Our research process – consisting of 40 live stakeholder interviews, over 40 stakeholder surveys, a Portrait of American Travelers® custom subset analysis, a competitive set analysis, and both primary qualitative and quantitative traveler research – unearthed two findings that informed our strategy and set Traverse City apart from all other Lake Michigan vacation destinations. First, Traverse City brings together disparate experiences – big and small, rural and urban, fast and slow, old and young, relaxing and exciting – to create something new and wonderful. The second key finding: Traverse City has a definite feel. Visitors and residents found it warm and welcoming, harkening back to the past. The new brand platform, Come Together, brings together everything that makes a place feel comfortable and vacations feel perfect. The logo and advertising campaign, called “You’re in a Pretty Great Place,” riff on the idea of dichotomies coming together.