The state's new tourism-advertising contractor is looking to rebrand New Mexico.

Focus groups polled last year in Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles found New Mexico arid, barren and dull, without a lot to do.

Vendor Inc. of Austin, Texas, won't reveal any details of its developing campaign, but says it will begin running ads this spring.

"What we hope to accomplish with Vendor's creativity is to ignite an awareness of New Mexico and combat those misperceptions by showing people there are many adventures here -- adventures that differentiate us from other states because our adventures are steeped in a very rich culture," said Veronica Valencia, marketing director for the state Department of Tourism.

Dave Stanton, the creative director for the New Mexico campaign, said he leans toward outdoor activities, having lived in Tesuque since 2009, and rented a house on Old Santa Fe Trail before that.

"It's the land of enchantment," he said. "But what we're trying to do ... in a branding sense [is] really bring that into its true focus into what enchantment really means and doing it the way that it comes out of a place of what is to be found here that people don't really know about."

Tom Hollerbach, managing director and chief operating officer of Vendor, said his firm is trying to focus on activities that appeal to tourists around the country.

"The fact of the matter is that people just don't know what they're missing, which is so often the case, and there's so many great things about New Mexico," he said. "A lot of times, you don't have something interesting to say and you have to be very creative in how you get people's attention. But there's so much greatness and richness in New Mexico that there's just a great opportunity for us to talk about it.

"Our challenge is there are so many things to choose about the state. How do you get all that in there?"

M&C Saachi of Los Angeles was New Mexico's previous tourism-advertising contractor. Vendor Inc., which previously has worked on campaigns for Southwest Airlines, Nike, Wal-Mart, BMW and AT&T, was chosen last fall for the $2 million New Mexico contract from among six finalists.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.