Mumbrella360: ‘Outsmart, outwit, and out funny’: How Tourism Tasmania entices tourists over European summers
How did Tasmania entice people to visit the state in winter when temperatures plummet, days are short, and Aussies flock to European summers?
Tourism Tasmania chief marketing officer Lindene Cleary and BMF executive creative director David Fraser revealed the behind-the-scenes process of the Effie Award-winning Come Down for Air campaign on the Mumbrella360 stage last month.
Tasmania is the “antidote to the straitjacket of modern life”, Cleary said – a place to come alive again, wake up, and connect to nature.
“Tasmania is a challenger brand in the tourism category. We don’t have the same budgets as other state tourism organisations, and certainly not of international destinations, so we’ll never compete by trying to outshout,” she explained.
To find a point of difference, Tourism Tasmania and BMF had to dig deep. In Cleary’s words, they needed to “outsmart, outwit, and out funny”.
Drawing on the fact that Tasmania has some of the cleanest air in the world, the creative team found their way to stand out among the crowd.
“You’ve got the literal air, and then you’ve got the metaphorical air. The really important stuff: time to just stop, connect, and think about what’s important in life. And that all comes together in the beautiful tagline: Come Down for Air,” Cleary added.
Lindene Cleary and David Fraser
BMF also drew on cliches from summer tourism campaigns, from beaches to ocean views, using their own ‘off season’ spin. This included turning bikinis into beanies and Hawaiian shirts into puffer vests.
“We had to be more anti the ordinary,” Fraser said.
They continued to “up the ordinary” by opting for a black and white theme and enlisting war photographer Stephen DuPont as well as independent and unaccompanied photographers.
“We just said, ‘go out, shoot the island as you see it, get going. Wild and wonderful in the season yourself and capture it for us.’ And what we saw delivered to us was this amazing plethora of really authentic assets that you couldn’t fabricate any other way. We were spoiled for choice,” he added.
David Fraser
The highly acclaimed 2022 off-season campaign yielded impressive results, including a 7% uplift in visitors, 24% in length of stay, and a remarkable 102% increase in visitor spend.
As the organisation enters itso furth year of the campaign, these achievements reflect its continued impact and effectiveness in driving visitors to the island.
To watch this session recording and more from Mumbrella360, head to Mumbrella Pro.
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