Pandora Helps Travelers Discover Pure Michigan’s Fall Magic

The challenge

Michigan is known for its iconic destinations, natural wonders, historic attractions, outdoor activities—and its beautiful autumn colors. Pure Michigan, the state’s travel and tourism brand, was looking to elevate seasonal travel consideration and inspire spontaneous fall getaways.

Like many travel and tourism brands, Pure Michigan sought to stand out with a fresh campaign. Though the organization values audio advertising as an effective means of raising awareness, they were leaning more toward visual media to capture the colors of the season.

The solution

Enter Studio Resonate, our in-house audio creative agency. Together with the client and its agency of record, MMGY, the team developed a multisensory campaign with high-impact ad formats on Pandora to delight the ears and eyes with the magic of fall in Michigan. 

The concept

The concept was rooted in crossmodal science: the idea that color and sound can work together to influence mood and perception. The team researched color theory, music theory, and the science of how color can be translated into sound. Award-winning composer Matt Winegar led the musical exploration, experimenting with instrumentation and rhythm to define each color’s sound and uncover the emotional core of every hue.

Associate Creative Director Sara Alterman led copywriting, drawing inspiration from Pure Michigan’s recent collaboration with Detroit poet laureate Jessica Care Moore. Using Moore’s storytelling style as a guide, Sara shaped the campaign’s ad copy to feel more like short, intimate poems than traditional ads. And the voiceover artist selected for the campaign was instructed to make the spots her own, visualizing places with deep, personal meaning.

This combination of musical artistry and lyrical vocalization grounded the campaign in authenticity and emotion, reflecting the pride and creative spirit of Michigan.

The campaign

The Pure Michigan fall campaign represents a unique color-and-sound advertorial integration on Pandora. The concept came to life through a rolling six-week campaign, with three distinct sonic and visual phases inspired by Michigan’s changing leaves:

• Yellow theme for weeks 1-2 – Bright, joyful compositions evoking warmth and optimism

• Orange theme for weeks 3-4 – Balanced, reflective tones symbolizing transition

• Red theme for weeks 5-6 – Bold, dynamic energy representing passion and excitement

Studio Resonate’s creative strategy and approach transformed traditional destination marketing into rich, memorable moments. The campaign included attention-grabbing ad units, marrying audio and visual components to create immersive ad experiences. The activations included:

• Sponsored Stations – One of our rewarded ad units that offers consumers listening with limited ads, Sponsored Stations provide 100% share of voice. The multisensory storytelling in each ad followed the color-themed flow of the campaign. Yellow aligned well with Pandora’s Happy Station, orange with the Lofi Chill Station, and red with our MIXR Station.

• Interstitial Takeovers – These high-attention ad units reach audiences as they start their Pandora experience and while they interact with the platform. Developed by Designer/Developer Amanda Fales, the visual elements for this campaign were designed to connect listeners to the beauty of Michigan’s fall foliage.

• Dynamic Pandora “P” Icon – The platform’s logo shifted from yellow to orange to red throughout the campaign to symbolize Michigan’s changing season.

The results

The campaign reinforced Pure Michigan’s brand identity as the ultimate fall travel destination, and the creative elevated listener engagement through sensory storytelling and emotional connection. 

The results surpassed expectations, delivering 22.9M impressions (122% of goal) and significantly boosting brand awareness. Though this was an upper-funnel initiative, the campaign saw 200K clicks, delivering a strong 0.88% CTR, well above benchmarks for a campaign designed to drive awareness. Collectively, the color-themed stations reached over 6M unique listeners, with an average frequency of 2.65x. And audio traffic drivers performed 3-6x above benchmark—demonstrating that the immersive, multisensory strategy drove both reach and engagement.

The boost in brand metrics

A complementary Lucid Brand Lift Study validated the campaign’s impact on brand perception and awareness:

• +7.2 pt lift in brand awareness (statistically significant at 90%)

• +3.6 pt lift in brand favorability

• +11.7 pt lift in awareness and directional gains in consideration among listeners aged 35-44

• Improved perception across three of four key brand attributes, especially around Michigan as a unique, inspiring destination

Additionally, contextually aligned environments proved particularly powerful. Sponsored Stations drove a +8.5 pt lift in awareness and a +6.8 pt lift in favorability. 

This Pure Michigan campaign demonstrates how sound design, storytelling, and data-backed creative strategy can bring a destination to life—turning seasonal travel into an emotional journey.

We did it for them. We can do it for you. Let’s talk.

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