Robert Irwin and Ruby the Souvenir Kangaroo in South Australia.
Australia is targeting key markets in chapter two of the successful Come and Say G'day campaign first launched three years ago with brand ambassador Ruby the Souvenir Kangaroo.
This time the souvenir shop star returns with backing from well-known local personalities in the US, UK, China, India and Japan, with a series of localised creative executions including Germany and South Korea.
It’s one global campaign, with creative by Droga5 Sydney and media buying by UM, but with individual stories in the key markets, following travellers who have amazing experiences in Australia.
The market specific creative assets will run across traditional broadcast, connected TV platforms, high-impact OOH, print, online video, social, audio and other digital platforms.
The nature of travel has changed since the world shutdown during the pandemic. Since then Australia has regained its market share to about 2.9% of global out of regional long haul travel.
But the size of the pie has shrunk with fewer people traveling internationally.
“People are tending to stay a little bit closer to home,” Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill told AdNews.
“We're doubling down on those key markets where there are most of those high yielding travellers.
“Those macro pressures that we see around the world -- whether it's the cost of living, political instability or wars -- are having an impact on global out of region long haul travel.”
The first chapter of Come and Say G'day in 2022 did amazingly well, she said.
“We tested it at the concept stage, we tested it at launch. We've since tested it at year one, two years in and three years in, and we are continuing to still score in the top 1%,” said Coghill.
“We've got a really good idea of what's continuing to work in the market. The idea has not reached wear out with consumers. So that's a good indicator.”
Tourism Australia's research shows there is more upside in a market by market approach, rather than one global ad to run everywhere.
“We've got a much more modular and localised set of assets that reflects both talent, storytelling, humour and as well as the types of experiences and destinations that they're interested in,” Coghill said.
“This is quite a fresh and different way to do destination marketing.”
For ad spend, the return to Australia in terms of visitor numbers is higher in key markets of the US, UK and China.
And the uplift is higher for people who have seen the campaign before versus those who haven't.
“We know it is also about the story that we're telling them and when they see the ad, they're more likely to want to come to Australia," she said.
“We’ve absolutely got a winning platform that we should be sticking with … compound creativity, the power of consistency.
“We really believe in the power of having a consistent global brand, although we're evolving how we do our storytelling a little bit.
“We've kept Ruby as our brand mascot. She's actually starting to pull through now when we do our distinctive brand asset research as well our brand codes research.”
And then there’s the familiar, those icons the world knows and loves about Australia.
“Whether it's Uluru or the Opera House, these things are brand codes in and of themselves for Australia. But also we're using that as a way to open the door to show consumers more experiences in more parts of Australia.”
And then there is the warm welcome, Come and say G’day.
“We like the fact that it harkens back to hope," she said. "We like the fact that it has an invitation in it, and it's got G'day, which is something else that comes up as a brand code for Australia.
“And indigenous creativity and storytelling has to be integrated into all of our ideas as well.”
Strategically, it made sense to find a way to connect in each of those local markets. “The idea boiled down to a slide,” she said.
“As you can imagine, there were months and months of thinking that goes into this and lots of lots of strategic slides, but it's actually really simple. We want to invite the world to Come and say G’day to a holiday that lasts a lifetime, and that is simply because Australia is such a special destination, and the people here are incredible.
“The experiences people have will leave an impression on them, and it's one of those things that when they leave Australia, they'll take a piece of it with them, and they're going to want to share it with friends and family.
“I know when I go home to America, if I meet somebody who finds out I live in Australia and they've been there, I end up being stuck for half an hour listening to them talk about their holiday.”
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