Grand Opportunities Pending

McFarland came on board just in time to launch the first piece of the marketing plan to be made public: The Minnesota GOParty Card. Cards will be distributed to convention attendees and will be good for discounts at participating restaurants, entertainment venues, and stores from August 23 to September 7, with the goal of getting convention attendees to show up in the Twin Cities early, stay late, and spend time and dollars outside of convention itself. The host committee says it’s working closely with metro area chambers of commerce, visitor and convention associations, the Mall of America, and Explore Minnesota, the state’s tourist bureau, to enroll businesses. At the card’s launch on February 21, more than 100 businesses were already signed up. Applications to be included in the program were being accepted from businesses until March 14.

That’s none too early. As Maria Cino, president and CEO of the Republican National Committee’s Committee on Arrangements said in a prepared statement for the GOParty card launch, “Our guests are already touring, dining, and staying in Minneapolis–St. Paul, and we expect that activity to increase in weeks to come.” By early summer, an official convention guide—including a list of GOParty businesses—goes out to convention attendees.

Whatever else the marketing plan includes, McFarland can count on its messages being amplified not just by the host committee but by the local creative community. A month before the announcement of GOParty, a group of Twin Cities marketing and PR professionals, led by Meet Minneapolis Vice President of Marketing Karyn Gruenberg, launched a new branding campaign for the Twin Cities: “Minneapolis St. Paul: More to Life” (mspmoretolife.com).

It’s a direct response to the results of that 2003 study done by Future Brand. “Inasmuch as Minnesotans are capable of bragging about where they live, this campaign will do just that, and it will be everywhere,” Mona says. “More to Life” ad placements—visible in Twin Cities newspapers and on television since the launch earlier this winter—will ramp up, with the help of corporate sponsors including Target, Best Buy, and General Mills, into a full-fledged $2.5 million multimedia barrage as the convention nears.