Tourism Australia has confirmed the appointment of UM Australia, a subsidiary of IPG Mediabrands Australia, to handle its global media planning and buying requirements, following a competitive global tender process.
The appointment follows the expiry of Tourism Australia’s existing contract with OMD after a period of five years. The new arrangements will run for two years with options to extend for a further three years.
Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan, said that media planning and buying were more important than ever in driving the execution of its global marketing strategy.
“The past five years have seen dramatic changes in the media landscape and in the way consumers behave and interact in the travel journey. The global tourism market is fiercely competitive and we need to be smarter than ever about how we deploy our marketing resources and budgets,” he said.
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer, Lisa Ronson said its partnership with UM provided exciting opportunities to reach its target customer in more targeted and efficient ways than previously possible.
“Technology and data will help drive greater efficiency and effectiveness across all of our channels – not just paid. It will also give us greater insight to deliver a better online experience, personalised to every customer. That’s a very exciting proposition for us and also one that adds real value for our commercial partners,” she said.
Ronson said UM Australia was the right strategic partner to help guide Tourism Australia on its ongoing digital transformation journey.
“They displayed a strong understanding of our business as well as of the strategic thinking, capability, customer insights and creativity we were looking for as we seek to deliver upon our Tourism 2020 goals,” Ronson said.
Ross Raeburn, CEO of UM Australia, said the Tourism Australia brief was unique and exciting. “If I’m honest, it’s the brief the agency has been waiting for. The ambition to co-create a dynamic digital, data and tech solution was contagious.
“Throughout the tender process the UM and Tourism Australia teams across each market consistently demonstrated shared values and a hunger to convert intent into reality. I’m confident through our collaboration process that we’ll harness this hunger and intent and create something truly unique. We are honoured to be partnering with Tourism Australia,” he said.
UM will be the lead media buying and planning agency globally, also responsible for search marketing and optimisation services across Tourism Australia’s key international markets.
IPG Mediabrands Australia CEO Danny Bass said the challenge offered by Tourism Australia was an ideal platform for Mediabrands to demonstrate its capabilities. “This was the most progressive brief our business has responded to and it was an ideal opportunity for us to showcase our
Dynamic by Design proposition. Through UM we have brought together all of our specialist capabilities to deliver a data and tech–led solution to help in the transformation of Tourism Australia’s global business.”
Ronson added, “I’d like to personally acknowledge the outstanding job that OMD has done for us over the past five years, delivering consistently high quality work during a period which has seen Australian tourism enjoy unprecedented levels of success.”
