Pure Michigan Awarded Five HSMAI Adrian Awards

Michelle Begnoche
517-241-0251

LANSING – The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will honor Pure Michigan with five Adrian Awards this evening, acknowledging successful marketing and public relations efforts executed by the campaign in the past year.

Pure Michigan will receive awards for its partnership with Mario Batali, the “Who is the real Mitten State?” initiative and several feature placement stories. George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, has also been named one of the Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing by HSMAI.

“We are focused on expanding Pure Michigan to a national audience, and to have our efforts recognized in this way by HSMAI is a strong indicator we are on the right track,” Zimmermann said. “As we prepare to launch our largest national advertising campaign yet, we are excited to build on this momentum and continue to grow the number of visitors traveling to Michigan each year.”

The HSMAI Adrian Awards are open to all travel-related industries with categories in advertising, digital marketing and public relations. This year HSMAI received more than 1,000 entries.

Pure Michigan will take home gold medals for the “Who is the Real Mitten State?” initiative in the digital marketing category and for the feature placement, Just Back: Detroit, in the New York Post. It is also receiving a silver medal for the feature placement, Great American City: Detroit, in the New York Daily News and a bronze medal for the Mario Batali “Made in Michigan” Media Day held in Traverse City this past summer.

The fifth award, Zimmermann’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing recognition, is given to the best sales and marketing professionals in the hospitality, travel and tourism industries. A panel of senior industry executives selected the 2012 “Top 25” recipients based on recent work meeting the following criteria: creativity and innovation; cutting edge sales or marketing campaigns; triumph in challenging situations; and sales efforts that resulted in dramatic gains.

The Pure Michigan brand was created by the Birmingham, Michigan office of McCann Erickson. Pure Michigan also works with Weber Shandwick’s Birmingham office and Travel & Lifestyle practice to help build the Pure Michigan brand through web, media, public relations and digital marketing.

Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, markets the state’s tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) serves as the state's marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, with a focus on helping grow Michigan's economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit: MichiganAdvantage.org.