Brand & Marketing

Refine the brand concept and create/launch a final place brand.

Although a selection of brand concepts were developed during this process, Oakland County will need to continue refining its place brand to ensure countywide buy-in from stakeholders and input from wider audiences to ensure the final brand accurately reflects the County’s unique identity and resonates with key audiences and decision makers.

This final brand process should be led by the County’s full-time, dedicated Destination Stewardship Coordinator and should include the following scope of work:

• Clarifying brand architecture in partnership with other County departments and tourism partners such as Visit Detroit
• Concept testing (through focus groups, A/B testing with target audiences previously identified)
• Touchpoint mapping to define how the brand will appear across platforms, signage, events, and partnerships
• Development of a rollout strategy to plan a phased introduction of the final brand with internal stakeholders, media, and target audiences

Establish a brand governance framework for the final place brand.

Following the development of the final place brand, Oakland County will need to lead brand education and awareness with leadership of a Destination Stewardship Coordinator. In the long term, the final brand may be owned by a separate 501(c)(6) and/or 501(c)(3) non-profit destination management organization that may be funded and contracted by the County to execute destination stewardship initiatives and programs.

Key partner support and adoption of the brand will be critical to its success. To view an initial proposed brand governance framework, see Appendix - Proposed Place Brand Governance Framework.

Establish a content-sharing toolkit for consistent promotion across partner channels.

In order to empower internal and external partners to amplify the County’s place brand while maintaining message consistency, the County should develop a simple content-sharing toolkit after the brand has been finalized for consistent promotion across partner channels. This includes:

• Developing a partner content portal with seasonal messaging, logos, and photography
• Offer monthly partner social media toolkits
• Share analytics on campaign performance to demonstrate value
• Host quarterly partner webinars or training sessions

Social: Use seasonal storytelling, local business spotlights, and user-generated content to encourage a sense of belonging and discovery.

Social media is often the first touchpoint for both residents and visitors when it comes to discovering “what’s happening” in a community. As such, the County’s channels should celebrate the unique mix of small businesses, events, and community experiences to encourage a sense of belonging and discovery.

DMOs are increasingly embracing UGC and micro-influencers to provide authentic, community-driven narratives rather than polished content.
Stakeholders consistently noted the need to promote local businesses, arts, and events more visibly, not just to attract visitors but to keep residents connected and supportive of their communities.

Paid: Reinforce brand awareness and relevance through targeted seasonal and event ads.

For audiences outside Metro Detroit, Oakland County is often not top-of-mind as a tourism destination. Paid media ensures the county is present in competitive Midwest markets where travelers are actively seeking short-haul getaways.

Utilizing existing content captured during the website creation and social media launch phases, these seasonal and marquee event ads should showcase the County’s most well-known experiences. This builds credibility by leaning on trusted events and attractions while introducing Oakland County to new audiences. Stakeholders repeatedly noted that visibility outside Metro Detroit is limited; paid media provides the consistency needed to address this gap.

E-mail: Keep subscribers/visitors engaged with ongoing, timely/relevant content to encourage return visits.

Industry trends highlight that segmented, mobile-first emails remain one of the highest ROI channels for DMOs. Email offers a scalable, cost-effective way to showcase seasonal events, new attractions, and curated itineraries, especially once created for other platforms (website, social media, paid ads).

By sending timely, seasonal, and interest-based content, Oakland County can extend the conversation beyond the first touchpoint and encourage trip planning, event attendance, or itinerary downloads.

Website: Build and maintain an online presence for the County’s place brand and help locals to rediscover Oakland County with trip ideas, seasonal highlights, and attractions/community assets.

The primary objective is to transform the VisitOaklandCounty.com site to utilize the County’s final place brand messaging, positioning, and creative, ensuring a centralized, authoritative voice for Oakland County tourism. Without consolidation, audiences risk confusion or diluted impact from multiple, competing public-facing sites.

The website should serve as the digital “front door” for Oakland County tourism, the go-to planning resource with trip ideas, seasonal highlights, marquee events, and curated itineraries.
There are two main options to consider:

• Option 1: Utilize an open source or hybrid platform (EX: Wordpress, Craft CMS, etc. with event and directory functionality) which can be customized directly to the county’s tourism needs
• Option 2: Utilize a DMO-specific platform such as Simpleview or Tempest to build out the tourism website with more robust functions such as customer relationship management (CRM), online booking, and monetization opportunities

Membership, Sponsorship, Events: Show up in high-visibility, high-loyalty locations that locals care about.

Oakland County should establish a consistent presence at signature events and beloved traditions that matter most to visitors and residents. These touchpoints demonstrate that Oakland County tourism is part of the community’s identity, not just a marketing message.

This means investing in sponsorships for events like the Woodward Dream Cruise and Rochester’s Big Bright Light Show, while also maintaining an on-the-ground presence through tabling, branded activations, and event-specific collateral.

• Multiple stakeholders stressed the importance of Oakland County being visible at community traditions and high-attendance events, not just in digital campaigns.
• Many DMOs are focusing on resident-facing activations at signature local events, recognizing that loyal residents are key tourism ambassadors.

Social: Introduce Oakland County’s experiences to new audiences, via aspirational and inspirational content.

Oakland County should begin its regional social media strategy by leveraging partnerships with trusted, established platforms such as Visit Detroit, Pure Michigan, and adjacent counties. By cross-posting content, running collaborative Instagram posts, and sharing through regional partner channels, Oakland County can amplify its message without the need for heavy upfront time investment.

• Cross-promotion is on the rise: destinations are increasingly using Instagram’s collaborative post feature to share content jointly with partners, doubling reach and engagement with no additional ad spend.
• Video remains the most effective storytelling tool, making it ideal for showcasing multi-date events and seasonal highlights.

Once a strong foundation is in place, Oakland County can explore additional partnerships, including with influencers and niche, national partnerships for expanded reach and audience targeting.

Paid: Drive awareness, then consideration, among potential regional visitors.

Oakland County should deploy a layered paid media strategy that first builds awareness in priority Midwest markets (Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis), then drives consideration and trip planning through targeted creative.

• Paid social and display ads to drive direct engagement around campaigns.
• Seasonal creatives for digital billboards to reinforce visibility in high-traffic corridors.
• Placements in regional travel publications and podcasts (e.g., AAA, Midwest Living).
• Print and digital buys in trusted lifestyle media (Hour Detroit) to strengthen both in-region and cross-regional recognition.
• Video ads in further-reach markets (potentially co-branded with Pure Michigan) to inspire aspirational travel.

Regional Midwest travelers represent Oakland County’s biggest growth opportunity. Paid media ensures Oakland County is visible in competitive markets and helps create a clear call-to-action.

• Midwest DMOs like Explore St. Louis and Traverse City Tourism use seasonal paid campaigns to highlight short-haul trip opportunities, often partnering with state campaigns to reduce cost and maximize reach.
• Print remains surprisingly influential in regional drive markets: AAA Living reaches millions of members in the Midwest, and Midwest Living remains one of the most trusted leisure planning magazines.

E-mail: Nurture out-of-county subscribers through a funnel process to create engaged subscribers, leading to visitors.

Email allows you to stay connected with people who’ve shown interest but haven’t yet visited. It offers direct access to nurture that interest. Using regional partnerships, gated content, and paid advertising, the County should focus on building subscriber lists with segmentation for key trip styles or audiences. For regional audiences, who may not visit often, repeated exposures via email keep Oakland County top of mind when planning getaways.

Starting in the near term, build basic funnels with a welcome message, visitors guide download, and evergreen content that can be utilized automatically without frequent management. As the Oakland County tourism initiative launches, leverage existing online destinations such as the Oakland County Blog through calls to action back to the county’s tourism-specific website/newsletter where users can subscribe.

In the mid term, expand into more personalization, including itinerary suggestions based on email and website interaction, seasonal pushes, and interest surveys.

Utilizing a robust CRM or email platform from the beginning will simplify the process as the program grows and expands.

Website: Inspire awareness to become action via storytelling and planning tools, engaging content.

For regional audiences unfamiliar with Oakland County, the website is where initial curiosity turns into actual trip planning. With a baseline website established, Oakland County should expand its digital presence into a storytelling and trip-planning hub designed to convert regional awareness into action. This means creating audience-specific landing pages (driven by paid ads, partner referrals, and social campaigns) and building a consistent SEO-focused blog to weave in Oakland County’s unique assets. Other opportunities include: “guest blogs” on the existing Oakland County blog that are “publicly” written by the tourism organization or installing pixels on the Oakland County Blog (oaklandcountyblog.com) that tourism efforts than can then retarget through additional marketing.

• Stakeholders noted that while Oakland County has great assets, many aren’t on the radar regionally. As such, stakeholders supported more storytelling to “connect the dots” for potential visitors.
• Feedback also emphasized making Oakland County’s diverse experiences more discoverable online, suggesting blogs, itineraries, and landing pages as key tools.

Membership, Sponsorship, Events: Establish Oakland County as a valuable regional player for earned and paid partnerships.

Becoming a recognizable and respected player among Midwest destinations is key to growing Oakland County’s market share.

The County should invest in partnerships and presence at industry-facing events. This begins with hosting FAM tours (“Familiarization Tours”) and press trips to bring writers, influencers, and travel media directly into the county, and eventually participating in regional travel shows and securing speaking or panel spots at state and regional tourism summits.

Press trips and FAM tours, in particular, generate earned media value that can often exceed the impact of paid advertising, creating authentic stories in trusted outlets that resonate with travelers.

By showing up in these spaces, Oakland County not only markets itself to new audiences but also demonstrates credibility and commitment within the broader Midwest tourism ecosystem.