Experience Grand Rapids

Experience Grand Rapids is the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for the West Michigan city. On the heels of a campaign to align the downtown district to appeal to new and incoming residents, the organization sought to encourage the use of civic centers to accommodate family reunions. When the need arose to include Latino and Spanish speaking communities, Experience Grand Rapids procured the expertise of VÍAS to help transcreate its communication materials. The result was a re-positioning of the slogan 'Cool City, Warm Reunions'. Knowing that a direct translation would be confusing – literally referring to temperature – VÍAS recommended 'Gran Ciudad, Reuniones Amables,' or 'Great City, Warm Reunions'. The new slogan was understandable and gave a nod to the word 'grand' in the city's namesake.