MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation agency is running a $1.6 million nationwide advertising campaign aimed at bringing new business to the state, including radio ads targeting the Chicago and Twin Cities markets and online ads that feature Wisconsin's love of the Packers, beer and cheese.
The ad campaign that launched this month is the third phase of a multi-year effort begun by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation in 2012. It's part of the quasi-private economic development agency's "In Wisconsin" marketing strategy designed to raise the state's profile and compete with others that are similarly advertising to attract and retain business.
The first two years of the campaign were focused on raising awareness about Wisconsin's changing business climate, said the WEDC's second-in-command, Ryan Murray, who previously worked as Walker's deputy chief of staff.
The first year of the ad campaign focused on well-known Wisconsin companies such as bicycle-maker Trek, trucking company Schneider National and agribusiness Organic Valley.
This year, the agency spent $537,000 on a two-month television advertising campaign designed to lure businesses from Minnesota and Illinois. The radio ads that are part of the new effort once again target those border states, particularly companies in Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, while print and online ads will be going out nationwide.
"This is what our competitors are doing," Murray said. "This is really trying to compete in a very aggressive marketplace."
The radio ads are slated to run through May.
The spot running in Chicago makes fun of Illinois' flat terrain, saying that receding glaciers created a "unique climate called Wisconsin ... a land shaped by fiscal responsibility and gentle, business friendly tax policy creating an environment ideally suited for business growth."
Three print and corresponding online ads focus specifically on recent $150 million investments in worker training, $2 billion in tax cuts and infrastructure improvements are running through June in national trade and business publications as well as in Wisconsin, Chicago, Rockford, Illinois, Detroit and Minneapolis.
Wisconsin's love of beer, cheese and the Packers will feature in ads that will run on websites geared toward entrepreneurs and investors.
"The same passion it takes to wear cheese," begins one online ad showing someone wearing a cheesehead hat popular at Packers' games, "is driving technology that improves global health."
Outsiders' perspectives of Wisconsin have to be acknowledged before you can move on from it, Murray said.
WEDC officials say the marketing campaign has been a success based on increased traffic to its website and calls to the agency's 800-number. Prior to the marketing campaign, WEDC's website got between 5,000 and 10,000 hits a month, said Kelly Lietz, the vice president of marketing for the agency. It now gets between 35,000 and 40,000 hits monthly, he said.
Also, Lietz said, about 1,500 people who visited the website filled out a form requesting more information and were designated as potential leads last fiscal year. WEDC also received 1,200 calls to its toll-free number last year.
