Michigan is making its pitch for American workers to take advantage of high-tech jobs, quality of life, and welcoming communities in the Great Lakes State. A new talent attraction marketing campaign, “You Can in Michigan”, has launched nationally to fill open jobs, grow Michigan’s population, and drive the state’s economic future. Included in the campaign is a new website for job seekers to explore the state, calculate their cost of living, and define and reach their career goals.
The new “You Can in Michigan” website lists Let’s Detroit, the Chamber’s initiative to increase retention of graduates leaving the state while helping engage those who wish to return or move to the Detroit Region, as a resource, featuring its insightful blogs and news for young professionals looking to find their place in the area.
Learn more about the “You Can in Michigan” campaign in the announcement below.
Executive Office of the Governor
Oct. 10, 2023
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and leaders with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) unveiled “You Can in Michigan” — a new talent attraction marketing campaign launching nationally to fill open jobs, grow Michigan’s population, and drive the state’s economic future forward. Comprehensively, it’s the largest state talent attraction campaign and effort in the U.S., according to the MEDC.
The campaign will run in California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington D.C., and Washington State.
The $20 million campaign showcases what makes life and careers in Michigan so attractive. It includes new television commercials, radio spots, print placements, social channels and themichiganlife.org, a new website for job seekers to explore the state, calculate their cost of living, and define and reach their career goals with the support of the Michigan Career Portal, a one-of-a-kind, AI-driven platform powered by FutureFit AI to help with career navigation, job/training/education guidance, and placement.
Michigan is the first state to use FutureFit’s technology for economic development purposes that are tied to talent attraction and retention goals. FutureFit maintains the highest industry standards for protecting user data, and users have the ability to access, update, and delete their data if they choose.
The campaign features living and working in several communities across Michigan from Detroit and Grand Rapids to Traverse City and Houghton. In addition to television, print and radio, campaign tactics include addressable and connected television, online video, paid social, Meta, TikTok and digital display, as well as billboards at Michigan colleges and universities. Target markets for the national campaign include key Great Lakes border states (Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio) and 12 key designated market areas across the U.S. including New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, and Raleigh-Durham.
Michigan’s unprecedented marketing effort doubles down on talent attraction in policy, programs and marketing, including the creation of the Growing Michigan Together Council and first-ever state chief growth officer role — never before seen anywhere in the U.S. at this scale. The effort will evolve for years to come with an initial investment estimated at $59 million in 2023, including $20 million budgeted for the marketing campaign over the first two years through 2023-24 that will cover production and creative development costs and an initial $3.5 million in advertising through the end of this year.