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Council hears year-one results and Phase 2 plans for Look No Further economic development campaign
Summary
City leaders reviewed metrics for the 'Look No Further' promotion — including impressions and site visits — and outlined Phase 2 advertising, partnerships and survey plans aimed at recruiting residents and businesses to Sterling Heights.
Sterling Heights officials told the City Council that the city's year-old Look No Further marketing campaign has produced measurable engagement and that new Phase 2 outreach will include targeted digital advertising, streaming audio and partnerships with local venues.
Melanie Davis, Community Relations Director, said the campaign launched in February 2024 and has delivered "over 23,000,000 impressions across digital, social, radio, and all of our integrated media" and "more than 5,000 visits" to the campaign page on the city's website. "Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark," Davis told the council, using a quoted line the campaign has employed to emphasize outreach.
Davis said social-video engagement has been strong (813,000 video views across platforms and nearly 70,000 clicks) and that Instagram reached the largest unique audience for the campaign. Branding partners and local businesses — including large employers and family-owned stores — have been featured as storytellers, Davis said.
Brandon Chestnut, from Identity, the city's agency partner, presented creative and distribution plans for Phase 2. Chestnut and Davis described a mix of tactics: continued targeted social and display advertising, new streaming-audio spots on platforms such as Spotify and Hulu video placements, and community activations. Chestnut cited upcoming activations with Jimmy John's Field and WDIV's Live in the D, including a planned live broadcast from SterlingFest and stadium trivia and ticket promotions, to reach neighboring communities and collect survey data.
Davis said Phase 2 will also expand on-the-ground voices: local realtors, business owners who expanded in Sterling Heights, and volunteers (for example, Citizens on Patrol) to put more personal stories behind the campaign's messages. She said the campaign will complement targeted surveys to measure changes in perception among audiences likely to move or expand a business into the city.
Council members did not take formal action; staff said Phase 2 creative and activation plans will be implemented in the coming weeks and months and staff will return with ongoing performance metrics.
