Tourism Australia Unveils $38M Global Campaign & Plans For Its “Next Dundee”

The distinct and defining character of Australia and of Australians will be celebrated in a new campaign unveiled by Tourism Australia today.

Developed with the help of agency partners M&C Saatchi, Digitas and UM, ‘Come Live our Philausophy’ aims to capture the philosophy of Australians and their informal approach to living – something that is appealing to visitors, according to research by Tourism Australia.

A suite of new creative assets have been developed for the global campaign, including over 5,000 new images captured across every state and territory, a series of industry videos, bespoke social content, and a refresh of the australia.com and Australia.cn websites.

Also part of the campaign is a book featuring well-known Aussie icons who provide their own personal perspectives and experiences that help explain the unique Australian way of life.

Tourism Australia’s latest global campaign strategy is part of a $38 million investment that will be rolled out in the country’s 15 key tourism markets over the next three years to attract more international tourists Down Under.

Speaking to B&T ahead of the campaign reveal, Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill said: “Putting our people and our personality at the forefront of our campaign activity is something we’ve been moving towards for a few years now.

“With Philausophy, we’ve taken the learnings from recent campaigns, whilst at the same time drawing upon and tapping into consumer research that clearly demonstrates the Australian way of life is a point of difference and highly appealing to high-value travellers.”

Experience our uniquely Australian way of life.

Come live our Philausophy.#seeaustralia #philausophy pic.twitter.com/DHacV4x9jr

— Australia (@Australia) October 29, 2019

Tourism Australia CEO Phillipa Harrison said the concept of the campaign was part of M&C Saatchi’s winning pitch for the creative services tender back in 2018.

“A lot of the strategic work is as it was in the pitch, and we’ve just evolved its execution quite a bit over time,” she told B&T.

“The pitch brief was pretty specific. We had an ambition to really build on ‘Dundee’ and dialling up the Australian personality because we felt this would really work, and M&C Saatchi just took that and ran with it, and did a great job with it.

“We feel like the moment coming up is a big moment, and that it will live up to Dundee.”

Dundee is of course the multi-award-winning campaign Tourism Australia launched last year at the Super Bowl, and the organisation is set to launch a “time-specific” iteration of this ad in the next few months.

“We do have our next Dundee, but not for the US – we’re looking at a different market,” Coghill said.

Tourism Australia wouldn’t confirm or deny if a Hemsworth would front the next Dundee ad. However, Harrison did offer B&T this vague clue: “You can expect a notable Australian whose love of Australia is epic.”

Commenting on the Philausophy campaign, M&C Saatchi chief creative officer Cam Blackley said: “Although a cute way to spell it, Philausophy celebrates the very real and unique systems of belief that Aussies have developed for not just hundreds, but thousands of years.

“Paired with our extraordinary landscape, it’s a refreshing point of difference and incredibly fertile creative space that can and will live way beyond traditional advertising channels.”

Russell Hopson, group managing director at M&C Saatchi, added: “As we all know, Australia has so much to offer the world and the Aussie way of thinking about life is a massive part of that.

“Philausophy might just be exactly what the world needs right now. The launch of the campaign is the tip of the iceberg – we’re beyond excited to bring it out into the light. Just like Australia and Australians, there’s always more exciting stuff to come.”

Sophie Bingham, general manager of UM Sydney, said: “Reimagining the way we invite the world to experience Australia is a once-in-a-lifetime brief – not just what we say, but how we say it in a truly Australian way.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Tourism Australia on this relaunch and see the campaign come to life through our global media connections and partnerships, both this year and into the future.”

Digitas creative director Simon Brock said: “It’s never been tougher to stand out in the tourism industry. Gorgeous travel imagery is ubiquitous, thanks to Instagram. Global stories are a tap away, thanks to Netflix.

“To cut through, you need something uniquely ownable that people want and can’t get through a screen. That’s exactly what Philausophy is – a way of life that can only be felt by visiting and exploring Australia.

“What I love most about Philausophy is that it belongs to us – all Aussies – celebrating something about ourselves that we often take for granted, but never goes unnoticed by those who visit our shores.”

The campaign will start rolling out internationally in the coming months. It comes just weeks after Tourism Australia launched a campaign that aims to attract Indians to the country during the men’s and women’s ICC Cricket World Cups in 2020.

CREDITS

Creative: M&C Saatchi Sydney

Chief creative officer: Cam Blackley

Executive creative directors: Mandie van der Merwe and Avish Gordhan

Head of art: Chris Cheeseman

Senior copywriter: Dave Govier

Art director: Matt Corcoran

Copywriter: Rubini Gun

Group managing partner: Russell Hopson

Group head: Emma McJury

Senior account director: Nikki Chapman

Account director: Charlotte O’Brien

Account manager: Sarah Dillon

Design director: Simone Cherry

Designer: Alice Schofield

Senior TV producer: Sarah Cowen

Lead print producer: Greg Hyslop

Senior integrated producer: Henry Welch

Lead project manager: James Steer

Chief strategy officer: Justin Graham

Head of strategy: Rachael Fraser

Senior strategy director: Nick Jacobs

Senior traffic manager: Jenny Doyle

Retouchers: Nicko Mueller and Richard Hughes

Finished artists: Ian Hartigan and Holly Jones

Production (photography): The Artist Group

Photographer: Georges Antoni

Executive producer: Camille Peck

Producers: Jo Sinclair and Ilona Hyland

Production assistant: Alisha Harding

Stylist: Nicole Bonython-Hines

Styling assistant: Susannah Snow

Hair and makeup: Allison Boyle, Michael Brennan, Linda Jefferyes, Noni Smith, Wayne Chic, and Julia Green

Photography assistants: Ollie Begg and Chris Proud

Drone pilot/second photography assistant: Ken Butti

Contemporary Aboriginal artist: Rachael Sarra

Production (film): Sweetshop Sydney

Director: Nick Kelly

Executive producer: Llew Griffiths

Directors of photography: Shelley Farthing-Dawe and James Brown

Underwater director of production: Lee Kelly

Camera operator: Matt Jenkins

Drone operators: Cameron Board, Nathan Richards and Ewan Donnachie

Production designer: Toby Churchill-Brown

Costume designer: Lou Spargo

Hair and makeup: Mat Hornby

Editorial: ARC Edit

Editor: Simon Price

Post-production: ARC Edit

Colourist: Fergus Rotherham

VFX artists: Eugene Richards and Chris Betteridge

Post-producer: Jess Calvert

Sound: Song Zu, Sydney

Composition: Song Zu, Sydney

Creative director: Ramesh Sathiah

Supervising sound editor: Abigail Sie

Sound studio producer: Meg Drummond

Industry videos: Jack Nimble

Directors: Adam Wise and Angus Mullane

Director of photography and editor: Tim Eddy

Sound recordist: Nathan Bell

Camera assistant: Hugo Odgers

Producer: Hayley Olsson

Assistant editor: Kelly Searancke

Colourist: Matt Campbell

Music: Jonny Higgins

Media: UM (global team)

Senior strategy director: Jack Graham

Senior client director: Ashleigh Markou

Senior digital partnerships manager: Anthony Thomas

Digital director: Sarina Ballauff

General manager, Sydney: Sophie Bingham

Digital: Digitas

Head of production: Lizzie Strobel

Client partner: Oli Cassidy

Tech director: Rich Thompson

Creative director: Simon Brock

Account director: Max Cahill

Design lead: Oliver Ree

Senior copywriter: Hannah Melanson

Design director: Emma Gough

Lead AEM developer: Elise Boinnot

Senior project manager: Jade Skinner

Account manager: Rachel Malone

Senior AEM developer: Stephen Smithstone

Senior FE developer: Sahil Jackar

Senior AEM developer: Kanwal Singh

QA lead: Ranjani Raveendra

Public relations: opr Agency

Chief strategy officer: Kaz Scott

Chief creative officer: Bridget Jung

Associate director: Luke McClelland

Account director: Ellee Donald

Strategy and planning manager: Laura Stoll

Chief digital officer: Daniel Young

Senior digital strategist: John Harding-Easson

Publicist: Madeleine Hanley

Senior account manager: Zoe O’Sullivan

Content manager: Shanna Hall

Senior account executive: Madison Scott