Michigan Design Center's impressive advertising and marketing initiatives are often recognized as being leading edge. Our promotional plan is developed with a two-prong approach to reach both the trade professional as well as the end-user (the consumer).

Michigan Design Center was created specifically to cater to the design professional, so our marketing initiatives are focused on maintaining consistent contact with our primary customer – the registered trade. The trade is kept aware of new product introductions, showroom news, special sales incentives, events and more via our annual directory, Designline, Design Notes, Seminar Series, web site and e-mail initiatives.

In addition to our trade customer, it is our belief that the end-user cannot want what they don't know exists, so we make a concerted effort to reach the high-income consumer audience to teach them the value of working with a professional, and inform them about the products and services available through MDC. Further, we sponsor a number of industry and consumer events each year to further our position as leaders in the interior design industry. Our promotional strategy includes:

ANNUAL BUILDING DIRECTORY
A comprehensive guide to MDC, our Annual Directory provides our trade clients with a comprehensive listing of information about our showrooms, including contact information, manufacturer line listings and product categories represented in MDC. It is mailed each January to all 3,500+ registered designers, architects and other buyers on MDC's trade mailing list of professionals located throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Northern Kentucky and Ontario, Canada.

DESIGNLINE
Produced four times each year, our impressive, full-color, trade Designline newsletter is delivered to over 3,500 trade professionals and contains a variety of information regarding Michigan Design Center, including upcoming events, new product introductions, showroom information, special offers and more.

DESIGN NOTES
The smaller counterpart to our Designline mailing, Design Notes is produced and mailed to our trade professionals five times each year and highlights special showroom incentives, manufacturer introductions, special events and more. The smaller format of Design Notes allows us to maintain a consistent line of communication with our trade clients in "off" months from our Designline mailings.

SEMINAR SERIES
Our Seminar Series is designed to provide ongoing educational programs to the design community. This monthly forum provides a dedicated time slot and promotional vehicle in which to bring in key industry speakers to speak on a variety of topics – from industry trends and technological advances to business-building practices and relationship techniques. Our Seminar Series is a valuable tool for designers and showrooms alike. By hosting a seminar, it provides the showroom an opportunity to educate designers on the company, products and services while providing them information that is critical to their profession. Seminar Series is promoted via a quarterly, full-color brochure that details three months of "Seminar Series" information. Our Seminar Series brochure is mailed directly to our database of 3,500+ registered trade professionals and is also distributed by each of our showrooms. Further, our Seminar Series is a featured section within our Designline and Design Notes publications and is promoted heavily on our web site.

DIRECT MAIL INITIATIVES
A variety of direct mail pieces are sent out each year to our trade professionals, dependent upon scheduled events, showroom needs, etc. Our trade mailing list, consisting of over 3,500 registered trade professionals is available for use by our showroom tenants at no additional charge.

WEB SITE
Launched in July of 2004, our new and improved web site includes valuable information such as an online directory and specialized information for our trade and consumer users.

SPECIAL EVENTS
Michigan Design Center hosts a variety of special events each year for both trade and consumers including Seminar Series, Sample Sale, MIDEX, Catwalk, The Birmingham Showhouse, CEU seminars, Student Career Day, design-focused lectures and Fabric Fair.

PRINT/BROADCAST ADVERTISING
Television, radio and print media are utilized by Michigan Design Center throughout the year to highlight our consumer outreach programs as well as to strengthen our position as leaders in the design industry, and to highlight our Design Connection consumer outreach program. All vehicles are specifically targeted to a high-end consumer audience and each is continually analyzed and updated to ensure a maximum return on investment.

PRESS RELATIONSHIPS
Our staff of marketing professionals maintains strong working relationships with local press personalities. These relationships result in numerous coverage opportunities throughout the year.