Hamilton Island has launched a major new brand campaign following an investment of over $750million dollars from the Island’s owners to develop the destination over the past decade.

The campaign, the first for the iconic destination in six years, takes a focus on the importance of human connection whilst highlighting the ever-growing trend of multi-generational travel.

Underpinning the campaign was a brand strategy process undertaken by The General Store. The extensive strategic review included market research to identify key brand perceptions, resulting in the creation of the new strapline ‘Remember Why’.

Matt Newell, executive strategy director at The General Store said, “The vast majority of respondents revealed they had visited Hamilton Island before and many revealed their holidays had taken place as long as 10-20 years ago. Importantly, they held fond memories of their holiday around family connection. The communication challenge identified was that there was a perception amongst respondents that the destination had not changed since their last visit.

“Our research revealed that holidaymakers want to disconnect from technology and reconnect with others, themselves and the environment. ‘Remember Why’ is a two-fold call to action that speaks to those who have previously visited Hamilton Island and prompts them to retrieve some of those good memories and act on them again – and it asks all consumers to remember the importance of taking the time out of their busy lives to have a traditional holiday to reconnect,” Newell said.

Another key insight from the research was that respondents were enticed by the breadth and depth of what Hamilton Island offers – it caters to all ages, mindsets and incomes. This makes it an easy holiday choice for those looking to travel as a group, substantiating why the island is experiencing growth in the multigenerational travel category.

This insight led the creative team from The Aesthetic to turn the focus ‘inward’ – on capturing the important emotional connections that people experience when they find the time and space to be in the present and in harmony, with destination backdrop as the secondary focus. To do this, director Nick Leary chose to use real multigenerational families enjoying Hamilton Island without a script over a 10-day shoot period.

Nicky Oatley, Hamilton Island’s brand manager, said that engaging The Aesthetic was about finding an agency who could reflect Hamilton Island’s unique offering in a premium and down to earth way

“Our key objective was to show people that Hamilton Island has changed, it is now a world-class destination that Australia is proud of. Under Nick Leary and Jay Lyon’s guidance, we opted to go for closer, tighter shots with virtually no destination backdrop. This was very deliberate, as we were trying to show genuine connection with one’s self, family, loved ones and nature not just inspiring destination centric images. We had to work with no script, as Nick wanted to follow real families enjoying the Island. It was a huge leap of faith, but I trusted him implicitly.”

Director Nick Leary believed there was real value in Hamilton Island’s legacy with holidaymakers and the fact that so many people had fond memories – and hence wanted to give a visual nod to the ‘old-school’ memories through cinematic techniques as well as the use of two old-fashioned props – a pet rock and a hand-made toy sailing boat.

“My father always told me that life is about the little things, and it’s something I’ve held onto personally and in my work. These little props that feature throughout, are a reminder that the joy of reconnection can result from just going back to basics and enjoying simple little things together.” Leary said.

The advertising activity for the new creative will commence on the 26^th of December across cinema, TV, print and social media channels.