Spring is springing in Detroit, and the poster child for urban decay is beginning to sing a new song about hope, renewal and pride.

Consider what's going on in the Motor City just today: The Detroit Tigers are playing their home opener of the 2013 season as the favorite to win the American League and the pick of many to win the World Series after last year's flop against the San Francisco Giants. Demand is surging for Tigers licensed merchandise as fans at home and abroad sense this might just be the team's year, with superstar pitcher Justin Verlander signed to a mammoth new contract.

The nearby University of Michigan takes on Syracuse this weekend in its first Final Four appearance in March Madness since the Fab Five team 20 years ago.Continue reading...

Michigan's automotive sector isn't the only part of its long-battered economy that's looking up these days. Michigan tourism is hoping to benefit from the renewal of its effective Pure Michigan brand and marketing campaign next month. 

Pure Michigan has become a darling of the private and public sectors alike. Gov. Rick Snyder even threw some more love—and dollars—its way after generating savings by whacking Michigan's film-industry tax rebates a couple of years ago. However, the state government's official branding campaign may not again mention the fact that Michigan has become a right-to-work state. After a kerfuffle over the issue earlier this year, the state tourism folks are considering leaving that bit of business-brand positioning to their colleagues in the economic-development department.

Last year, the Pure Michigan campaign, with its advertising running on a couple dozen cable-TV networks including CNN and the Travel Channel, helped bring 3.2 million out-of-staters to Michigan to enjoy sublime attractions such as the unparalleled Great Lakes coastlines and music festivals in Detroit.

"They spent $1 billion at Michigan businesses—and that's real money," George Zimmermann, vice president for Travel Michigan at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, told brandchannel. "And the great thing is we're only starting to educate people outside the state about how wonderful Michigan is." Continue reading...

High gasoline prices be damned. America's tourism operators smell not only spring but also summer in the air, and they're gearing up for a business season that seems to hold the most promise of any in several years.

Rising auto sales and other indicators suggest Americans will be more active travelers this year than last year even if they have to pay $4 a gallon or more for the gasoline to get there. And among other locales, tourism operators in economically struggling Michigan, as well as the many small towns and dusty little museums along Route 66, want you to know they're open for business.

In Michigan, a state-sponsored study just found that last summer's Pure Michigan national-advertising campaign, featuring voiceovers by Tim Allen, attracted a record number of out-of-state visitors to the "beautiful peninsula" last year. The $14-million campaign motivated more than 3 million trips to the state and a projected $1 billion in spending at state businesses, the study found.Continue reading...

Here's the official Lady Gaga for MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam commercial. More brandbitems this week:

• Toyota tweets from Japan. Open for business.

• Chrysler's Twitter feed got in hot water over tweeting that nobody in Motor City "knows how to (bleeped!) drive."Continue reading...

It’s all well and good for Michigan to attempt to turn around the state’s economy for the long haul, to create an effective transition from Rust Belt relic to high-tech industrial dynamo.

But for now, some of that long-term work will have to wait — while the Michigan tourism industry grabs for all the skiers and snowmobilers it can attract this season from elsewhere in the Midwest.Continue reading...

ABC unveils iPad app for My Generation that represents a leap forward by syncing to TV for interactive viewing experience.

American Express partners with iVillage to launch financial-literacy platform.

Apple prepares a newspaper-subscription plan for iPad, which went on sale today in China.

Bloomberg’s “other” magazine, Bloomberg Markets, gets a makeover.

Detroit emerges as a star at the Toronto Film Festival through a handful of newly made-in-Michigan movies.

GM now sees the US government retaining some stake in the automaker in the wake of its upcoming IPO.Continue reading...

Not much has been going right in Michigan lately, but at least the state has been able to count on its natural beauty as a peninsula amid the Great Lakes to attract year-round tourism from throughout the Midwest and beyond. Its very well produced "Pure Michigan" advertising campaign, featuring native actor Tim Allen, has plied effectively on the tourism assets that Michigan already had in place.

But this week, Michigan’s dire economic situation and fiscal mess are threatening to pull the plug at least on summer ads for the "Pure Michigan"  campaign. If Michigan lawmakers don’t approve funding for a renewal of the campaign by the start of their two-week recess beginning late this week, it may simply be too late to mount a campaign to attract summer tourists.

National cable-TV ads scheduled to begin March 1 already had to be postponed. Wrangling between the state’s two legislative chambers so far has left continued funding still up in the air, and the state's regional brand in limbo.

Not much has been going right in Michigan lately, but at least the state has been able to count on its natural beauty as a peninsula amid the Great Lakes to attract year-round tourism from throughout the Midwest and beyond. Its very well produced “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign, featuring native actor Tim Allen, has plied effectively on the tourism assets that Michigan already had in place.

But this week, Michigan’s dire economic situation and fiscal mess are threatening to pull the plug at least on summer ads for the “Pure Michigan” campaign. If Michigan lawmakers don’t approve funding for a renewal of the campaign by the start of their two-week recess beginning late this week, it may simply be too late to mount a campaign to attract summer tourists. National cable-TV ads scheduled to begin March 1 already had to be postponed. Wrangling between the state’s two legislative chambers so far has left continued funding still up in the air, and the state's regional brand in limbo.Continue reading...