OPEN LETTER TO Detroit
Dear Detroit,
Sitting in a pub in downtown Manhattan over the weekend, pal Rich and I were mouthing the lyrics and bobbin’ our heads to the Four Tops, Reach Out I’ll Be There. We got talkin’ ’bout our love for Detroit. Motown, cars, Shinola watches, the Red Wings, Buddy’s square pizza. Inspired, we did our What If creative-doodling thing on a napkin. In the city's Herculean revival efforts, we saw a natural, but missed affinity for the fearless, get-real, embrace-the-suck stripe of entrepreneurs who’d find Detroit — and its 50,000+ abandoned buildings and lots — the perfect place to build their fearless dreams. So, here’s what we came up with, Detroit...
We’re available to meet and discuss … at Buddy’s.
Dreaming Stronger for Detroit,
Jan and Rich
jan@theexitbrand.com
Business Challenge
Detroit’s most stubbornly blighted areas are all the more challenged by hardened perceptions of the city burned into the national and global consciousness.
Customer Insight
Unique mindset for this extreme challenge. Rejects typical commercial appeal. Different stripe of dreamer. Deals with hard truths and grows stronger from failure.
Our speculated CEO, at the start of our work, would have stated that their brand was “…in the business of bringing business to Detroit.”
But, after listening, really listening between the lines to customer, I presented the Q: “What Business Are You Really In?” and answered that Detroit was really in “…the business of Bringing The Hard-Core Dreamer to Detroit” which was gold to a whole grittier, more relevant kind of business entrepreneur.
Brand Position/Strategy
Hard Core Dreamer. Detroit is for a different, grittier kind of dreamer and doer. Establishing this empathy and Trust opens the customer to feel courageous and good about their emotional strength, which would be necessary for her/him to succeed intellectually in their entrepreneurial venture.
Brand/Marketing Creative
Video manifesto connects soulfully deeper than typical “Come to X” economic development campaign. End of video captures leads and hints at a grassroots org.
Results
We did this on spec and are networking to get this going for Detroit.
Contact us here