Australia has landed some negative press attention lately but it’s not all bad. Ice-cold beer, mouth-watering BBQs, beautiful beaches, cute koalas and of course, Neighbours. Plus, Australia also has some pretty epic content marketing. So I’m going down under to reveal 4 Australian Marketing Campaigns that Caught my Eye.
#1 Kylie Minogue – The Face of Tourism Australia
Nothing screams Australia like Kylie Minogue. So, it’s no wonder Tourism Australia chose this pop princess to be the face of a tourism campaign aimed at Brits. It cost $15 million to make and was scheduled to air in Britain before the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day, which is (of course), a pretty prime time spot. You can watch the full ad here.
Why I love this:
- If you’re going to use an influencer, choose one that fits your brand. Bravo Tourism Australia for nailing that one. 17% of companies spend over half their marketing budget on influencers to boost engagement. But if you’re teaming with nano, micro or macro influencers that don’t fit your brand, this can seem unauthentic and could lead to backlash from followers.
- A good ad needs to be relevant and in touch with consumer sentiment. By focusing on the Brexit shenanigans of 2019, Tourism Australia had a pretty compelling reason for Brits to de-stress and book a vacation.
- When it comes to content marketing, you’ve got to stay focused. This campaign sells Australia, which is its main goal. It features a host of iconic locations from Sandringham Beach in Victoria, to the Sydney Harbour and Byron Bay. There’s also a couple of Koalas thrown in for good luck leaving no doubt this is an ad about Oz.
- Going the video root is spot on too. As well as launching on prime-time TV, Tourism Australia also posted it on their YouTube channel where it has been viewed almost 2 million times. Considering 32.1 million UK adults use YouTube regularly, it’s important to place yourself where your audience is in order to gain maximum traction.
Top tips for YouTube: Organise your content into playlists to make it easy to navigate. It’s also good to get creative by offering exclusive, behind-the-scenes content that can be shared across social media to boost engagement.
Keep in mind that on channels like YouTube the average view duration is around 50-60% of the total video length. So, include important messages right from the start and don’t make your videos too lengthy. As you can see from the playlist above, most are short and sweet.
#2 Tasmania – Come Down for Air
Hats off to the Australian tourist industry. There has been some great stuff recently with the Tasmania – Come Down for Air campaign taking a quieter, less flashy marketing stance. Designed to deliver moments of calm amid a world suffering from infobesity, the Come Down for Air ads aim to pause the chaos and communicate with travellers in an extraordinary way. They focus on micro-moments designed to cut-through busy lives.
You can watch the Come Down for Air playlist on YouTube here.
Why I love this:
- The Come Down to Air campaign is a much-needed break from traditional forms of television and radio advertising which focus on the ‘perfect.’ This ad series keeps the imagery simple while simultaneously delivering a humorous narrative that reflects real-life. The Bay of Fires clip, for instance states:
“Dawn breaks to the sound of stretching knicker elastic. The soft light is kind to love handles and ill-conceived tats. Human squawks fill the air as icy waters kiss nether regions. These rogues don’t have a care in the world. Nor do they have a towel.” This is followed by a period of silence and the main tagline ‘Tasmania – Come Down for Air.’
- Placing a specific time on each video brings each location to life even more. It helps the audience to connect and imagine what it’s really like to be there.
The campaign is also supported by a host of written articles placed on a dedicated blog. These unpack the storylines of Tasmania and its people. This emphasises the importance of a multi-pronged campaign. By keeping ads simple and then delving into more details via a dedicated blog, you can draw people in from multiple angles.
Content marketing is also crucial considering an online search is often the number one place customers go when thinking about buying a new product or service. Indeed, 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. And as 57% of Australians use Voice Search, which is largely question based, it’s a good idea to centre your content around FAQs.
Tourism Tasmania has been quick to respond to covid-19 too, encouraging Tasmanians to explore their own backyard on social media. The below post is one of a series promoting local family fun – and there’s an incentive. Click on the link posted and you can also access a travel voucher which helps families during times of financial strain.
Top tip for marketers: Offers, incentives, giveaways and freebies are all great ways to attract and engage. Such words are also emotive and should be combined with a strong call to action. There are approximately 4.7 million monthly active Twitter users on Australia, so this is a great place to position your brand.
Don’t also be afraid to go digital. Webinars are an effective way to promote your brand during lockdowns. Be sure to promote the exact time and date and make your content work harder by making it visible after the live event.
#3 Sydney Opera House Digital Season
The world-famous Sydney Opera House has also gone digital. Highly active on Facebook, the brand regularly posts free content which is readily liked and shared by consumers. Note the relevant tags which help to spread brand awareness and attract a larger audience. Sharing such content is a great way to keep eyes on your brand and stay in the spotlight.
Top tip for marketers: Considering Facebook is the most popular channel in Australia with approximately 15 million monthly active users, it’s really important to have a strong presence on this channel. 93% of Australian marketers use Facebook for marketing purposes followed by LinkedIn (87%), Twitter (74%) and YouTube (64%). So don’t let your competitors dominate a space you should be active in.
Sydney Opera House has also created a full Digital Season with weekly releases from Friday to Saturday. Offering theatre, thoughts and talks, the brand is able to stay active and go live to help deliver a more personal brand journey to their consumers.
Why I love this:
- It’s innovative and creative showing you can still promote your brand digitally even during difficult times.
- All details are clearly laid out and the main Digital Season post is pinned for maximum engagement. Be sure to pin a tweet that has an eye-catching image to boost retweets by 35%.
- The hashtag #FromOurHousetoYours is warm, on-brand and helps people to find the content easily online.
- Posts like the one below, link to the Sydney Opera House’s digital hub which is home to a wealth of content that’s quick and easy to navigate. From Digital Season clips to articles, videos, podcasts, playlists, kids and more, finding your way around is simple.
#4 PlayStation Australia
The last mention in this article goes to PlayStation Australia. Again, their social media is strong. And their engagement levels @PlayStationAU are high with many posts receiving hundreds if not thousands of likes and comments. The reason I’ve highlighted this brand is because they follow many good social media practices, such as:
- Asking questions to boost engagement
- Celebrating significant days with incentives, rewards and branded content.
- Actively commenting and replying on threads
- Hosting competitions and including well written ts & cs.
- Creating FOMO and excitement with social media countdowns. Placing a countdown clock or a red notification stating how many products are left is a great way to spark FOMO. If you’re promoting a specific product release, why not create a series of short teaser videos and release them during the weeks leading up to the launch? This will help keep all eyes on your brand and keep people coming back for more.
There’s a lot to be admired about the above campaigns and as the Creative Director of leading digital media agency, Contentworks, I always appreciate innovation. Which is your favourite marketing campaign from Australia? Tweet me @Charli_Says and let me know.