The 'Life in a different light' proposition will roll out in Hong Kong, China, Korea and Malaysia from March onwards, building on its initial Asian launch in Singapore in June 2004. The campaign, which marked the tourism body's first major brand push since 1995, aims to reposition Australia as a complete destination, rather than merely a tourist attraction.
"We believe people have a collective image of a country," said Tourism Australia regional consumer marketing manager San Chan. "We do this to align all the industries, like tourism, wine and fashion. We believe Australia should be a very unique and compelling proposition and should not be compared with other countries."
The overall campaign concept was developed by Whybin TBWA, which created the TVCs that will run in the four markets. The spot is currently being ad-tested in China and Korea, and each country will receive a specially tailored marketing offering, to reflect different target audiences.
Accordingly, the strategy for Korea will focus on online and interactive, with Tourism Australia utilising MoA - a service that allows users to view 15 seconds of the TVC on their mobile phones.
Online executions, meanwhile, will take the form of a flash 'talking banner' that will allow viewers to watch the TVC online. The ads will run on MSN in Singapore and Hong Kong, Daum.com in Korea and Sohu and Sina in China.
Chan added that the age of the target audience in China was slightly higher than Tourism Australia's usual 25 to 45 year-old range, at 30 to 50 years of age. For China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, marketing communications will focus on the TV spot, and outdoor executions developed locally by TBWA's Hong Kong and Singapore offices.
Tourism Australia will also partner with Qantas in Singapore, Hong Kong and China, running ads in TV and print to accompany a special price promotion by the airline.
The latest phase of the campaign comes after the TVCs and print ads were rolled out in the three global launch markets of Singapore, the UK and Italy. The executions featured the country's cultural icons - including singer and songwriter Delta Goodrem, the late artist Brett Whiteley and poet Les Murray - to capture the diversity of its appeal.
