How the Human Brochure project won over sceptics like me
At the weekend, Cathie McGinn was a guest of The Human Brochure, an initiative by ACT Tourism and The Works which saw hundreds of guests visit the capital as part of an exercise in social media and PR.
I confess to having felt a degree of scepticism about the Human Brochure project when it launched, based on having previously been to Canberra.
The other small voice of snark kept reminding me that junkets are often a badly organised, frantic affair in which PRs are often reduced to plying their guests with booze to cheer them up as they wait around in mediocre hotel lobbies. The idea of inviting people to clutter up social media with compliments about the free stuff they were getting received quite a bit of negative press in mainstream media and Twitter alike.
I, like 31,406 other Australians, had applied for the trip to visit the nation’s capital some while ago. Five hundred people were selected to attend one of two weekend events along with a guest, chosen by their use of social media platforms. By anyone’s standards, that’s a logistical nightmare; the fact that it followed recent media stoushes about the role and responsibility of bloggers being paid by brands made for ominous predictions.
Great piece Cathie – and as one of the humans that went to Canberra as part of the #Humanbrochure, and as someone who works in PR, I thought it was impeccably organised. I was nervous Canberra was going to be boring – as per my trip to the nation’s capital when I was 12 (clearly some time ago). My experience far exceeded my expectations.
I totally agree. I was part of the food and wine stream (one of my photos is in your screen shot) and I was intrigued at the history of the wine regions and vineyards.
Aside, what many naysayers failed to see, was the high profile speakers, commitment from the ‘attractions’ and the vested interest from Canberra tourism.
As a ‘human’, I had a great time. I didn’t feel pressured to provide ‘cash for comment’ rather, to share and enjoy the whole experience. It worked for me.
I am the Head of Marketing for 8Hotels, of which the Diamant Hotel Canberra is a part. We hosted the ‘Arts and Culture’ group in our hotel and I was in Canberra to meet with our ‘Human Guests’ throughout their stay over the weekend.
Given that for many Australian’s their opinion of Canberra is formed as a primary school child when they’re being dragged from the Australian Electoral Commission to Parliament House in the middle of winter, we felt that a campaign which would show off what the city had to offer to a group of hand-picked influencers, was a solid strategy – essentially a modern-day famil.
Over the course of the weekend it was clear that only mild exhaustion could dampen the guests’ excitement and appreciation for Canberra. Nearly everyone I spoke with (those in the Arts and Culture group) mentioned they were already planning a trip back.
Obviously the long-term success of the campaign will rest upon the guests’ ability to influence other people to book trips to Canberra, and only time will tell if this objective has been reached. But given the strategy and the famil’s execution, we are optimistic about the program’s chances of success.
We are also hoping to see the 32500 names – people who did not win a trip – being put to good use over the coming weeks and months.
Well said, Cathie. Good point about the turnaround in mainstream media sentiment.
I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in marketing activities for hundreds of tourism organisations like Canberra Tourism. This campaign is one of the best I’ve seen. If you want to understand why, read Grouped, by Paul Adams.
Bugger! We Canberrans always smile smugly when “Canberra” gets blamed for everything and we get slagged off for being an alleged souless place. Such nonsense is welcomed because it encourages the wankers to stay away and we can have this brilliant place all to ourselves to enjoy. Now look what you’ve done ACT Tourism!!
As the recipient of several Tweets I have to admit I wasn’t that much of an enthusiast. The whole outcome felt like a re-branding of Instagram more than anything else and as this #humanbrochure came not long after a swell of condemnation that Instagram had become boring and anti-photography, I was struck more by that aspect than anything else. On Twitter the #humanbrochure was just the usual “I’m at X place” and then an image. What was the actual brochure content? Just what I could see in the image I guess. Yes, I certainly did get to see the Diamont Hotel from various angles and I saw other selected images from Ryan and a few others but, sorry, the ‘whole event’ that say rhubarb whine and Lisa Wallis allude to just didn’t come across to me in Twitter. Obviously what you receive in that medium will depend on who you follow and how they Tweet but single “I am at X” with an image (as stated) isn’t anything different at all on Twitter and unless there is a collage build up and other information offered to ping and build on interest, I see little advantage. A website or a Pin. board or something may add an important dimension and have it looking more like a decent brochure with lots of interesting tidbits. Once again, from what I’m reading here, those who participated wound up – naturally – with a much stronger sense of the event than those of us reading on Twitter.