Case Study: Discover Great Lakes Bay

Problem


SAGINAW FUTURE’S Steve Jonas and Greg LaMarr, with assistance from an SVSU intern, Riley Hupfer, helped lay the foundation for Discover Great Lakes Bay. It is a talent retention and attraction initiative designed to connect young professionals with employers throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.


To support this effort, the organization sought to establish a stronger online presence through social media and a new website. These tools would help communicate the initiative’s purpose while building a recognizable brand that reflects its values. LaMarr reached out to Professor Blake Johnson and the Cardinal Solutions team for assistance in developing the project.


Samples of Great Lakes Bay social media
 
Sample of student work - Great Lakes Bay logo animation

The Logo and Brand Style was designed by Brian Raymond, SVSU Graphic Design Major, and Cardinal Solutions Specialist. Logo animation by Zach Sklener who also created the Discover Great Lakes Bay video series.

screenshot of Discover Great Lakes Bay home page

The website content was written by Dustin Dehne and designed in WordPress by Charles Hutchins. The new site is formatted for smartphones, tablets, and computers. It presents key information for all counties in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

 
Screenshots from the Great Lakes Bay videos

The videos were recorded live, and on location, edited and produced by Zach Sklener. Drone footage was created by Prof. Rhett Mohler, federally licensed drone operator.

 

Team


When working with Cardinal Solutions, LaMarr was able to collaborate with many different faculty and students who contributed a variety of skills to the project. Graphic designers and technical writers created a social media campaign and designed a website for the Discover Great Lakes Bay and Coming Home Event brands.


Technical writing student, Dustin Dehne, helped develop the website from scratch and created a document plan for an event to showcase all the talent in the Great Lakes Bay Region. This plan helped the organization put a face to the name and expand their reach in the community. Dehne says, “These experiences helped me prepare for the professional world in such a unique way. In a sense, it started my professional career before it even began.”


Solution


Cardinal Solutions provided Discover Great Lakes Bay with the website for both the organization and their Coming Home Event. They also worked on a social media campaign that is still being used today on the company’s social media. This campaign attracted thousands of followers and hundreds of Coming Home Event attendees.


LaMarr worked directly with Cardinal Solutions on these projects and notes his experience with the students. He says, “Cardinal Solutions students were fun, openminded, and creative. Many of their concepts and ideas were utilized in the final product.”

Sample, Great Lakes Bay social media post

The new site is formatted for smartphones, tablets, and computers.

 
Quote, Greg LaMarr
Sample, Great Lakes Bay social media post
 
Quote, Dustin Dehne

Result


Discover Great Lakes Bay still uses the website and social media campaign created by Cardinal Solutions. Their initiative benefited from this process, resulting in two in-person and two virtual Coming Home Hiring Events that connected hundreds of young professionals with regional employers. LaMarr says, “I would recommend Cardinal Solutions for small businesses and non-profits. They made a huge impact with their marketing and branding campaigns.


Cardinal Solutions Logo
“Cardinal Solutions brings students of various majors together to solve problems for local businesses and non-profits. This program seeks to improve higher education, and our communities.”

– J. Blake Johnson

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