Spring is here! And now it is time for many Australians to tentatively edge out of enforced hibernation and start planning holidays again. Perfectly timed, Tourism Australia (TA) is back on the air with a light-hearted, post-lockdown campaign to jump-start the domestic tourism industry and get us to Holiday Here this Year.
While watching the ad, I had a laugh and it certainly felt nice to see a lighter spin during the lasting effects of the pandemic (if you can’t tell I am in Melbourne). I wondered just how motivating this humorous approach would be compared to TA ad from four months earlier - and when travel was just a figment of our imagination. So, Luma tested it to compare the two approaches - humour vs sentimental. What works best to kickstart the now stagnant tourism industry?
Holiday Here the Year is certainly funny and Hamish and Zoe are a huge hit – 77% of viewers like them and 83% feel they fit the brand well! Funny was one of the three top emotions evoked by the ad, alongside Enjoy and Love.
There’s Still Nothing Like Australia, which focuses on the incredible Australian landscape and the feelings of empathy during times of crisis, also evoked feelings of Enjoy and Love. Not surprisingly people also talked about the beauty of the scenery in that ad.
Both ads got the message across effectively, but There's Still Nothing Like Australia was slightly more effective at grabbing people’s attention and driving positive feelings about travelling in Australia. Launched in June, this ad picked up on the emotions of Australians at this time and matched the tone driving strong empathy, relevance and identification. It was also easier to follow and clearly demonstrated areas of Australia to travel to.
Holiday Here this Year is amusing but a lot of the ad shows shots of Hamish and Zoe stuck in lockdown and using Zoom to communicate - very relatable to people in Melbourne - but not as motivating as there is less focus on the destinations.
But if we are talking great tourism ads, it is the 2018 Tourism Australia Dundee ad from the US Super Bowl which still stands out as best. The rating on Attention for that ad was 7.0/10 compared to 6.5 for There's Still Nothing Like Australia and 6.3 for the new Holiday Here this Year ads. The strength of the Dundee ad was the balance between the creative elements (comedy and well-known celebrity Chris Hemsworth) with visuals of the Australian landscape - the best of both worlds.
Whichever ad you prefer, it is definitely time to dust off the cases and start exploring again.
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