‘There’s still nothing like Australia’: Tourism Australia rolls out international marketing activity in light of the bushfires and Coronavirus
Tourism Australia’s international marketing response to the bushfires, and now the Coronavirus, has begun, spreading the message overseas that ‘There’s still nothing like Australia’.
The campaign follows on from the $76m government grant provided to Tourism Australia as part of the National Bushfire Recovery Fund in January, $25m of which was allocated to international marketing.
International marketing activity has begun in aid of the tourism industry recovering from the bushfires
International activity rolled out yesterday, leveraging joint-marketing and commercial partnerships with tourism operators including Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Thomas Cook, Malaysia Airlines and Flight Centre.
The first stage of the campaign is targeting India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the UK with activations across digital, social media, airline partnership campaigns and billboards (in the UK only). Print and magazine coverage will roll out over the next few weeks.
The UK was the focus of the ‘Matesong’ campaign that launched before the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day, but was pulled after 10 days as the bushfire crisis worsened.
The messaging designed specifically for the UK addresses ‘Our mates in the UK’ and reiterates the Matesong that ‘We’re still a land like no other’.
The UK ad picks up on the language of the ‘Matesong’ campaign
The markets initially targeted for the campaign were selected for the ability to scale up marketing activities and were identified as regions where demand could be re-stimulated quickly.
Tourism Australia managing director, Phillipa Harrison, said the campaign will remind people why they love Australia.
“It’s going to take time and sustained effort to get back to where we were, but there are opportunities right now to stimulate demand in key markets through partnerships with commercial partners, to help our tourism industry bounce back,” Harrison said.
“This initial burst of activity is about reminding people of why they love Australia, and that we still have the stunning landscapes, beautiful beaches, amazing wildlife, incredible food and wine.
“This is just the first stage of our international rollout, which is being deliberately phased to build momentum. We’re also finalising a new broadcast ad which will support the campaign, as well as a program of hosted international media visits which will give us the opportunity to show top journalists from around the world that Australia is open for business, and eager and willing to welcome international visitors.”
The international activity follows on from the launch of domestic campaign ‘Holiday Here This Year’ at the end of January. The campaign was designed to support the ‘true heroes’ of the tourism industry and back the marketing activity undertaken by individual states’ tourism bodies in order to recover from the bushfires.
‘Holiday Here This Year’ continues to roll out with radio activity beginning last week and television ads rolling out this week. According to Tourism Australia, the campaign has reached over 9m people on social media channels.
The domestic marketing push was allocated $20m of the government grant.
M&C Saatchi is Tourism Australia’s creative agency of record.
No disrespect to the Marketing team, but the copy is something a student would come up with. Needs more work.
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Something tells me holiday here this year will be the most effective campaign in living memory.
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