Wisconsin Wants Chicago's Millennials - and it's Paying Millions to Get Them
Millennials might be accused of overindulging in avocado toast and killing entire industries, but that doesn’t stop states and cities from competing to gain their favor. Right now Wisconsin is peppering Chicago with ads designed to get the city’s millennials to move, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The $1 million ad campaign features the tagline “Wisconsin: It’s more you.” And the ads are everywhere from online to the L, restaurants, and health clubs, according to the report.
The campaign was launched by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the state’s development agency, and created by Milwaukee ad agency Nelson Schmidt in a bid to attract Chicago’s “disillusioned” millennials. The crux of the argument coming from Chicago’s northerly neighbor is that commutes are shorter, cost of living is cheaper, and quality of life is better in Wisconsin.
“We’ve already had anecdotal stories from individuals that have moved from the Chicago metro area and were somewhat surprised and very pleased with the quality of life that they were afforded in Wisconsin, and so we built on that,” said Tricia Braun, COO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., according to the report.
The first phase of the ad campaign is focusing specifically on Chicago’s Brown Line, which runs through the Loop and North Side neighborhoods, according to the report. The idea being that the neighborhoods the Brown Line runs are full of the disillusioned Millennials Wisconsin wants to attract.
This is just the start of Wisconsin’s ad push. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker hopes to invest $6.8 million more in Millennial advertising with an expanded reach.
“That would take what we’re doing in Chicago and expand it to Minneapolis and other Midwestern cities — the same thing, aimed at Millennials,” said Mark Maley, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., according to the report.
The ad campaign comes as no surprise. Urban planners in cities across the country are asking themselves what Millennials want. As more the generation reaches their 30s, they are looking for more space, which means a lot of cities are losing Millennials.
Wisconsin’s ad campaign is a logical step, as competition for a young talent pool heats up. Chicago has the third highest number of educated Millennials in the country, trailing behind New York and Los Angeles, according to Forbes. That means there is a big population of Millennials just across the border from Wisconsin.
Whether the million-dollar campaign will be successful or a passing conversation starter for die-hard Chicago Millennials remains to be seen. If the ads manage to draw a good number of Millennials out of Chicago, it could be a big coup for Wisconsin, particularly as more of the generation is approaching their home-buying years.