'You can die on Mars. Or you can live in South Dakota.'

Someone sitting in a focus group in Minneapolis was asked to describe what it would be like living in South Dakota.

The response is not the stuff economic developers dream about.

"You could really become a hermit," this person said. "You could really isolate yourself from everyone else."

Here's what someone said in Des Moines:

"My friends would think I'm crazy to go to either of the Dakotas, because they probably just think it's a barren wasteland, that there's not much to do, not much job opportunities. It gets cold there. Really cold there."

And again, in Minneapolis:

"You'd better be good at family and friends, because in Sioux Falls there's not a lot of great recreation."

That's just the start of some revealing research that was presented last week to economic developers from across the state by the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

It forms the basis for a new marketing campaign designed to target specific workers in strategic locations and industries.

"We thought we better get some solid research done to understand what it's going to take and what the messaging should be," commissioner Pat Costello said.

I thought the premise made sense and the research had to be shared.

With the help of advertising and marketing firm Lawrence & Schiller, here's what the state found.

People between the ages of 21 and 45 without children were asked their opinions about Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. They did not know the team from Lawrence & Schiller represented South Dakota.

The focus groups were held in Peoria, Ill.; Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa; and Minneapolis and Rochester, Minn.

The questions were built around three factors key to a person's decision to relocate. The first is sameness — whether the new location is similar enough to the existing location to feel like a fit. Then comes upward mobility, and finally "a life I can imagine."

When asked about perceptions of North Dakota, the groups used words like these: Boring, flat, cold, oil, snow, crime.

Their impressions of working in the state involved companies that struggled with recruitment, fewer opportunities for jobs and limited opportunities for growth.

When it came to living in North Dakota, respondents thought the cold weather would mean less time outdoors, that the education was an inferior quality and that they would miss family and friends who would be far away.

One respondent said, "I would be living in a mental asylum."

Moving on.

When asked about Minnesota, "It was a lot different," said Tracy Saathoff, director of consumer insights with Lawrence & Schiller. "You could start to see the tone of their perception changing."

Minnesota elicited words such as: lakes, cold, fishing, snow, Vikings and Mall of America.

When asked about working there, people mentioned specific companies including Target and Best Buy. They talked about diverse opportunities, making more money and finding flexible jobs.

"Nobody talked about high taxes," the guy next to me at the conference mumbled.

No, but they did talk about the lifestyle they pictured in Minnesota. Biking, hiking, shopping, concerts at Target Field and hanging out in downtown Minneapolis.

"Minneapolis is a really cool place," said a participant in Peoria, Ill. "South Dakota to me is more like a frontier."

Then there's Wisconsin, where one bold-faced word from respondents stood out: cheese. That was followed by words that include: cold, Dells, Packers, Green Bay and family.

"But ultimately what's interesting is the amount of excitement around Wisconsin. Their perception was really strong," Saathoff said.

When asked about working there, people mentioned Harley Davidson, auto shops, information technology.

"They knew Wisconsin was 'anti-union,' as they said, and that they can work on different types of projects," Saathoff said.

As far as living there, people mentioned having more time for recreation, hunting, fishing, Lake Michigan, and snowmobiling. They saw themselves eating cheese curds and drinking beer.

Someone in Des Moines said, "I would feel more outgoing in Wisconsin than in South Dakota."

Now for South Dakota. Here are the most popular words associated with the state: Mount Rushmore, Black Hills, Sturgis, Corn Palace, flat, mountains, sightseeing, Wall Drug.

"They knew lots of travel things, and that's a testament to our state," Saathoff said. "But at the same time when you think about the prospect of relocating where you're thinking about a job, there's not a lot to draw from because you're limited in your perception."

"Limited" is an understatement. Consider this feedback from someone in Des Moines when asked about working in South Dakota:

"South Dakota is mainly cattle, sheep, horses, livestock … living off the ranch, taking care of the ranch. It's not as industrial, not as technical."

Another from Des Moines:

"If you're not in that tourism industry, I don't think the opportunities are there."

They also thought there weren't as many opportunities to change employers, and that there were limited opportunities for movement within the company, small family-owned businesses, suburban office parks and lower salaries.

Some acknowledged they would save money because of the cost of living in the state, but they also thought there was less to do.

On a Friday night, they pictured themselves eating at Applebee's, Saathoff said, as she then showed an image of people working on a huge jigsaw puzzle and the conference crowd laughed. People imagined in South Dakota they would have campfires and read lots of books, she added.

"If you're someone that's really introverted it might not be that bad," a participant in Minneapolis offered. "You might like the lifestyle of reading books and collecting stamps."

When Costello and his team heard the feedback, he wasn't all that surprised. The comments weren't that different from what he's heard from site selectors who scout locations for businesses.

"They just don't think of South Dakota," he said. "They don't think Sioux Falls or Watertown or Brookings or anything like that. So what that told us is they're not coming here on their own. So if we want them, we're going to have to go get them."

Enter the state's new advertising campaign. It starts about as far from the target market of South Dakota as possible — on Mars.

"Mars," the commercial begins. "The air: not breathable. The surface: cold and barren. But thousands are lining up for a chance to go and never come back."

Cut to images of South Dakota as the narrator continues:

"South Dakota. Progressive. Productive. And abundant in oxygen. Why die on Mars when you can live in South Dakota?"

The final graphic reads: "South Dakota. Plenty of jobs. Plenty of air."

Do you notice that some of our common recruitment themes aren't part of this?

"One of our mantras for business is no state income tax," Costello said. "That didn't resonate with individuals. Individuals viewed that as maybe the state doesn't have good education or fire protection or crime might be high or the park system not adequate. That was almost a quality of life deterrent."

Instead, the visuals show recreation, entertainment and scenic settings.

"You can live a life here. You can have fun here," Costello said of the messaging. "You can have a great job and go fishing and biking and hiking. The opportunities are abundant."

The Mars ad also touches on an approach the state plans to use involving so-called trending topics.

The young people being targeted by the campaign "are saturated with media," said Mary Lehecka Nelson, director of marketing for the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "Something needed to hook them, and we know that demographic spends a lot of time talking about trending topics."

The idea is for South Dakota to become part of the conversation, instead of trying to direct it with more in-your-face messaging.

"We think the Mars thing is right now," Costello said. "Once this runs its course, we'll hitch our message to the next wagon."

Costello tells a story of debuting the Mars ad in a Cabinet meeting with Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

"Older people thought we were crazy, and finally the governor said, 'OK, who here in this room has heard of this colonizing of Mars?' It was a stark contrast. Half the room raised their hands, and those people were 35 and under. That's the effect. We want to go after those 25- to 40-year-olds and that's where this hook works."

The campaign will be balanced with personal testimonial-style ads featuring people who have relocated to South Dakota. The first stars a young man living in Harrisburg who moved from Texas to work at Marmen in Brandon.

"There's bike shows, car shows, art festivals, German beer fest, art gatherings, lot of golf, lots of recreational activities," he says. "I'd say I landed a pretty sweet gig."

Saathoff, at Lawrence & Schiller, emphasized the need to build brand equity in the South Dakota name by creating more diverse perceptions of the state with this campaign.

"We need to show South Dakota has broadened and developed and that we're part of a larger progress in the Midwest," she said. "Tractors that drive themselves. The Google balloon. That's what we need to show. Progress with possibilities."

And, I should say, without politics. Nowhere in the research or resulting materials did I sense any motivation other than trying to gauge and then adjust perceptions of the state. That's refreshing.

The room that saw this research for the first time was filled with economic developers from communities large and small. Their workforce needs are incredibly diverse. But the message felt united and rooted in working for the common good of simply attracting more people to the state.

The state plans to spend $3 million over three years in Future Fund dollars on the campaign — that's money set aside for workforce development. The hope is that communities, organizations and businesses also will want to partner on it.

I'm not saying it's a one-size-fits-all solution, but the fact that it's firmly rooted in research certainly gives it added credibility. We might not like what those young workers said, but I'd much rather know it before trying to change their minds about making a move.

Jodi Schwan is editor of the Sioux Falls Business Journal. Reach her at 977-3976 or jschwan@sfbusinessjournal.com.