Welcome Home Dearborn Launches MySpace Page

DEARBORN, MI--(Marketwire - June 30, 2008) - What do the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony and the City's Welcome Home Dearborn marketing campaign all have in common? Each boasts a MySpace page to draw in younger audiences. The campaign's page can be found online at www.myspace.com/welcomehomedearborn.

Attracting young professionals to buy a house in Dearborn has been one of the goals of the City's year-long "Welcome Home Dearborn" marketing campaign, according to Mary Laundroche, director of Public Information for the City of Dearborn.

Early in the campaign, the local marketing team of JCI Group launched the WelcomeHomeDearborn.com™ web site with a wide audience appeal. The official Web site helps visitors locate homes for sale in Dearborn as well as find valuable information and links to resources about where people live, work and play in the community.

"WelcomeHomeDearborn.com is working well as a sustainable Internet portal to provide a wealth of information about Dearborn to prospective homebuyers," said Jackie McClure, a member of JCI Group Dearborn who helped spearhead the web site's navigation and design.

The latest statistics indicate that the web site has received approximately 20,000 unique visitors since it was launched in December 2007. These include visitors from throughout the U.S. and a wide variety of countries worldwide.

The new MySpace page is designed for a younger audience and includes music, videos and venues that are unique to Dearborn. "We've relied on the younger members of our marketing team to take the lead on this," added McClure. "The colors, layout, type styles and language have a more youthful, casual appeal. Think of text messaging versus traditional email."

"Reaching young professionals requires a variety of non-traditional and social media," said Sandra Boulton, JCI Group team member and media buyer for the City campaign. "The MySpace page is readily one of the more cost effective ways to reach a younger age group."

For more information about the campaign to attract homebuyers to Dearborn, visit www.WelcomeHomeDearborn.com or www.MySpace.com/welcomehomedearborn.

Contact Information: Media Contacts: Margaret Blohm Margaux Associates, part of the JCI Group 313-406-3467 Mary Laundroche Director of Public Information, City of Dearborn 313-943-2285