Why is this work relevant for Media?

This campaign re-connected a world in isolation with an industry in crisis through the power of media. A campaign born through emerging trends of media consumption and delivered through true media innovation and integrated partnership. We extended an owned media solution through paid media scale while retaining what is most important - supporting real people in an industry under pressure. Our bespoke broadcast television event combined with an entire weekend of live social video allowed the world to keep dreaming of their next Australian holiday.

Background

Disastrous fires and devastating floods made the start of 2020 the worst period in history for Australian tourism with an estimated $4.5B in cancellations and lost revenue. As we picked up the pieces, a global pandemic brought the industry back to its knees. Attractions closed. Airlines shutdown. Events cancelled. Overnight, tourism ceased to exist. Our brief? Provide support to an industry facing an uncertain year ahead. Our objective? Reignite the dream for travel in Australia by: - Facilitating international audiences to explore and experience Australia - Increasing Australia's intention to undertake domestic Australian travel

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Humans crave connection to others. But in a time of crisis, our ability to connect had been dramatically limited. Isolation creates dissonance with our very existence. In response, individuals search for new ways to establish routine and connection with their worlds. We set out to find the ‘where’ and the ‘how’ people were striving for connection. Analysing rapidly evolving media consumption during lockdown, we discovered the world was in search of new forms of social interaction. News and personality anchored TV programming was up 17.4% YOY. But the relationship between TV screens and social media was also changing. Once confined to mobile devices, live streams were now a form of escape and variety for living room entertainment. Social users were searching and streaming LIVE content, with Facebook LIVE and YouTube LIVE audiences tripling compared to pre COVID19 levels. Our idea? Live From Aus - A live virtual Australian Holiday.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our strategy was simple. Leverage pandemic led media behaviours to fulfill the need for connection by exploring the best of Australia and reigniting wanderlust. With travel unattainable for all, we created a virtual experience of Australia broadcast directly to home-bound travellers in the comfort of their living room. A live broadcast television event that continued into a full weekend schedule of live Australian experiences streamed simultaneously to the world on Facebook and YouTube. We partnered with a broadcast TV channel to create The Love Australia Project. A bespoke prime time news program dedicated entirely to planning your next Aussie holiday and spotlighting our industry partners and 40 hand selected tourism operators. To extend the invitation to explore Australia, guides and hosts from every state and territory went live on our owned Facebook and YouTube channels. 32 segments of content were streamed in a single weekend.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Our 60min TV special event was just that! Thanks to integrated networks branded promo’s, Billboards and in program alignments, The Love Australia Project, reached 1.27 million Aussie viewers. Making it the 2nd highest rating non-news program of the day. A 20% uplift from timespot audience a week earlier. Australia was engaged! The Love Australia Project trended #1 on Twitter nationally. A global invitation extended our virtual holiday through Facebook and Youtube with 100,000+ people signing up to join us on our live streaming adventure. As our 32 unique live streams broadcast, we received 6.6 million live, real time views. The following fortnight people continued to travel virtually around Australia. Addressable media identified boredom busting behaviours in news, social and search and redirected them to our live content with total views continuing to climb. Reaching 34 Million video views within 2 weeks.

List the results (30% of vote)

In facilitating audiences exploring and experiencing Australia our scale speaks for itself. · The Love Australia Project, reaching 1.27 million Aussie viewers · Trending #1 on Twitter · 100,000+ people signed up for viewing reminders · 6.6 million live, real time views · 34 Million video views within 2 weeks But most importantly for the industry and operators doing it tough, we increased Australia’s intention to undertake domestic travel. · +10% increase in those ‘very likely’ to undertake domestic travel when restrictions lifted (pre and post brand lift study) · Demand for Australia through booking partners increased +3%. The first positive change week on week following 12 weeks of falling demand. Kickstarting sustained demand growth for 6 consecutive weeks. (Adara’s Data Co-op - Expedia, Booking.com etc) By inspiring the world to dream, our epic holiday delivered epic results and gave hope to an industry facing an uncertain year ahead.