Star of the North campaign explores Minnesota

Best friends, food professionals from New York, snack their way across Minnesota,  sampling everything from award-winning dining to corn-on-a-stick and other classics at the State Fair. After foraging their own mushrooms, they went kayaking in the waters of a former iron ore mine in Chisholm.  

“I feel like we got a taste of Minnesota. People need to come here and really experience it. There’s so much variety, so much culture,” said New York photographer Ben Hon after visiting the Land of 10,000 Lakes.   

His story is part of a new ad campaign from Explore Minnesota’s Star of the North: Minnesota Travel Stories. The travel videos are longform, ranging from four to eight minutes, and feature not only the New York foodies but also female anglers traveling from South Carolina, sports enthusiasts from Canada and others. All longform videos are supported by detailed, web-based trip itineraries, plus :15 and :30 spots and  documentary-style photography for use in mass-media channels. 

Local 601’s Caitlin Hannah, a digital strategist with Explore Minnesota for nearly a decade, has worked on half-a-dozen tourism campaigns and says this one is different. “People are really enthusiastic about this campaign. It’s a real experience and authentic. It is fun to see people from New York come to the State Fair and get excited about Martha’s cookies and the corn roast.”  

The Star of the North campaign touts not only tourism but also the advantages of relocating to the state. The digital, TV and radio ads are targeting communities in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Canada.  

The campaigns are drawing more visitors to Explore Minnesota’s website and social media channels. “It’s really fun to read people’s reactions and their favorite memories from those places and suggestions for other places to visit. It’s been fun to see that hometown pride, the more we Minnesotans share that pride, the better is for everyone,” Hannah said.  

Minnesota is consistently ranked as one of the happiest, healthiest and most prosperous states in the U.S. and now has an active Move to Minnesota online campaign. The campaign features people who are new to Minnesota, and we learn what drew them to Minnesota, what keeps them here and what they find unique about the state. 

Marketing Coordinator and Local 601 member Jared Laabs said the new emphasis on livability marketing “is another audience for us. There are different phased approaches to attracting new talent and retaining Minnesotans. We want people to come and travel to Minnesota but we also want you to stick around. We have housing, education, parks, recreational activities. Having a work-life balance is really important and Minnesota can offer that. There are lots of things about Minnesota where we stand out as the Star of the North and nationally,” Laabs said.     

Hannah and Laabs said people have been enthusiastic about the Star of the North campaign. “You can only convey so much in a 30-second ad. You can get a little bit of a taste and dive into information. It’s awareness and highlighting the hidden gems of the state and show off more what Minnesota can offer people. What we’re aiming for is people learning more about the state and learning about how great Minnesota is,” Laabs added.