Regional media shouldn’t be an afterthought – that was one of the key takeaways from some of the nation’s top marketing and media executives during Boomtown’s winter Masterclass.
The Masterclass, held last week, explored the experts’ first-hand experiences with regional marketing campaigns, deep diving into why Boomtown should be considered a vital part of the media mix for delivering untapped opportunities and results.
Moderated by The Ideas Business founder, Wade Kingsley, the Masterclass featured insights from some of the industry’s top professionals, including Nick Scali Furniture media executive, Kim Giusa, OMD Australia business director, Melanie Kay, NewsCorp Australia Group client partner Laura Sexton and GSL Media managing director, Carla Vella.
Kay told Masterclass participants that brands and agencies need to reshape their thinking around Boomtown.
“We have to move away from an immediate metro-regional budget split. My best advice for brands is to shift their thinking, review the campaign objectives and how will you review the best opportunity by market.
“Consider both metro and regional at the same time – don’t look at a media plan and say: ‘We’ll think about regional afterwards’ – think about it in the beginning when you’re reviewing the strategies you need to deliver to, to reach the campaign objectives. Part of our role in media planning is to review changes to our audience, and this will contribute to how to split the budget across metro and regional markets,” she said.
Kay also noted the untapped potential for engagement and ROI in regional towns, noting agencies need to spend time understanding the market.
“There’s the potential for brands to have significant influence, loyalty and untapped potential for engagement in regional towns. [Brands need] to engage with our regional citizens, and understand their needs and behaviour – this is a strategic and meaningful choice for our campaigns,” Kay said.
Giusa agreed, noting that Nick Scali had utilised Boomtown campaigns to great success.
“With regional, you really have the opportunity to just strike in that area and hit your key audiences. My best advice is for people to know these areas and know what they need to be selling there. We’ve done campaigns regionally, where we’ve chosen a store, done a price point campaign just for that area and tracked sales.
“I can assure you that every single time we do that, the sales go up – it speaks volume of how powerful the cut through is for us with regional marketing,” she said.
Vella said brands should not underestimate the importance of integrating into regional communities.
“We often get asked how brands can authentically connect with regional audiences. For us, it’s about creative strategy and the right communication approach, looking at how they can organically embed in regional communities and leverage regional voices,” Vella said.
“Consumers now expect more out of their media and the brands they love, so tapping into local regional markets with your media spend is going to make them feel more valued and create those more streamlined connections. Local people are looking for brands that respect and understand the community and the nuances of the market – the ones that do that well, are the ones that will build and retain that brand equity.”
“Local people want local content. They want to know what’s going on in their community. It comes back to loyalty and trust too. Audiences want to be told stories in a way that’s factual and relevant to them – and it’s drawing people closer to media and brands,” agreed Sexton.
Commenting on the Masterclass, Boomtown marketing lead, Franky Ryan, said: “Our panellists all expressed what we’ve long known about Boomtown – that it’s a critical part of the future of marketing in Australia.
“Boomtown represents the 9.9 million people living in regional Australia – that’s nearly a third of the nation; it’s a huge market for brands to be reaching, with targeted campaigns that speak to regional communities.
“Since launching our Masterclass series in 2019, we’ve continued to attract a host of highly experienced industry professionals, bringing insights and real-world experiences about advertising in Boomtown. We’re indebted to the many experts who have given up their time to share their expertise with regional media and why it’s so important for agencies and brands.”
Boomtown masterclasses have now trained more than 2,000 Australian marketing professionals on the benefits of advertising in regional Australia. The masterclasses, combined with Boomtown’s ongoing education and campaign efforts, have helped to significantly bolster regional advertising spend.
