Pure Michigan released an album showcasing a diversity of natural Michigan experiences through a combination of ambient noise and music, as part of its Pure Sounds of Michigan campaign.
Available on top streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, Soundcloud, Google Play and Amazon Music, the compilation album soundscapes come from raw, recorded sounds interpreted by a handful of Michigan’s most talented composers and artists that the travel brand enlisted.
Partnering with Assemble Sound, Pure Michigan sent two Michigan-based composers to acquire high quality field recordings of pure sounds—rolling waves, a crackling campfire and the faint roar of dune buggies, to name a few—captured across 10 state parks throughout the peninsulas, in celebration of the state park’s centennial. Travel Michigan supplemented the album’s launch with a behind-the-scenes video showing a glimpse of the process.
Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan tells us, “The Pure Michigan campaign has been very successful in creating what we think is the real vision of Michigan, a place that offers spectacular natural experiences and urban adventures. But our research shows that for a state that brought Motown music to the world and hosts major art competitions and festivals, somehow we were not well known for being friendly to the arts. That’s when we realized one of the few weaknesses we have in the brand presentation, which served as one of the sources of inspiration for Pure Sounds of Michigan.”
The sensory campaign marks new territory for Pure Michigan and exhibits a creative decision to augment traditional marketing with new opportunities created by technology, a tactic that all travel brands can learn from. Given the travel brand is known for targeting to a national audience via television video spots, its Pure Sounds campaign will likely reach a younger, affluent audience who is active on music streaming platforms and celebrates the talents of up-and-coming artists.
“When they hear the album, I’m hoping in the back of their mind, people also think, ‘Wow, [Michigan] must be a place that really values music as a form of communication and the arts as a valuable part of life,” Lorenz said.
In 2018 alone, the budget for the Pure Michigan campaign was $35 million, as Crains Detroit reported. According to Pure Michigan 2018 Advertising Effectiveness, the Pure Michigan campaign was introduced to regional markets in 2006 with investment having grown from $6.2 million to $16.5 million in 2018. Though awareness declined in the regional markets in 2018, its 2018 marketing efforts influenced about 2.1 million trips resulting in $153 million in state tax revenue.
