Destination Marketing Tourism Australia’s Controversial Campaign This case is about an advertising campaign started by Tourism Australia in 2006, the controversies it created, and its eventual withdrawal. The case revolves around the “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign that was withdrawn in early 2008. Australian tourism had been facing the unique problem where the interest shown by the people in visiting the country was not translating into actual tourist inflows. The campaign was intended to solve this problem by translating the huge interest shown by the people to visit Australia into actual tourist inflows. The theme of the campaign was to invite the people to visit Australia and enjoy the diverse range of experiences available there. The campaign was launched through multiple media channels and Australian model Lara Bingle was the face of the campaign. The campaign was developed after extensive marketing research and strove to target ‘Experience Seekers —early adopters who played a major role in influencing the purchasing behavior of other people. The campaign became controversial right from the time it was launched and was even initially banned in some countries such as the UK and Canada. The campaign attracted the wrath of the regulators in these countries because of the use of swear words such as ‘Bloody’ and ‘Hell’. These words were part of the Australian slang, but their use in the ad campaign was perceived as offensive in some of the target markets. Tourism Australia was criticized for not taking the cultural aspects into account before developing an advertising campaign for the international markets. In an increasingly competitive and tough commercial environment, we must be bold, aggressive, and distinctive to win the business. But we also must be credible—we must be true to what we are as a destination and focus on why the world loves us—and our marketing must be authentically and distinctively Australian... This exciting new campaign provides a compelling and uniquely Australian invitation to the world that celebrates our personality, our lifestyle, and our place. It has been carefully designed to cut through the clutter and motivate international tourists to stop putting it off and visit Australia now.’ - Scott Morrison, Managing Director, Tourism Australia, on the controversial “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign that was launched in 2006 * “Tourism Australia Asks, ‘So Where The Bloody Hell Are You?’; Cheeky New Ad Campaign...,” www.allbusiness.com, February 23, 2006.They [Asian visitors] didn’t get the joke at all, it wasn’t funny to them tohave this word bloody which can be a serious word to others. It came across as a demand for people to visit Australia, not an invitation and that’s not at all culturally appropriate in many of the countries in which we are working to encourage people to come and see us.” - Desley Boyle, Queensland’s Tourism Minister, in 2007 In awareness, in some areas it was very good. But it seems from everything that we see and hear from the industry that it was not strong enough to really go on from here. - Harold Mitchell, the Executive Chairman of the Mitchell Communication Group, in 2008 End of an Innovative and Controversial Campaign In February 2008, Tourism Australia‘ announced that it was discontinuing its controversial advertisement campaign, “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” (Bloody Hell). The announcement put an end to the contentious campaign launched in 2006 by Tourism Australia, a statutory authority of the Government of Australia set up to promote the country as a tourist destination. Through the campaign, which featured well-known Australian model Lara Bingle (Bingle), Tourism Australia sought to promote Australia as a rough and wild, but friendly place for tourists. It said that the brand proposition of the campaign was, “Australia invites you to get involved.”* The announcement of the campaign’s withdrawal came amidst a fall in tourist numbers attributed to the fact that the Australian Dollar (A$)* was growing stronger. The advertisement campaign received wide media coverage and was also accessed online by many people. Though it was initially termed a success and as having helped spur tourists to visit the country, it proved controversial in some of the target markets. The use of the swear words ‘Bloody’ and ‘Hell’ particularly incensed many. However, Tourism Australia defended the use of the words, saying they were part of Australian slang and were intended to portray Australia as “warm, friendly, and inviting”. The advertisement was banned in some countries like the UK and Canada. While the UK banned it for the use of the word ‘bloody’, Canada banned it for the opening line in the advertisement of the campaign, “We’ve bought “Bloody Hell’ Tourism Ads ‘Should Be Mothballed”, www.abc.net.au, December 21, 2007. Edmond Roy, “Tourism Australia Looks Beyond ‘Controversial Campaign’”, www.abe.net.au, February 7, 2008. 4 Tourism Australia was formed in July 2004 by merging the Australian Tourism Commission, See Australia, the Bureau of Tourism Research and the Tourism Forecasting Council for marketing tourism in Australia both domestically and internationally. * www.tourism.australia.com ® As dune 2008, US$1 was approximately equal to A$1.045 and €1 was approximately equal to A$1.626.you a beer” which, it said, implied the consumption of unbranded alcohol. Singapore insisted that Tourism Australia remove the words ‘bloody’ and ‘hell’ before releasing the campaign in that country. The first year of the launch of the campaign saw an increase of A$1.8 bn in tourist spending.’ However, some analysts believed that the campaign had failed to live up to expectations. Even as marketing experts remained divided in their opinion on the campaign’s effectiveness, Tourism Australia decided to pull it out under pressure from various stakeholders and amidst concerns that the A$180 mn campaign was a complete failure. Analysts felt that the main reasons for its withdrawal were the controversy it sparked in its targeted markets and its failure to attract more tourists from some of the key markets. As of early 2008, Tourism Australia was under pressure from the government to take urgent steps to control the fall in tourist numbers. Tourism Australia said that a new advertising campaign would be launched very soon and that proper care would be taken to avoid any controversies in its future campaigns. History of Australian Tourism Australia is an island continent located in the earth’s southern hemisphere comprising the world’s smallest continent of Australia, the island of Tasmania, and a number of other small islands (Refer Exhibit I for a brief note on Australia). Over the years, Australia made a name for itself as a strong destination brand (Refer Exhibit II for a brief note on Destination branding). The name ‘Australia’ was adopted from the Latin word ‘Australis’ which means southern. Australia is the biggest island on earth and the sixth largest country in terms of land area, The. capital of Australia is Canberra. Sydney and Melbourne are its other major cities. It has Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea to the north, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australia is a country famous for its biodiversity. Many of the species of plants, animals, and birds found there are not found anywhere else in the world. The country is mostly uninhabited and most of its population lives near the coastline. The earlier inhabitants of the country were the Aboriginal people who migrated there fifty to sixty thousand years ago from South-East Asia. After the European discovery of Australia in 1606, the British colonized Australia in 1770 and the first settlement by Europeans took place at Port Jackson in the southeastern region of Australia, as a British penal colony in 1778.’ During the 19* century, the development of Australia was confined to a group of British colonies. In January 1901, after Australia got its independence from the asi fe on ot Sita oes en ‘encompassing six states? and two territories? under a single constitution, the ‘Commonwealth of Ausralla: Australia has been a constitutional monarchy with the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth Il, as its monarch since February 6, 1952.* 1 “Australia,” www.encarya.msn.com, 2008. * The six states of Australia are New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia. 2 Tig eres tie Nexbfer rrr tory and she duetvaliani Capital territacy. + www.wapedia.mobi/en (Contd...) “Bingle Ad Rakes in Extra $1.8 bn,” www.theage.com.au, March 8, 2007.| World War Il period and contributed to the development of the economy.’ Nearly 6.5 million (Contd. E | Australia entered the period of growth after 1945. Many refugees and migrants arrived in the post people immigrated to Australia in the planned post-war immigration from over 200 countries.® | Manufacturing became the key growth sector of the country. The 1950s and 1960s saw a period of continued strong economic growth with major projects like the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a hydroelectric project. Australia hosted the Olympic Games of 1956 in Melbourne. In the 1970s, Australia experienced major modifications in its economic and social policies and extensive improvements in the social security, foreign affairs, industrial relations, and health and education sectors. In 1975, a constitutional crisis surfaced in the country when the Labor government was dismissed by the Governor-General. This resulted in a defeat for Labor and, until 1983, the Liberal-National Coalition ruled Australia, The 1990s saw Australia experiencing an economic growth of about 3.3% a year.’ This strong economic growth was due to its low rate of inflation coupled with decreasing levels of unemployment. In 2000, Australia hosted the Olympic Games for the second time in Sydney. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (in terms of purchasing power parity) of Australia for the year 2006 was US$666.3 bn." As of 2006, Australia was the 13" biggest economy in the world and was ranked 10" among the biggest industrialized economies. It was also the 8" richest nation in terms of per capita income. Australia is also a vibrant democracy with strong democratic institutions. The services sector constituting tourism, financial services, and education contributed to nearly 69% of the GDP in 2007."° Tourism has emerged as the prime source of revenue for Australia with contributions of US$79 in 2007.” But the share of tourism had been steadily falling over the years and it is considered a minor player in the world tourism industry.” (Refer Table for the list of top 10 tourist destinations in the world). Table: The World’s Top Tourist Destinations for the Years 2005 and 2006 gre ohrens meeenr pitts Anryayereo [oid Tea ea | Country (millions) Dees ei: 2005 2006 | France 75.9 | 794 42 Spain | 55.9 | 58.5 45 United States LChnay eee |= Wo coe els ese. at | United Kingdom | Germany | Mexico | Austria Russian Federation from “The World's Top Tourism Destinations,” “Ancient Heritage, Modern Society,” www.dfat.gov.au “Australia - An Overview,” www.dfat.gov.au “A Global Economy,” wwwdfat.gov.au, April 2008. “Gross Domestic Product of Australia 1999-2006,” www.airninja.com “Australia — An Overview,” www.dfat.gov.au “Australia GDP Growth,” www.radingeconomics.com, May 14, 2008. “Tourism Contributes 85 Billion Dollars to Australian Economy,” www.chinaview.com, April 17, 2008. “Visitor Arrivals Data,” www.tourism.australia.com, March 2008. aun ne (Contd...)Realizing the importance of tourism to the nation’s economy, Australia had been promoting its tourism industry since the 1960s (Refer Exhibit Ill for history of Australian tourism: A timeline). In 1967, the Australian Tourism Commission (ATC) was established with a funding of A$1.5 mn.* In 1983, the government granted A$13 mn to ATC to launch a major ad campaign for promoting tourism in Australia. The campaign, called the “Shrimp on the Barbie”, featured Paul Hogan.” It was targeted at the US market and ran from 1984 to 1990. The original slogan of the ad campaign was “Come and say G’day, I’ll slip an extra shrimp in the Barbie for you”. The advertisement campaign was developed by the Australian advertising agency Mojo in association with NW Ayer & Son." It featured a series of TV ads, and was launched to coincide with the National Football Conference Championship Game" in January 1984. Its success could be gauged by the fact that it helped improve Australia’s position from 78" to 7 on the list of the most desired vacation destinations for Americans in just three months of its launch and later to number 1 or number 2 position on the dream vacation list of Americans.'? The use of Australian slang in the promotional campaigns started with this advertising campaign. The word ‘Barbie’ was Australian slang for barbecue and the slogan “Slip a Shrimp on the Barbie” of the campaign referred to fun-filled picnics on sunny Australian afternoons. The campaign was so successful that the slogan was later used to refer to Australian culture. The campaign helped in the continuous flow of tourists into Australia for many years. Analysts felt that this campaign was the first to promote a destination as a brand on a large scale. According to some marketing experts, the “Shrimp on the Barbie” campaign brought destination branding to the limelight. *” “History of Tourism in Australia,” www.ret.gov.au Paul Hogan is a famous Australian actor and comedian. He was honored with a number of awards like the Golden Globe and the Australian of the year award for the year 1985. » NW Ayer & Son headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the oldest advertising agencies founded in the US. 4 The NFC Championship Game is one of the two semi-final matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the US. Bill Baker and Peggy Bendel, “Come and Say G’Day!” www.atme.orgDestination branding refers to the branding of all the things associated with a place like its products and services. Destination may refer to a nation, a region, a city, or an event. Destination branding uses the same branding techniques used in product branding to position a particular destination as a brand. While branding is primarily used only for consumer products, destination branding is used to promote tourism by attracting visitors to a particular location and getting a fair share of the tourism revenues. It helps a destination stand out from the clutter of other alternatives available making the choices easier for the consumers. Commenting on the concept of destination branding, Bill Baker, President, Total Destination Management," said, “In this era of super- brands, it may seem an unusual notion to consider a city, state, region, or country as a brand. We buy brands because we enjoy them and they make our choices easier. In the context of a place being the focal point for the promotion and catalyst for economic development, it makes sense that it should be managed as a brand to enhance its identity and perceived value in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”? The concept of ‘Destination branding’ emerged in the 1970s, when New York launched its “L Love New York”, campaign.’ This eminent campaign was one of the most successful campaigns in destination branding. The campaign focused on the accommodation, entertainment, and cultural opportunities offered by the city while developing an image that encapsulated the benefits offered to the customers. The development of destination branding resulted in a significant increase in the number of international tourist arrivals from 534 million in 1995 to 900 million in 2007 due to the aggressive promotional strategies followed by various countries (Refer Figure for the international tourist arrivals figures from 1995 to 2007). ivals from ‘1995 to 2007 (in millions) Figure: International Tourist Ai a 1] a6 88 oy os wwe TB 0 300 200 I 100 f ° 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006-2007 Adapted trom “World Tourist Arrivals: From 800 Million to 900 Million in Two Years,” www.unwto.org In addition to attracting tourist and increasing tourist arrivals, destination branding also helped in attracting business investments, in increasing the soft power of the country, and in attracting skilled professionals. 1 ‘Total Destination Management is composed of a team of people specializing in tourism marketing, tourism planning, branding of destination, city, or place, ete. # Jesse Blackadder, “Australia - The Story of a Destination Brand,” www blackaddennet.au, 2006. Pandora Kay and Allison Ringer, “Persuasive Branding and Promotion Strategies,” www.marketwiz.info, 2003, The campaign slowly started losing its sheen after a successful run of six years. It was in this period that Australia decided to curb its investments in the US and focus on other lucrative markets like Japan, Europe and South-East Asia. The other important campaign that promoted tourism in Australia was the “Australia—a different light” campaign launched in MayIn 1966, the goverment appointed Don Chipp as the first federal minister for ome tourism activities in Australia. In 1973, Australia’s tourism policy, Development of Tourism in Australia was launched with | an additional grant of A$1.75 mn. In 1998, in an effort to enhance rural and regional tourism, the government released an action agenda for tourism called, “Tourism: A Ticket for the 21* Century”. In 1999, the ATC released a "See Australia” campaign to capitalize on the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. In 2003, Australia was affected by SARS and this led to a decline in tourist arrivals. In the same year, the government funded the ATC with A$12 mn to revive the “See Australia” campaign as part of its SARS recovery program. In 2004, Tourism Australia, a statutory authority of the government of Australia was launched to promote Australia as.a tourist destination both at the domestic and international level while } providing estimates for the tourism sector. } In December 2005, the National Tourism Emerging Markets Strategy: China and india (NTEMS) was released and in March 2006, the National Tourism Investment Strategy: Investing for our Future. These reports advocated that the government and the tourism industry get involved in the task of promoting Australia as a tourist destination in those markets. 2004.* The slogan of the campaign was “See Australia in a different light”. The campaign was intended to promote domestic tourism among Australians as well as sell Australia as an experience to other countries. It was also launched in response to New Zealand’s “100% pure New Zealand” campaign that helped New Zealand become the most favored destination in the southern hemisphere with visitor arrivals increasing by 33% in a period of four years."* The Australian campaign involved five TV ads featuring eminent Australian personalities like Delta Goodrem (singer/song writer) and Richie Benaud (cricketer/cricket commentator). The total budget for the campaign, the biggest ever launched to promote tourism in Australia, was A$360 mn. The ATC consulted various organizations such as Penfolds,’* RM Williams Company," Australian Council for the Arts,* and Foster’s Group” to know their perceptions about Australia before launching commercials for the campaign. One of the intentions of the campaign was to encourage Australians to take a break and discover new unexplored regions in their country. The campaign also focused on promoting Australia based on various attributes Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis, “Australia to See the Light on Tourism,” www.smh.com.au, May 19, 2004. “100% Pure New Zealand” was a highly successful tourism promotion campaign started by Tourism New Zealand and designed by M&C Saatchi. Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis, “Australia to See the Light on Tourism,” May 19, 2004. Founded in 1844, Penfolds is an Australia-based wine producer. RM Williams Company is a maker of boots and other leather accessories. Australian Council for the Arts is the government advisory body that grants funds for art organizations in Australia. Foster’s Group is a beverage company based in Australia.that distinguished it from other destinations. Commenting on the campaign, Stephen O’Neill, Marketing Chief, ATC, said, “We wanted to show a different side to Australia, not just the sun, the sea, and the sand but the history and the culture of the place. Today’s tourist is looking to learn more about the country rather than just enjoy some of its more obvious delights.”*° The logo of Tourism Australia combining the kangaroo and the sun was also launched during this campaign (Refer Exhibit IV for the logo of Tourism Australia). The “Australia—a different light” campaign was the biggest after the “Shrimp on the Barbie” campaign to promote Australian tourism. Tourism Australia launched the campaign to promote visiting Australia as an experience to be cherished. Launching the campaign, Joe Hockey (Hockey), then federal minister for small business and tourism, said, “We can’t be just another theme park, we can’t be another hotel room. We must provide visitors with a life-long experience.”?! The campaign helped in positioning Australia as one of the world’s most booming and attractive destination brands. The country attracted 5.5 million tourists in 2005 till September—an increase of 6% over the corresponding period of 2004. It earned A$17 bn (US$12.5 bn)” from overseas tourists and this figure was expected to reach A$32.1 bn by 2014, according to the Tourism Forecasting Committee.”* TUTE ee ee oxe) *® Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis, “Australia to See the Light on Tourism,” May 19, 2004. Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis, “Australia to See the Light on Tourism,” www.smh.com.au, May 19, 2004. “Australia swears by ad campaign,” www.fin24.com, February 23, 2006. “Bloody Hell! Australia’s New Tourism Campaign Banned in UK,” www.bloomberg.com, March 9, 2006.The Problem Despite Australia being a strong destination brand, the problem that the newly formed Tourism Australia faced was that the number of tourists actually visiting Australia did not match the number of people who had shown an interest in visiting the country. Australia performed well in a number of destination ratings and scored high on brand recall. For instance, it was consistently rated high in the Anholt Nation Brands Index™ (NBI). According to NBI, consumers picked Australia as the number one destination if money was not important and they considered Australians hardworking, trustworthy and honest. In 2005 and in early 2006, Australia was the number one tourist destination in the NBI results (Refer Table I for the top 10 nation brands). However, analysts felt that there was a disconnect between Australia’s value as a destination brand and its actual performance in the global marketplace as the same people who rated Australia high, ended up going to a different destination rather than Australia. Simon Anholt of NBI said, “One of the most interesting results on Australia’s remarkable brand scorecard is the fact that it comes top of the list as a desirable tourist destination. This is such a strikingly inaccurate reflection of actual tourism patterns that some explanation is required... What the NBI tells us is that. much of the world has an appetite for things Australian. Now is the time for Australia to be producing great Australian-branded products, culture, events, services, ideas, and media as fast as it possibly can.”?> Pte Preparing for the New Campaign The ‘Bloody Hell’ campaign was started by the Australian Government in 2006 to increase the tourist inflow to the country. The campaign was designed by the Sydney office of the advertising agency M&C Saatchi (Saatchi). Saatchi had earlier designed the successful campaign, “100% Pure New Zealand” for promoting tourism in New Zealand. ™ The Anholt Nation Brands Index is an analytical ranking of the world’s nation brands released quarterly. It surveys and analyzes 25,900 consumers in 35 nations to determine how countries are perceived by others. The nations are then ranked on the following criteria: tourism, culture and heritage, people, governance, exports, investment and immigration (Source: “Marketing Planet Nation Brand Index — What Brand Image Does Your Country Have?” www.marketing-planet.com, December 22, 2005). ® Jesse Blackadder, “Australia - The Story of a Destination Brand,” http:// www.mrsa.com.au/index.cfm?a=detail&id=2363&eid=129. * M&C Saatchi, headquartered in London, UK is one of the leading and fastest growing advertising agencies in the world.The important objective of the campaign was to cash in on the awareness created through previous advertising campaigns and convert them into actual travel bookings. Tim Fischer, Chairman, Tourism Australia, said, “This campaign is about increasing the dollars that we earn from international tourism and encouraging the spread of tourists right across Australia, especially for rural and regional areas. This is the job that the Australian Government has asked Tourism Australia to do and this is the campaign that will deliver on that job. This is unashamedly a campaign about getting international tourists to come to Australia. What matters most is what potential visitors think and how we can get them to respond.”?? The target of the “Bloody Hell” campaign was to raise the tourist numbers to 9 million by 2014.% The new global destination marketing campaign started in 2006 was also aimed at further enhancing Australia’s image as a good international destination. The website of Tourism Australia highlighted the important objectives of the new campaign as, “to further TNs enhance Australia’s reputation and address the new challenges such as greater competition from other The target of the destinations, increased sameness between destinations, “Bloody Hell” campaign was to raise the tourist numbers to 9 million by 2014 and reaching a more sophisticated global traveler who is becoming increasingly difficult to target.” The “Bloody Hell” campaign was aggressive and different from earlier campaigns as Tourism Australia sought to win in the increasingly competitive tourism market and offset competition from emerging international destinations like Malaysia, Singapore and India. ee < Australia—the US, the UK, Germany, Before the launch, the campaign was tested on 86 focus groups” in the seven topmost target markets of Japan, South Korea, China, and New Zealand—which accounted for 67% of the inbound Australian tourism business.*! The Bloody Hell campaign had a research budget of A$6.2 mn.” The campaign had got a very good response from the focus groups, according to Tourism Australia. After testing the feasibility of the campaign, the target group was identified. This group was called the Experience Seekers and they were z “So Where the Bloody Hell are You? Tourism Australia Invites the World to Australia,” www.tourism.australia.com, February 27, 2006. Julian Lee, “How to Lure the Tourists - Spin them a Line of Strine,” www.theage.com.au, February 24, 2006. ® “A Uniquely Australian Invitation,” www.tourism.australia.com, 2007. ® Focus Group is a form of qualitative research. In this method, a group of people are asked about their opinion of a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, packaging, etc. Members of the focus group are asked questions in an interactive group setting and the group members are free to talk with each other during the process. “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You? Tourism Australia Invites the World to Australia,” www.tourism.australia.com, February 27, 2006. = Julian Lee, “Bloody Hell! Sensitive Poms Rein in Our Ads,” www.theage.com.au, March 10, 2006.early adopters who played a major role in influencing the purchasing behavior of other people. According to the marketers, they were a new breed of travelers who looked for ‘authentic personal experiences they can talk about.’ These were the long-haul visitors who liked to get involved and ‘engage with the locals’. They were adventurous and looking for a change from their everyday lives. They also demanded value for their money in their vacation spending.* Though the campaign primarily targeted the Experience Seekers, care was taken to see that it was not rejected by other groups as this would dilute the efficiency of the media spend. Estimates from Tourism Australia suggested that there was a huge growth potential from target markets such as the UK, Germany, the US, Japan, and China in 2007 (Refer Table II for percentages of experience seekers in Australia’s five key markets). Launching the New Campaign The campaign was launched by Fran Bailey (Bailey), then Australian tourism minister, on February 27, 2006. The advertisements of the campaign featured a total of 11 scenes and 13 still images. The images and scenes showed the diverse range of experiences on offer in Australia. The tag line used for the campaign, “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” was perceived to be uniquely Australian in tone and character. When deciphered, the campaign meant, “Immerse Yourself in Australia’s World Heritage.”* The campaign was run through all the media channels (both traditional and new media) such as television, print, cooperative and retail activity, web, point of sale, direct marketing, and outdoor advertising. It cost a total of A$180 mn.* (Refer Figure for the campaign structure). Though the campaign was standardized across all the markets, some minor changes were made for each market depending upon the cultural factors governing that market. The TV ads were made in two 80 and 60-second versions and focused on an array of Australian tourism experiences while the print ads focused on the diversity of experiences in a range of geographical and environmental fF settings (Refer Exhibit V for some of the print ads). The people featured in the advertisements Rodel. The sdvertisenert Alea models). The advertisement = “The Selling of Australia,” www.smh.com.au, February 27, 2006. “New Aussie Tourism Campaign Targets Japan,” www.stuff.co.nz, September 5, 2007. “Brits Lift Bloody Hell Ad Ban,” www.smh.com.au, March 18, 2006.“The Tammet Market The Australian brandiswellestablishedand | The Expentence Seeker. respected by consumers who already havea ‘Consumer insight: strongand positive predisposition travel to experience the diferences. tothedestination. The campaign creatively | 09 ‘captures the brand insight and conveysan | invitation to visit Brandinsight: Australia hasa.uniguely open personality and environment. Techiecie ‘TheEnviooment Toiincrease the demand pool of ee eee | potential travelers by increasing the eer nie een Multi-channel environments. ese. ‘Campaign Brand proposition: ‘Australia invites youto get involved.” Increase Experience Seekers’ intention to travel to Australia BY Engaging them ina conversation IGNITED WITH A uniquely Australian invitation SUPPORTED BY Compelling information about Australian experiences. PROVIDED THROUGH A multiplicity of communication touch points. TO GENERATE Contact with the distribution channel. Creative Distribution Media Programs | Digital E Effectiveness eee | campaign also featured the Tourism Australia logo. There was a special focus on using the Web for the new advertising campaign. Tourism Australia partnered with OneDigital® and ISOBAR® network of companies to develop a digital strategy to revamp the website www.australia.com, and the execution of a suite of digital programs. The www.australia.com website was modified to reflect the new campaign and a new supplementary website called www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com, was developed to provide digital support programs for the campaign. An example of these digital support programs was the electronic postcards activity where the trade and consumers could create their own postcards online by choosing from selected images from the campaign and send them to their contacts. Advertisements were run in major newspapers in Australia and other countries encouraging people to log on to the new website and to e-mail their contacts. OneDigital, headquartered in Sydney, Australia is an advertising agency which specializes in digital advertising. It describes itself as ‘full service digital agency.” ISOBAR, headquartered in London, UK, is a digital marketing agency and the world’s largest digital agency network.By aos Ard Ua ea 5 ‘i ' ive sel Australian supermodel Bingle became the face of the campaign and was featured in some of the shots of the advertisement. The campaign’s theme was to show how Australians were inviting the visitors and preparing their country for them. The TV ad began with an opening line where a customer in a remote outback pub said, “We have poured you a beer.” This was followed by similar scenes inviting the viewers to visit Australia: a camel train silhouetted by the sunset in the Australian desert where a woman said, “And we have had the camels shampooed,” a barelegged woman at Fingel Spit*® who said, “We have saved you a spot on the beach,” a boy diving in a pool who said, “And we have got the sharks out of the pool,” a golfer on the golf course bunker who said, “We have got the roos* off the green,” a jackaroo*' in a homestead who said, “And Bill’s on his way down to open the front gate,” a pilot of a plane landing on the great barrier reef? who said, “Your taxi is waiting,” a woman standing before the fireworks display of the Sydney harbor who said, “We have ® ‘The back country or remote settlements (Source: www-dictionary.reference.com). ® ‘The northern head of the Fingal Bay located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia is called Fingel Spit. Australian Informal for Kangaroos. (Source: www.dictionary.reference.com) A young man living as an apprentice on a sheep station or otherwise engaged in acquainting himself with colonial life. (Source: www.dictionary.reference.com) The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia stem located in the Coralturned on the lights,” and a young woman from a performing Aboriginal dance troupe who said, “And we have been rehearsing for over 40,000 years.” The advertisement ended with the bikini clad Bingle coming out of the ocean at Fingel Spit and asking viewers, “So where the bloody hell are you?” This campaign was launched on a global scale unlike the earlier “Shrimp on the Barbie” campaign that targeted the US market. On earlier occasions, specifie campaigns were released for specific markets like campaigns featuring Greg Norman“ targeting the Korean market while a campaign released in Japan targeted the career-oriented office women, who took decisions like where their family would spend their holidays. The “Bloody Hell” campaign was rolled out in many of the targeted markets such as New Zealand, the US, Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Korea by the end of March 2006, the UK, Germany, and Japan being Australia’s main target markets (Refer Table III for the details of the global rollout of the “Bloody Hell” campaign). The launch of the campaign got extensive media coverage around the world. But even before the campaign was launched, there were some apprehensions about the cultural reactions that the new advertisements could evoke because of the slang words used in them. Tourism Australia had even filmed alternative advertisements like the one in English, “So where the hell are you?” However, it was confident that the campaign would be successful and dismissed all apprehensions about it. Bailey said, “We've done our homework and we have researched it in all our major markets. We have really road-tested the campaign and it works.”4 John Howard, Prime Minister, Australia, also supported the ad and said, “I don’t think we are polite enough to each other and good manners uf Location Launch to Trade Date Mediums Sydney February 23, 2006 NA New Zealand February 27, 2006 TY, Cinema, Intemet and Print Us March 7, 2006 TY, Intemet and Print Germany March 10, 2006 TY, Cinema.and intemet UK March 13, 2006 TV, Cinema and internet Hong Long March 20, 2006 TV and Intemet China March 20, 2006 TV and Intemet Japan March 27, 2006 TY, Cinema and Intemet Korea March 29, 2006 TV and Internet lia Asks Where the Bloody Hell Are You,” www.duncans.tv, February 26, Greg Norman is an Au: -alia-based golf player. Julian Lee, “How to Lure the Tourists www.theage.com.au, February 24, 2006. Spin them a Line of Strine,”is the basis of a more civilized society. I think it’s a colloquialism, it’s not a word that is seen quite in the same category as other words that nobody ought to use in public or on the media or in an advertisement... I think the style of the ad is anything but offensive, but is, in fact, in the context, I think it’s a very effective ad.“ Controversy and Criticisms The “Bloody Hell” campaign attracted controversy immediately after its launch. The campaign was criticized in some of the target countries for using swear words like ‘bloody’ and ‘hell’ and for its allegedly crude content. The advertisement campaign was released in the UK, Australia’s most valuable market, in March 2006.7 (Refer Exhibit VI for the top 10 source countries for short-term visitor arrivals into Australia), The advertisement was banned in UK for using the word ‘bloody’ and, UK’s Broadcast Advertising Clearance Center (BACC) instructed Tourism Australia authorities to drop the word ‘bloody’ from the ad.** Tourism Australia reacted to the ban saying that it would actually help the campaign in becoming more successful. Commenting on the ban in the UK, the Managing Director of Tourism Australia, Scott Morrison said, “We thank the UK authorities for the extra free publicity and invite them to have a ‘bloody’ good holiday in [ Australia, especially with the Commonwealth Games now on and the Ashes coming up later in the year.”5° Exhibit VI: The Top 10 Source Countries for Short-term Visitor Arrivals as of Februar’ As a result of the ban the word [ ‘bloody’ was cut from the advertising campaign when shown on the UK TV. But the advertisement was | allowed to be shown on other media channels such as print, cinema and online in the original form. Morrison said, “We would have preferred the : *” “PM Backs ‘Bloody’ Tourism Ad Campaign,” wwwabe.net.au, February 23, 2006. In 2005, more than 700,000 visitors from the UK visited spending around A$3.4 bn. (Source: “Bloody Hell! Australia’s New Tourism Campaign Banned in UK,” wwwbloomberg.com, March 9, 2006). Broadcast Advertising Clearance Center was a Non-Government Organization which pre-approved the television advertising in UK till December 31, 2007. * “Australian Advert Banned on UK TV,” www.news.bbe.co.uk, March 9, 2006. Julian Lee, “Bloody Hell! Sensitive Poms Rein in Our Ads,” www.theage.com.au, March 10, 2006.ad to run the way we first made it, but we can still run it the way it is cut now, which says ‘Where the hell are you?’ It is not as if it is not going to be shown on UK television. It will be shown. It will just have that slight adjustment to it. It will be run in its original format on the Internet, in cinemas and everywhere else.”*' The advertising agency which created the campaign, Saatchi also reacted strongly to the ban. Richard Alford the managing director of Saatchi, said, “The line is a classic piece of Australian language. It’s just sad that we'll be deprived of this fresh and funny line on UK TV.”® They argued that it was ironical that the authorities allowed the controversial ads of French Connection of the UK (FCUK), but objected to their campaign.** Bailey immediately visited the UK to save the campaign from the UK censors. The hectic lobbying that she indulged in resulted in the ban on the advertising campaign being lifted. But a 9 p.m. watershed was imposed on the advertisement. Bailey said, “I am pleased that common sense prevailed and the regulators realized the campaign was intended to be cheeky, friendly, and very Australian.”* Some critics in Figures obtained Australia even questioned the heavy costs incurred on the campaign and on the lobbying efforts of Bailey to by the media save it. Figures obtained by the media revealed that Bailey revealed that spent A$50,000 in just a week in her effort to save the . campaign. It was also revealed that the flights to London Batley sRene for Bailey and her team (which also included Bingle) cost A$50,000 in just a A$31,102.94.5° week in her effort In May 2006, the Advertising Standards Authority” to save the (ASA) in the UK rejected the complaints against the ad campaign campaign saying that the tag line’s “acceptability depended on the context and media in which it peared.” However, it later imposed a 9 p.m. broadcast restriction on the TV ads with the controversial phrase. In the same year, the campaign attracted the wrath of the regulators in Canada. The Canadian authorities banned the advertisement campaign ® “Australia’s Tourism Ad Restricted for ‘Bloody’ in UK,” www.commercial- archive.com, September 3, 2006. ® “Bloody Hell! Australia’s New Tourism Campaign Banned in UK,” www.bloomberg.com, March 10, 2006. The controversy surrounding clothing and accessory brand French Connection of UK was the use of its abbreviated form which was very similar to an impolite slang word. % Watershed is the term used to describe the time in the television schedules when the broadcasting of adult content is permitted. The watershed on UK’s television starts at 9.00 p.m. and ends at 5.30 a.m. the next morning. “Brits Lift Bloody Hell Ad Ban,” www.smh.com.au, March 18, 2006. Scott Murdoch, “What did We Get for $180 mn?” www.news.com.au, December 6, 2006. ‘The Advertising Standards Authority was an independent and non-statutory Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) of the advertising industry in UK. ® “Brit Ban on ‘Bloody’ Ad ‘Incredibly Ludicrous’”, www.smh.com.au, March 28, 2007.for its opening line, “We have poured you a beer”. The Canadian regulator contended that the opening line was an inference to the consumption of unbranded alcohol. Canada also found the use of the word ‘hell’ objectionable. Reacting to the Canadian ban on the campaign Bailey said, “We now have the Canadian authorities not wanting us to use the opening segment of ‘I’ve bought you a beer’... As far as this particular Canadian regulator is concerned, I’d love him to come out here and I’ll buy him a beer and say thank you.” Stung by the criticism faced in these countries, Tourism Australia took precautions when it released the advertisement in others such as Singapore and Japan and deleted the words ‘Bloody’ and ‘Hell’. Though controversies and criticisms over the advertisement campaign created some free publicity, they diluted the purpose for which the campaign had been started, some analysts felt. Toursim Australia officials contended that the controversy surrounding its advertising was because the slogan used for the campaign had been misunderstood and because of a lack of understanding of the Australian culture. However, the campaign found critics among experts Despite criticism from in Australia too. Alan Cadman, a member of the federal several quarters, parliament, found the campaign offensive and said, Tourism Australia “People usually can say those things to somebody they authorities maintained know well. I don’t think they would use it to a stranger that the message the and, in this instance, we’re talking to strangers of a dverti t ht different culture who I think may be offended.” Analysts aavertseuier sougn felt that it was also difficult to translate the message to convey was to invite into other languages. people to visit Though the UK authorities lifted the ban, the ASA (eauchaeued found the billboards featuring the “Bloody He]]” =a campaign on the motorways in the UK unpleasant and ordered them to be removed in March 2007. ASA’s decision was based on the 32 complaints it had received from people who perceived the slogan of the campaign as offensive and feared that children might be influenced by it.®! ASA said that the new campaign did not adhere to the advertising rules relating to responsibility and children. It also warned Tourism Australia not to use any swear words in any of its future billboards. Despite criticism from several quarters, Tourism Australia authorities maintained that the message the advertisement sought to convey was to invite people to visit Australia. Christopher Brown, Managing Director, Tourism and Transport Forum Lobby Group, said, “It’s about the only global brand campaign that Australia does anywhere; it is our message to the world and obviously Aussies, be it back 24 years ago today when the Paul Hogan campaign launched in America, right through to Lara Bingle, = “Beer Offer Adds to Bloody Ad Ban,” www.news.com.au, March 22, 2006. © “Australia’s Crude Tourism Campaign a ‘Bloody’ $130 mn Flop,” www.cdnn.info, March 8, 2006. * “Brit Ban on ‘Bloody’ Ad ‘Incredibly Ludicrous’”, www.smh.com.au, March 28, 2007,Australians are always going to take great interest in the message we send to the world.” The Results of the Campaign Many critics described the campaign as a failure right from the first year of its launch. In the first year of its launch, the number of tourist arrivals actually fell. In October 2006, the number of UK tourists who visited Australia fell by 2.3% compared to the preceding year. The number of Japanese tourists fell by 5.7% while the number of German tourists dropped by 4.7%. These three markets were touted by the Australian government as having the greatest exposure to the campaign. But there was an increase in the number of tourists from China and the US who visited Australia in the same period. Critics claimed that the campaign was not yielding any results even though a lot of money had been spent on it. “We have been told it was a huge success and generated all these hits on a website, but the latest tourism figures show the numbers are down 2.3%,”* said Labor’s Transport Spokesman Martin Even as the number of Ferguson (Ferguson). tourists arriving in Australia’s position in the NBI too slipped and by Australia saw a June 2007, it was placed 11" in the brand name valuation decline, the overall index, Canada overtook Australia as the world’s friendliest nation. revenues from tourism actually increased Even as the number of tourists arriving in Australia . saw a decline, the overall revenues from tourism actually after the campaign i. reased after the campaign was launched. The tourism was launched revenues increased by A$1.8 bn in the year 2006 and ens tUrist spending increased to A$14 bn for the first time after the launch of the “Bloody Hell” campaign. Tourism industry experts said that the increase in revenues was only because of increased spending coupled with longer stays rather than an actual increase in the number of tourists. The time tourists spent in Australia increased by 14% to 3.6 nights after the launch of the campaign. When the campaign was running through 2007, some analysts opined that it was not a total failure. The number of overseas tourists to Australia increased to 2.7 million in the first half of 2007, a growth of 4.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2006. Tourists visiting Australia from China, Korea, and South-East Asia went up by 20%, 8%, and 11% respectively.” @”~ Edmond Roy, “Tourism Australia Looks Beyond ‘Controversial Campaign”, www.abe.net.au, February 7, 2008. ® Scott Murdoch, “What did We Get for $180 mn?” www.news.com.au, December 6, 2006. ® Scott Murdoch, “What did We Get for $180 mn?” www.news.com.au, December 6, 2006. ® “Aussies Knocked Off as World’s Most Friendly,” www.news.com.au, June 1, 2007. “Bingle Ad Rakes in Extra $1.8 bn,” www.theage.com.au, March 8, 2007. ® “Tourism to Australia Growing ‘Bloody’ Strongly,” www.scoop.co.nz, August 8, 2007,A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the tourism industry added A$84.97 bn to the Australian economy in the financial year 2006-07 financial year. This was an increase of 7.8% from 2005-06 and also the highest growth in the sector since 1999. Of this, overseas tourists accounted for A$22.3 bn (growth of 9.8%).** Tourism Australia continued to maintain that the campaign was highly effective and released research data to prove that it was working. Within days of its being launched, the campaign made it to the list of 50 favorite commercials spanning four decades published by Advertising Federation of Australia® (AFA). The TV ads of the campaign then made it to the second cut of 30 top commercials. In the campaign update published by Tourism Australia in April 2007, results of a brand tracking survey were shown (Refer Table IV for the results of the brand tracking survey in key tourism markets). The campaign attracted the approval of media commentators who rejected the previous campaigns promoting Australia’s increasing cultural sophistication. However, with the campaign failing to increase the tourist inflows significantly and pressure mounting on Analysts said that Tourism Australia to end it, the campaign was withdrawn « jn Rebisiery D008 1a 2007. baie aPecteala icrsesel hyn ee nor Ste loss in just 2% to 5.6 million. They declined by 0.7% in January tourist numbers and 2008 and by 1.2% in February 2008.” Ultimately, tourism revenues, the industry experts said that though the campaign had been - rel rab litjaed andl ier oreeetyed ced = iccunantne controversy might target markets, it had become famous for all the wrong tarnish the image of reasons. Nor had it resulted in any significant increase brand ‘Australia’ itself in tourist numbers. “The ad itself was disgraceful... They spent $6 mn researching it and it was rejected all over the world because first of all nobody knows what that term means,”” said Federal Tourism Minister of Australia, John Brown. Outlook Some experts felt that the failure of the “Bloody Hell” campaign had dented the image of Tourism Australia as its predecessor, ATC, was considered an expert in destination branding. Analysts said that apart from the loss in tourist numbers and revenues, the controversy might tarnish the image of brand ‘Australia’ itself. They said that Australia should take urgent steps to control the damage caused by the failed advertising campaign and design a new campaign to stop the decline in tourist numbers, more so in “Tourism Contributes 86 billion Dollars to Australian Economy,” www.chinaview.en, April 17, 2008. Advertising Federation of Australia is a union of 185 companies providing advertising and marketing communications services in Australia. It was formed in 1975. ® Ben Packham, “No Spot for Lara in New Ad Pitch,” www.heraldsun.com.au, March 24, 2008. “Where the Bloody Hell is the New Ad Campaign?” www.ninmsn.com.au, February 7, 2008.Lea utes Knowledge ] Buzz* of eed Australia** ae | Seen the Campaign Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No UK Very positive ~ Stronger results | 79% | 66% | 6.0/10 | 5.3/10| 48% | 33% for those who saw the campaign across all measures. Japan Positive — Strong results across | 63% | 47% | 5.0/0 | 4.5/10| 43% | 25% } most measures. Call to action very positive in a tough market. New Challenging - Existing know- | 82% | 65% |6.6/10|6.1/10| 67% | 67% Zealand | Sedge and past visitation mean } | the campaign has to work harder to cut through. Buzz is well up. South | Positive — Strong results across | 70% | 60% | 5.2/0 | 4.9/10| 72% | 57% Korea | most measures, especially in ‘ terms of buzz. USA | Very Positive - Strong results | 81% | 60% |6.4/10 | 4.9/10| 47% | 20% across most measures among those who saw the campaign. China | Still Building - Fewer airings | 30% | 16% | 4.1/10 | 3.5/10| 28% | 10% of ad reduces capacity for impact, but good results for buzz and call to action. Germany | Positive — Strong results across | 73% | 60% |5.6/10|5.2/10| 48% | 29% | most measures. Strong call to | action and buzz measure. Buzz represents net positive and neutral mentions about what people have heard recently about Australia. ** Seltreported knowledge shows us how much travelers think they know about Australia— the more the better. *** Making a phone call, visiting a website or getting a brochure puts travelers closer to visiting Australia. view of the emergence of new tourist hot spots like India and Malaysia. Tourism Australia also faced competition from the tourism initiatives of neighboring countries, which competed for the same target markets with similar offerings. The main competitor was New Zealand, which promoted itself as a pristine destination with its successful “100% pure New Zealand” campaign. Another major challenge was the strong Australian dollar that was causing a surge in outbound tourism in Australia while hampering the inbound tourist arrivals. The government sent out a stiff message to Tourism Australia to roll out a new campaign. Ferguson said, “I’ve indicated to them this is their core responsibility—to promote Australia internationally—and that they want to make sure they pay a lot of attention to this procurement process. It is the responsibility of Tourism Australia to work out what is appropriate, how to actually sell Australia as a mature, inviting nation and a good place to have a tourism experiencein the knowledge that they’re not going to get ripped off by a rogue operator.””* Tourism Australia said that it would soon launch a new campaign to replace the one that was withdrawn. In April 2008, it shortlisted some seven advertising agencies” and two media agencies” as part of its plans to roll out a new advertising campaign.” Tourism Australia appointed Agency Register” for providing strategic advice on the campaign. It said that it would announce the name of the advertising agency which would create the next advertising campaign by July 2008. Tourism Australia added that the new campaign would sell Australia as a ‘mature, inviting country’ and that this would help it boost the declining tourist numbers. It also said that it was taking every precaution to avoid any controversies in the future regarding its campaigns. @ Adapa Srinivasa Rao, Research Associate, The Icfai Center for Management Research (ICMR). Debapratim Purkayastha, Consultant, The Icfai Center for Management Research (ICMR). References 1. Pandora Kay and Allison Ringer, Persuasive Branding and Promotion Strategies, www.marketwiz.info, 2003. 2 Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis, Australia to See the Light on Tourism, www.smh.com.au, May 19, 2004. 3. Australia is the World’s Favorite Nation Brand, www.gmi- mrcom, August 1, 2005, © Australia Swears by Ad Campaign, www.fin24.com, February 23, 2006. PM Backs ‘Bloody’ Tourism Ad Campaign, www.abe.net.au, February 28, 2006. T Ben Packham, “No Spot for Lara in New Ad Pitch,” wwwheraldsun.com.au, March $24, 2008. ‘edhe seven advertising agencies are Clemenger BBDO, Singleton, Ogilvy & Mather, Media Planning Group, Saatchi, Publicis Mojo, and Whybin TBWA. © The two media agencies are MPG and Carat Group. 0\Molinda Varley, “Tourism Australia Announces Shortlist,” www.mad.co.uk, April # 21, 2008. Established in 1987, the Agency Register is a Sydney-based consultancy that provides [ivwriew, relationship management, selection, and agency search services (Source: ‘www.agencyreg.com.au).