Made by Sam Tolhurst from Honest Boys Productions.
Destination Wollongong is tapping into the dry humour of Wollongong locals with local talent, crew and Illawarra-made creative concept in its campaign.
Destination Wollongong general manager Jeremy Wilshire said the campaign was inspired by an internationally-recognised tourism campaign for Oslo which resulted in a strong uplift in those wanting to visit the city.
“Let’s face it – we don’t have enough budget to be boring,” Wilshire said.
“Our mantra is to be bold, creative and playful, so we’re happy to have a crack at things that are a little edgy, perhaps even polarising. It gets people talking.
“While the response has been overwhelmingly positive, we’re comfortable with some people not liking it – I’d be more offended if people accused us of being bland or vanilla.”
“The campaign is grounded in research. Studies over the last few decades have routinely shown that Wollongong residents are tough markers of their own backyard.
“We don’t always appreciate what we have, and that is born out through our strong ‘visiting friends and relatives’ market, which is responsible for 36pc of our domestic visitation.
“They’re often blown away when they arrive or return. That's the genesis of the campaign.”
The video stars Lucy Heffernan and Mara Jean Quinn and was produced by the team at Honest Boys Productions, with support from Teel Studios, Holly Trenaman from Screen Illawarra, and a local crew.
Local filmmaker Sam Tolhurst from Honest Boys Productions said the brief immediately stood out as something special.
“Destination Wollongong came to us with a brilliant concept based on their research that locals often carry a bit of a cynical disposition about our hometown,” he said.
“They’d drawn inspiration from Oslo’s tourism campaign and wanted something that captured that same wit, but with an unmistakably Wollongong and Australian flavour.
“I’m quite captivated by Australian culture and Australian people, so this felt like the perfect project for me — it’s become one of my favourites to date.
“There was a huge amount of trust. They let us run with the concept and build a completely local crew who really understood the tone.”
