Governor Kristi Noem being criticized for successful recruitment effort. I think it’s because people don’t like state marketing campaigns.

I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the ads that Governor Noem is running in media markets across the country encouraging people to come to South Dakota:

Inevitably, the Governor finds herself taking some hits on the ads because they were ran through an out of state firm which happened to have had the successful proposal.

And there’s no denying the quality. The Governor has had opportunity to tout the success of the campaign again and again, as noted most recently:

“These ads have achieved their goal: people are talking about South Dakota. Those of us who were born and raised here know how wonderful the state is – and it’s time for the rest of America to see that, too,” said Governor Noem. “I am so happy to see folks from all over the country looking into moving their families to South Dakota. Freedom-loving Americans from coast to coast want to be a part of the great life we’ve all built for ourselves here in the heartland.”

The ads have been viewed over 720 million times. 6,792 people have applied to move to South Dakota through “Freedom Works Here.” Over 1,547 applicants are in the final stages of moving to South Dakota. The most applications have come from California (1,048), Florida (519), Texas (488), Minnesota (374), and New York (312). 183 South Dakotans have also used the campaign as a tool to get plugged into career opportunities. A map showing where applicants are from can be found here.

These numbers represent those working directly through the “Freedom Works Here” program. Even more people are finding jobs and moving to South Dakota of their own accord after seeing the ads.

Read that here.

I’m sure timing, the national environment, and other things factor into it as well, but there’s no denying that this has been one of the most successful marketing efforts ever to recruit people to move to South Dakota.

Even in the face of success, people are finding a way to criticize the Governor over the marketing campaign. I can’t help but wonder if people go looking for excuses just to criticize advertising from the state?

Literally we’ve been doing this as a state since statehood. Above my desk is one of the earliest versions of a “move to South Dakota” campaign, where as part of the 1899 “Pierre for Capital” campaign, it points out how western South Dakota has been opened for settlement by act of Congress. Recruiting people to move to the wide open spaces of South Dakota to improve the economic condition of the state has been done since statehood.

That piece was printed by Pettibone, Wells & Company out of Chicago at the time.

This Governor has taken hits in the past for advertising campaigns from the various state agencies because everyone has an opinion. When trying to raise awareness for how methamphetamine addiction can affect everyone, we had the “Meth, We’re on it” campaign. The Governor took flak on that, and as part of the criticism, it was brought up that it was developed by a Minnesota firm.

But, just a few years before, with a different governor, we had another ad that took fire. This time the recruiting campaign that then Governor Daugaard was taking heat over was “Why Die on Mars When You Can Live Here?” That came from a South Dakota firm, but that didn’t enter into the griping. Why? Well, because we developed it here.

If the state and the marketing agency followed the rules and guidelines, why are we complaining? Don’t like the procurement rules? Change them. Otherwise, why are we trying to find reasons to throw shade on success? We’ve had marketing campaigns that have resonated, and others that didn’t. They’ve come from within the state and from without.

I’d rather celebrate the big win we are enjoying and the wave of people seeking the freedom of South Dakota right now than manufacture reasons to dislike it.

(Although someone will inevitably grouse about that.)