By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
MADISON – For more than six years, Rep. Steve Wieckert has been pushing legislation to brand the state and come up with a short phrase to describe why Wisconsin is a good place to visit, relocate, go to school or expand a business.
He’s still at it, and predicts his bill (Assembly Bill 265) will make it through the Legislature and be signed by Gov. Jim Doyle next year.
But that doesn’t mean Wieckert (R-Appleton) isn’t supporting a new effort by Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble to come up with a brand that would boost travel and improve the state’s overall image.
Trumble says it’s her goal to “unearth, once and for all, the true brand of Wisconsin.”
“I compliment [the Department of] Tourism for doing this,” he said last week. “They’ve had some good slogans in the past because we have so much to offer.
“But a brand is more than a bumper sticker,” he said. “It’s a whole cognitive emotional thing. I would like a brand that not only brings travelers here, but encourages economic development, too.”
Wieckert estimated the state’s many agencies will spend about $20 million annually to market various aspects of Wisconsin.
“With a unified brand, there could be a synergy to support each other,” he said.
Kathi Seifert, a former Kimberly-Clark executive who now heads Appleton-based Pinnacle Perspectives, said she was unaware of the Tourism effort. However, she still supports the idea.
Seifert is a co-chair of New North, which promotes northeast Wisconsin and has as its own brand, “North of What You Expect.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be aligned as possible with so we are saying similarly positive things to have a consistent image that promotes both tourism and economic development.”
She said the New North tag line sums up the idea that people are pleasantly surprised when the come to her region by the high quality of life, excellent schools, skilled workers, cultural activities, safety and sporting opportunities.
“It’s a great idea to brand the state and position it in a positive light for both tourism and economic development,” she said.
She said her only word of caution would be to avoid negative “cheesehead” stereotypes or anything that brings to mind images of Wisconsin’s “frozen tundra.”
“Of course we are proud of our cheese-making heritage and the wonderful Packers, but you want to present it in a way that makes our regions and state as a whole look attractive,” she said.
She also cautions against the brand being too Madison or Milwaukee-centric.
“It should boost all of Wisconsin, not just one or two areas,” she said.
Trumble, who has been Tourism secretary about nine months, said she is casting a “wide net” to get people other than tourism insiders to help her come up with an updated way to view the state.
That group includes representatives from Harley-Davidson, the state’s Milk Marketing Board, Native American tribes and cultural site representatives, she said.
The department also has done an online survey and has conducted focus groups inside and outside of Wisconsin as part of a multi-step process her agency will use to — she hopes — come up with the right brand. It is also meeting with other state agencies to get their input.
A big believer in marketing, Trumble headed the Wisconsin Dells Visitors and Convention Bureau from 1985 to 1995.
“The reason we are doing this is because branding is such an important strategic business decision,” said Trumble, who was a co-owner of the successful Sundara Inn & Spa in the Dells.
Her agency has a staff of about 40 and an annual budget of $15 million – most of which is spent on marketing the state.
Trumble said it’s her goal to increase tourism spending and create more jobs in Wisconsin. To do that, having a brand that captures the spirit of the state is essential, she said.
Tourism spending now stands at more than $13.5 billion and supports some 332,000 full-time jobs, making it the third leading revenue-producing industry in the state, she said.
In fiscal 2005-2007, she said her agency spent $12 million on marketing. That was a $3.5 million increase over the previous biennium and she said it produced an additional $1 billion in visitor spending and a 7 percent increase in full-time jobs.
She called it money well-spent.
“This is clearly an industry that is vital to the Wisconsin economy,” she said. “By identifying a brand, we will elevate that. Clearly in the last decade, we have been successful in driving the economy.”
To help with the campaign, her department will pay Lindsay, Stone and Briggs Inc., a Madison advertising agency, $80,000 to help with the project, said Tourism spokesman Andy Larsen.
Trumble said the project is on a fast track and will produce a new brand by the spring. It will be released at the Governor ‘s Conference on Tourism in Lake Geneva.
Larsen said the committee in charge of the branding effort wrapped up its listening sessions last week and presented preliminary results to other state agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources. He declined to discuss any of those results.
