the fall advertising campaign.  The new website will feature an interactive map, a trip planner tool and will be one of the first state tourism websites to utilize responsive design.

“Visitors to the new michigan.org will find a site that has the look and feel of ads they are seeing on television with the tools to research and plan a trip to Pure Michigan with ease,” said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.  “We based many of the new features on user feedback and believe and this redesign will help to build on the successes we have already had with michigan.org.”

The michigan.org website has been the most visited state tourism website in the country for five years running. The site had 8.6 million visits last year with consumers using the site an average of 23,689 times a day, according to the independent online measurement company Experience Hitwise. 

The new site’s use of responsive design eliminates the need to create different sites for different Internet devices.  Users will have the same experience on michigan.org whether they are accessing michigan.org through their mobile phone, an iPad or tablet, laptop and desktop computers.

With the interactive map users will be able to search for things to do by city or by attraction in an easy way, tapping into more than 12,000 properties and hundreds of events found in the michigan.org database.  Users will be able to add events and attractions into their trip planner as they navigate the site, to come back to later or even share with family and friends.

Other changes include a “Hot Spots” feature, current weather conditions and more visibility for the Pure Michigan blog, eNewsletter sign-up and social media pages.

CiesaDesign, located in Lansing, was tapped, through a competitive bidding process, to create the new design. 

The new website currently features autumn images to coincide with the launch of Pure Michigan’s fall television and radio ads.  Featured ads during this year’s fall campaign include Nature of Trees, Deep Breath and Fresh on television and Nature’s Greatest Show and Off the Vine on radio. There are also 15 fall partner ads airing regionally and across the state.

Regional markets being targeted by the fall campaign include Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend, Ind.; and Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wis.  In-state markets include Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Traverse City.

The Pure Michigan billboards will also be up in these markets, as well as Southern Ontario.

The total fall advertising budget of $2,610,192 includes $393,000 in funding committed by private sector partners as part of the Travel Michigan Ad Partnership Program.  The fall campaign runs through October 1.