When Tourism Whitsundays and Wavemaker had the idea to use one of the most famous voices in the world to celebrate the North Queensland destination, they turned to Southern Cross Austereo to help.
The new campaign, ‘Wonders of The Whitsundays’, has since been realised through a radio campaign that heroes the voice famed for limitless knowledge, accuracy and calm – Siri.
Because as it turns out the woman behind this voice, Karen Jacobsen, is a Queenslander, and a Whitsundays local. The idea forged by Tourism Whitsundays and Wavemaker is now a campaign that is making phones ring and filling beds.
“Being able to work with Karen on an education and promotional campaign for the Whitsundays region brought a level of believability to all the airtime—because she’s the voice of Siri and because she’s a Whitsundays local,” Southern Cross Austereo’s head of creative at The Studio, Tony Byrne, who managed the campaign, said.
The campaign had two major objectives: to showcase the accessibility and affordability of the Whitsundays through engaging audio creative following the devastation that COVID-19 has brought to the industry, and to highlight the unique experiences the region offered, Byrne explained.
Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Tash Wheeler said that as a non-profit, Tourism Whitsundays tries to stretch marketing investments to ensure as much reach as possible.
“Our industry needed a direct tactical approach, and these radio ads using Karen Jacobsen the voice of Siri, are delivering incredible results for an industry that so desperately needs it,” Wheeler said.
“We are thrilled with the results we’ve seen so far, with the industry reporting sales in excess of $500,000 directly from the Wonders of The Whitsundays campaign. The campaign has driven 13,700 quotes for travel and over 430 bookings to date.”
Byrne added: “SCA is playing an instrumental role in helping Queensland tourism get back on its feet after COVID-19, and this level of localism, with a very distinct international flavour, delivered a real sense of excitement to listeners.”
Featured image source: Tourism Whitsundays/James Vodicka
