Australia is the ‘best gift shop in the world’ in latest TA campaign
Tourism Australia has launched the latest iteration of its ‘Holiday Here this Year’ campaign, with Andy Lee joining his comedy partner Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake, titled ‘The Gift of Travel’ via M&C Saatchi Sydney.
The campaign shows Blake and Foster-Blake trying to decide what to gift Lee for the holidays, and features other well-known Australian talent.
The 60-second spot shows Blake and Foster-Blake sharing a meal at The Glenmore with the Sydney Opera House in the background, before contacting various Australian celebrities, including Matt Wright, Johnathan Thurston, Hannah Gadsby, Hugh Sheridan, and Elli Beer. The spot ends with Lee jumping out of a plane and Blake saying the line: “We really are living in the best gift shop in the world: Australia”.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said: “The gift of travel is about encouraging Australians to give more meaningful gifts this holiday season and in doing so give back to tourism operators and communities who have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Last year, Australians spent, on average, $770 on gifts during the holiday season equating to $16 billion in total. If we can encourage people to spend just a fraction of that on travel instead it would be a multibillion-dollar boost for the tourism industry.”
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer Susan Coghill commented: “Our multi-channel campaign has been designed to inspire Australians to consider travel experiences while gift shopping this holiday season by showing up during key retail moments. It’s phased so we not only get on the wish lists of shoppers, but we also make it under the tree by continuing to show up right until Christmas.
“Now is also an incredibly important time for us to be in the domestic market, showcasing Australia is full of travel possibilities just waiting to be wrapped up.
“As international borders reopen, we can’t lose traction with Australian consumers. We need them to continue to support Australia and our tourism industry.”
M&C Saatchi Sydney executive creative director, Mandie van der Merwe, added: “Australia is the greatest gift shop in the world. It’s full of the most incredible experiences with which to treat someone you really care about. Not to mention, by giving a holiday here this year, you’re helping the tourism industry recover. It’s like a double present – someone gets a gift they’ll never forget and the industry gets the support they need.”
The campaign is on TV, cinema, print and online and is running from 5 November 2021 to 24 December 2021.
Some of the assets for Tourism Australia’s latest campaign [click to enlarge]
A survey of 800 respondents by analytics and strategy advisory firm, Forethought, in October found that in the near future, 44% of Victorians and New South Welsh-folk intend to travel intrastate, up from just shy of one in three (29%) in September.
Plans to travel interstate also jumped significantly in October among those in VIC and NSW (from 19% to 27%) while among the rest of Australia this measure remained stable (19%).
‘Holiday Here This Year’ launched in January 2020 in response to the bushfire crisis of the 2019/2020 bushfire seasion. It was the first significant domestic marketing push since 2013, however, it was promptly put on hold as COVID-19 spread throughout Australia and international and state borders were closed.
When speaking to Mumbrella for a feature on creative during the pandemic, Coghill said: “As we extended [Holiday Here This Year] through the pandemic, we had to make sure that we had that platform that was born out of the bushfire era, and make sure that it was meaningful and engaging and that we could continue that platform through the pandemic. That’s when we pivoted to a different way of storytelling with local talent with Hamish and Zoe.”
It was re-activated again in October 2020 with Blake and Foster-Blake fronting the creative. This was followed by a second instalment in February 2021 as state border started reopening as part of a week-long $5 million marketing push, and again in May 2021.
Credits:
M&C Saatchi Sydney
UM Australia
Digitas
Ogilvy PR
