Michigan’s hospitality industry is booming. Thanks to our state’s natural beauty, outdoor adventure, resorts, tourism, sports, arts, and entertainment, there are new and exciting opportunities for teens to enter careers beyond the cubicle. So when the Michigan Hospitality Foundation came to us to help reach these students and cater to their interests, we were eager to help.
The campaign’s primary audiences were high school students and their parents. Which meant the messaging had to be quick, visually driven, almost social media-like. We decided to kick the campaign off with a long format video that delivered on all these fronts. “The curated career difference” featured the unique “offices” of students within the culinary, hospitality and tourism sectors.
Social media and rich media were driving forces to feature ProStart (culinary) and Hospitality & Tourism Management programs. A growing number of schools across Michigan are offering these hospitality courses within their curriculum… but not all students know about them. Our cross-channel social media campaign worked to reach students where they were and entice them to enroll.
To get educators and school superintendents on board too, we had the chance to create unique marketing materials for a Grand Rapids conference. We designed branded room keys, conference treats, charging stations and even a Zen relaxation room that was a conference highlight.
The results for this campaign opened doors to new leads and positive nationwide feedback. The brand video has received over 8 million views and more than 320,000 clicks were driven to the website to date. Not to mention, thousands of students were served new opportunities to discover their dreams and curate lifelong careers in hospitality.
Looking for more creative advertising ideas and examples? Check out our series, Celebrating 40 years of creative advertising.
