UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1895: Color lithographic trade card published by Donaldson Brothers for Arbuckle Coffee depicting a map of Wisconsin, the 30th state to join the union of the United States of America, The card highlights Wisconsin’s beer manufacturing and lumber industries (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
If you missed out on the Empire State review, perhaps you’ll want to consider an equally charming spot called Wisconsin.
The Badger State is accepting proposals through July 11, and the winning agency will handle brand strategy, creative, PR, web development and more in an effort to drive more tourism to the area. The contract runs until 2022.
Kantar Media has the organization spending about $750,000 on paid media last year, but the organization says there’s the “potential for increased funding” to come.
“Wisconsin has seen steady growth in the tourism industry, providing a solid framework to look towards change and continued growth in the years ahead,” the release reads. “The Department of Tourism is looking for an agency or agencies that will align with its organizational strategic vision, consider the evolution of the Travel Wisconsin brand over time and assist the department in evolving and growing into what’s next.”
As you can see from the PDF at the bottom of this post, there are really three contracts: creative/marketing, PR/media relations, and web design/development. Here’s your FAQs in case you have trouble uploading those big juicy files.
Laughlin Constable of Milwaukee has been AOR on the business for the past 9 years. “We are extremely proud of our work on behalf of Travel Wisconsin and hope to continue building on that strong relationship and results,” said CEO Matt Lignel, who could not comment on the RFP itself.
So what sort of creative has that shop done to attract folks to Wisconsin? Here are a couple of spots from last year, one focusing on the state’s German heritage of friendship and beer and one starring former Packers star Donald Driver.
Here’s the full PDF in case you have some free time on the flight back from Cannes.