Case Study
Traverse City Michigan
From 13 campaigns and a stretched team to a focused operation that keeps getting sharper.
Extreme seasonality, competing campaign ideas, and a small internal team trying to balance awareness and conversion across the calendar. The team was executing well — they just had too many things to execute against.
WHAT WE DID
The Full Engagement
The Focus Blueprint
We identified that 9 of 13 campaigns had no traceable link to shoulder-season conversion or bed tax revenue. We consolidated to 2 primary seasonal campaigns and 1 evergreen program, built a staffable calendar, and gave the team a defensible rationale for the board.
Strategy Advisory & Monitoring
Kept the consolidation honest. Monthly sessions helped the director navigate stakeholder pushback on sunsetting campaigns. AI market intelligence tracked how ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews represented Traverse City, surfacing gaps competitors hadn’t addressed.
Strategic Execution
Delivered the infrastructure the Blueprint identified: a full content inventory and kill/keep/refresh matrix for 200+ existing assets, restructured agency briefs eliminating redundant deliverables, and a content restructuring initiative positioning Traverse City’s experiential content for AI discovery ahead of peer destinations in the region.
Results
What Changed
From 13 campaigns to 3. In 5 weeks.
- 9 of 13 had no traceable link to board KPIs
- 31% of team capacity recovered through consolidation
- Room to execute fewer things better
6 of 8 marketing categories improved. Under 6 months.
- Scorecard moved from 24/80 to 41/80
- AI monitoring identified content gaps competitors hadn’t addressed
- Monthly sessions helped the director hold the line when
- stakeholders pushed back on consolidation
60+ assets retired. 500+ hours recaptured annually.
- Full content inventory: 200+ assets cataloged, 60+ retired, 40+ flagged for refresh
- Redundant agency deliverables eliminated
- Shoulder-season content restructured for AI discoveryahead of regional competitors
What the full engagement looked like
10 months. 3 services.
One operation that looks completely different
Weeks 1–5
Blueprint
KPI alignment focused on shoulder-season conversion and off-peak bed tax revenue. Identified 9 of 13 active campaigns with no measurable connection to either metric. Consolidated to 2 primary seasonal campaigns and 1 evergreen awareness program. Bridge document delivered strategic framework for board presentation on reduced campaign portfolio.
Months 2–10
Advisory & Monitoring
Monthly strategy sessions focused on stakeholder management during campaign consolidation, budget reallocation decisions, and emerging AI positioning. AI market intelligence tracked how Traverse City appeared in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for shoulder-season travel queries — identified 3 critical content gaps competitors hadn’t addressed. Quarterly scorecard showed progress from 24/80 baseline to 41/80 by month 8.
Months 2–10
Execution
Content inventory and strategic audit (8 weeks). Agency brief restructure eliminating redundant deliverables across both partners. AI content restructuring — schema markup implementation and experiential content reformatting for AI discovery.
EXECUTION DELIVERABLES
Master campaign calendar (annual, with staffing requirements per initiative)
KPI scorecard template tied to board reporting cycles
Content inventory: 200+ assets cataloged with performance scoring and action recommendations
Kill/keep/refresh matrix with 90-day execution plan
Agency brief restructure eliminating redundant deliverables
AI content restructuring: schema markup for key content categories, experiential content reformatted for AI discovery
Quarterly scorecard reports (3 delivered during engagement) showing category-by-category improvement
Stakeholder communication framework for defending campaign consolidation decisions