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New adventures await in the North Country and for meeting attendees, business travelers and tourists, they begin in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Authority unveiled its new logo and branding campaign—The Adventure Begins—at its Annual Meeting at Landmark Center on February 26.

The Adventure Begins, reflects the excitement Saint Paul is creating this year as it hosts four major national events: the 25th Annual National Pheasants Forever Pheasant Fest, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the Family Motor Coach Association and the 2008 Republican National Convention.

The Adventure Begins was the theme of the Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Annual meeting, and is designed to tie into with the organization’s new logo and branding campaign, whose centerpiece is the tagline: Saint Paul— Where Minnesota Adventure Begins. The campaign is the result of a year-long effort led by the organization’s Marketing Committee, which conducted extensive research to determine current perceptions of Saint Paul from both the local community as well as from visitor’s perspectives.

"The purpose of our new brand Saint Paul—Where Minnesota Adventure Begins, is to differentiate us from our tourism competitors throughout the Midwest and the nation," said Karolyn Kirchgesler, President and CEO, Saint Paul CVA.

Research conducted by the Saint Paul CVA indicated that when visitors think of Saint Paul, the images most likely to pop into their heads were the city’s iconic landmarks—such as the State Capitol, Cathedral of Saint Paul, Rice Park, Xcel Energy Center and the Mississippi River. According to John J. Labosky, President and CEO of Capital City  Partnership, Marketing Committee Chair, the new campaign builds on that recognition by reinforcing the state capital as a main access point of the Minnesota experience.

"Saint Paul is our state capital - where Minnesota government and lawmaking begins, it’s the northern most port on the Mississippi – where river navigation begins and it’s the seat of the Arch Diocese," said Labosky. "It’s also the site of RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center where convention groups gather, where professional hockey games and high school tournaments are played and where the 2008 Republican National Convention will meet in September."

In addition, the phrase—Where Minnesota Adventure Begins—offers a flexibility to target different audience. The plan is to switch out the word Adventure for more specific marketing campaigns, especially to segments of the meetings industry. Examples cited include: Where Minnesota Business Begins, Where Minnesota Education Begins, Where Minnesota Healthcare Begins, Where Minnesota Culture Begins.

While a goal of the new campaign is to differentiate Saint Paul from other U.S. Destinations, at the same time it will be synergistic with other Minnesota destinations. Saint Paul CVA officials also emphasized that the design of the logo—especially its shades of charcoal and blue—complements instead of compete with existing logos of key tourism partners such as Meet Minneapolis, Destination Bloomington, Explore Minnesota Tourism as well as the new marketing campaign Minneapolis Saint Paul—More to Life, which is intended to promote the entire Twin City Metropolitan area to meeting attendees and tourists, as well as potential businesses, employees and residents.

"We will consider the research gleaned from the More to Life campaign, and incorporate those messages into our marketing and promotional efforts," said Kirchgesler. "These campaigns will complement each other, not compete with one another, and will result in a stronger promotional message about both Saint Paul in its own right, as well as the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area."