Itasca County, Minnesota —The staff of Community Economic Development Associates has been facilitating collaborative meetings between the Grand Rapids Area Chamber, Deer River Chamber and Visit Grand Rapids for approximately a year now. The first outcomes of these meetings were shared information and better lines of communication. Through the significant downturn in this past winter’s tourism came a proposal for a shared destination marketing campaign where all partners would help coordinate and fund.
The brand, Thousand Grand Lakes of Minnesota was created with a classic fishing bobber icon as the logo. The partners decided to start with a small summer campaign that would be more grassroots among their social media pages, printed posters/flyers, a shared website, and activation stations where kids and adults could pick up contest cards to participate for a chance to win prizes.
Sarah Carling, CEDA, notified the partners of some potential funding, so the partners approved of Visit Grand Rapids applying (as the fiscal agent for the campaign) for the matching funds. Carling presented to Itasca County Commissioners and Thousand Grand Lakes of Minnesota marketing campaign was awarded $50k. With the additional funds the summer campaign went from a small summer campaign of $3,500 to a $23,500 budget, and a theme: Create Memories was established. The partners plan to utilize the remaining $30k as matching funds to apply for additional grant opportunities. Each partner is required to also put in funds and volunteer their time and additional resources to ensure a successful buy-in from the Itasca County business community.
Activating this campaign in each business community throughout the county is essential to get visitors to participate in the contest and also to utilize the website: www.thousandgrandlakes.com that has links to all of the partners websites and a shared county-wide calendar.
Comments shared by the partners…
“The Edge of the Wilderness Lodging Association is excited to be a partner in this collaborative and innovative advertising effort. It allows us to augment our own advertising and reach, and in turn, will hopefully increase awareness of the wonderful tourism opportunities our area has to offer,” shares Tim Johnson, Director of Edge of the Wilderness Lodging Association.
“The Deer River Chamber looks forward to collaborating with area tourism to share our natural wonders and engage our visitors in taking in the beauty that surrounds them. We hope to further encourage and solidify nostalgic memories that will bring our guests back for years to come, “shares April Jesperson, Chair of the Deer River Chamber of Commerce.
“The Grand Rapids Area Chamber is thrilled to be part of this exciting area marketing campaign. Together, we’re inviting visitors to embark on a unique experience, creating unforgettable memories as they immerse themselves in the adventure of exploring nature’s wonders and discovering the treasures hidden within our area’s shops,” shares Malissa Bahr, President of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.
“When we started meeting together the basic goal was to get to know one another, better understand each other’s mission and goals, figure out how we can support each other better, and out of that came better lines of communication and opportunity. Each year I look for ways to diversify our lodging tax funds for more expansive destination marketing. This will be our fourth collaborative destination marketing campaign we are a part of,” shares Megan Christianson, Executive Director, Visit Grand Rapids.
Where did the brand concept come from? Itasca County has 1,140 area lakes, and each of our existing brands relate to nature and the outdoors of lakes and trails. The Thousand Grand Lakes of Minnesota brand just made sense as an umbrella brand that each of us could adopt easily, and it doesn’t take away from our existing branding /marketing efforts. There are a lot of things to do, outdoor recreation opportunities, and great businesses to lodge at, shop at, and eat & drink at in Itasca County. A shared website www.thousandgrandlakes.com just made sense, and a shared Events Calendar has been expanded with the goal to include multiple categories (eventually include business meetings, education offerings, fundraisers, and more). An existing easy to fill out form field link has already been created where organizations and event coordinators enter their own events (making sure that all fields are complete, an image is uploaded, and a link or contact information is included for more information). Then whoever manages the Events Calendar role is to review the event submissions, type in keywords (for SEO value), and click approve. If event coordinators and/or organizations have upcoming 2024 Itasca County region entertaining events that they would like help in marketing and promoting, click to fill out the form here: https://visitgrandrapids.com/submit-an-event/.
READ MORE AT https://www.grandrapidsmn.com/
Tell us more about the Create Memories in the Thousand Grand Lakes of Minnesota Contest. A large opportunity of this destination marketing campaign is the contest. The contest has Youth and Adult participation categories:
A Kids Scavenger Hunt was created to get kids actively engaged in being outside, and having fun find items in nature that are on a “Bingo like” card. They can pick up a physical card at one of the Itasca Activation Stations (list found on the website) or they can download the card from www.thousandgrandlakes.com by clicking on the Contest Tab. When the card is downloaded from the website it can be saved as a photo on a mobile device, and kids can use their finger by selecting a drawing tool and marking an “x” for each item they find in nature. For each row across, down and diagonal kids can go back to the Activation Stations to pick out a Wooden Nature Coin of their choice. If they complete the card, they can select up to five Wooden Nature Coins. Special thanks to Mr. Sandys, Grand Rapids High School Career and Technical Education Teacher, and his students for making the Wooden Nature Coins. Parents can either take a picture of the kids Scavenger Hunt cards or save the mobile card to their mobile device. Then parents go to: www.thousandgrandlakes.com and click on the Contest Tab. They fill out the form field at the bottom of the page, checking the disclaimers, and then uploading the image of the Scavenger Hunt card. Now that child is entered for a chance to win a monthly $50 prize package.
An Adult Passport was created to encourage visitors to experience many different regions of the county while vacationing in the Itasca area. Adults can pick up a physical card at one of the Itasca Activation Stations (list found on the website) or they can download the card from www.thousandgrandlakes.com by clicking on the Contest Tab. When the card is downloaded from the website it can be saved as a photo on a mobile device.
Then by selecting the drawing tool they can have employees at the area businesses (completing one business per category) sign off (using their finger). When adults have gotten all business categories signed off (on either a physical card or mobile image card), they save the card (or take a picture of the card) to their mobile device photos. They go to the website, click Contest, and complete the form field at the bottom of the page, uploading the image of the completed card, checking the disclaimer boxes, and clicking submit. Then the adult is entered to win a monthly $100 prize package, and a Fall Family Trip for four people to Birch Bay Resort located on beautiful Wabana Lake in Grand Rapids (September-October 2024) that is worth over $1,500! Itasca Area Businesses that have donated $100 gift card to the Trip Prize are: Blueberry Golf Course, Hollywood Bait and Gas, Itasca County Historical Society Escape Room, Judy Garland Museum, Leinos Riverside Pub Timberwolf Inn, Unwined Up North, and Wizards Bar & Grill (the businesses that had committed at the time this press release went to print—for a complete list of participating businesses log onto: www.thousandgrandlakes.com.
Each of the partners participated in securing at least one $100 gift certificate and is responsible for securing and awarding a monthly prize package to a youth and an adult. Throughout the summer, all partners will be sharing through their social media pages highlights of the contest, featured business highlights, and weekly vertical videos that will be created of outdoor recreation opportunities in the Itasca County area. In addition to the website Pay Per Click, and Search Engine Optimization, digital ads and e-blasts will be run through Star Tribune and MN Monthly throughout the summer months. The Create Memories in the Thousand Grand Lakes of Minnesota will run May 10, 2024 to September 2, 2024. The partners will randomly draw each month for the adult and youth prizes, and then on Friday, September 6, 2024 a Grand Prize Winner will be awarded the Family Fall Trip Prize.
What can you do to help? Itasca County area businesses can place a poster in a prominent place in their business (front window or door is ideal), and they can also reach out to Megan Christianson at 218-259-0572 or via email: megan@visitgrandrapids.com to donate a $100 gift card. All donating businesses are recognized as a sponsor and given marketing and promotion through the campaign. All sponsors receive a logo and a link on the website, are featured once a month on Visit Grand Rapids social media pages (24k followers). The business logo is included in Visit Grand Rapids monthly e-blasts (emailed to 8k subscribers each month). All businesses will have an up to 90 second vertical video (video reel) highlighting their business, an upcoming promo, or an upcoming event, and then it will be uploaded to Visit Grand Rapids YouTube Shorts channel and shared on their social media pages. All businesses are given access to assets gathered through the campaign.
All sponsors are encouraged to also share the Thousand Grand Lakes Campaign through their website (adding a link off their website), through their social media pages, and in e-blasts. Sponsors are asked to place a poster prominently in their business and encourage visitors to participate for a chance to win.
Where do people pick up physical cards and where do kids pick out wooden nature coins? The Thousand Grand Lakes Activation Stations are the following businesses: Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Information Center (Grand Rapids), Balsam Store (Balsam Township), Wizards Bar & Grill (Nashwauk), Northome True Value (Northome), Max Mini Store (Squaw Lake), Little Turtle Lake Store (Talmoon), Effie Country Service (Effie), Pizza Parlor (Bigfork), Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center (Marcell), and Frontier Sports (Marcell). For more details and to download the cards: www.thousandgrandlakes.com.
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