Ditching the SA Secrets Marketing Campaign

[Howie]

No more SA secrets
By JESSICA HURT
12jan06

SOUTH Australia could soon have a new tourism campaign to help attract visitors to the state.

Discover the Secrets of South Australia, the state's tourism campaign, is under review and a decision on its future is expected soon.

The South Australian Commission is reviewing the campaign, developed in 1998, and will decide whether it will be re-branded or scrapped in favour of a new one.

A spokeswoman for the South Australian Tourism Commission said "there's been no secret that we're reviewing the Secrets campaign at the moment".

"I expect that in the next few months there will be an announcement of the way we are heading," she said.

The review comes as an industry source estimated the Adelaide Airport could have lost as much as $7 million through the delays.

The source believes the airport could be losing up to $2.5 million for every month it is not operational.

Tourism industry leaders are also concerned with a decline in tourist numbers and are calling for the State Government to further invest in tourism.

SA Tourism Alliance secretary Colin Stevens said tourism operators strongly felt the State Government should provide more marketing budget for the SA Tourism Commission.

Alliance chairman Zayne Boon said a new tourism campaign was "long overdue". "My feeling is that it is important that Adelaide as a brand is developed as well," he said.

Mr Boon said the SA tourism campaign should focus on the state's natural icons - from the wine regions and Kangaroo Island to the Flinders Ranges.

"A lot of areas aren't secrets anymore - it is time for a change."

Mr Boon is also concerned the delays to domestic flights (nearly three months), from Adelaide's new terminal will have a negative impact on interstate perceptions.

"I hope people don't see it as a state which can't get its act together getting the airport open," he said.

About time too, it was pitched at the wrong audience at the wrong places.

I remember first seeing this campaign in a cinema in Melbourne CBD... quite embarassingly there were a few giggles when it came - guess kids these days aren't into long drives into the sunset and running around the state wine tasting?

[Will]

I completely agree, the current 'secrets' tourism campaign makes the state appear slow and boring and it would only appeal to senior citizens.

The state needs a new campaign, one that is fresh, sexy and youthful:

My idea: An add showing a few ladies in bikinis sun-bathing, shopping and riding the new tram at Glenelg.

[Howie]

Today, it's SA - A Brilliant Blend. I think it could work

Tourism strategy widens net
By MEREDITH BOOTH
25jan06

A VIBRANT, welcoming place which celebrates the good things in life was the brief handed to kwp!, marketers of the Brilliant Blend campaign to promote SA.

kwp! director Peter Withy said "a brilliant blend" would target a more universal audience than the Secrets campaign, which attracted more mature tourists to the state.

The advertising agency - which created the You Are Here campaign for Adelaide City Council - will use the brand to promote migration, attract business and students and a wider audience through a mix of print, television and other media, Mr Withy said.

"It's very confident without being arrogant," he said. "It's putting a new face on the state that's vibrant and alive and quite different to what's been done in the past.

"The state has grown up enough and is confident enough at the moment to attract this kind of brand, which may not have always been the case."






He said the campaign would depict a surprising and more vibrant side to SA than even the locals remember. The agency was also negotiating with independent music artist Xavier Rudd to create a soundtrack.

"You won't be seeing a lonely Popeye sailing under an empty University Bridge," he said.

Mr Withy said the agency was now looking at mainstream television in SA and interstate for a slow release of the campaign, expected to have a lifespan of about eight years.

Meanwhile, he said the timing of the launch coincided with a wave of tourist activity and events for SA in the coming months, including the Adelaide Festival and Fringe, the Womadelaide world music festival and Adelaide Cup.

"It's important to get the new brand out when we've got so many visitors to the state," he said.

Over the next few months, the campaign would slowly unravel, rather than the "big shebang" of the Secrets campaign which launched in 1998 through extensive cinema and television advertising.

[Will]

I agree with you Howie, I think that this new campaign can attract more tourists and hopefully new migrants to the state. SA has to be promoted as a vibrant, exciting place to live and visit. The old 'SA Secrets' campaign made the state appear old, slow and conservative, and I'm happy that it has been deleted.

[Algernon]

The advertising agency - which created the You Are Here campaign for Adelaide City Council

And in other news, we've dug up good old Mao Ze Dong to draft an australian bill of human rights, and we've hired Telstra to install a working net connection. :wank:

[Al]

Wow! I didn't realise KWP was behind the 'you are here' campaign. KWP have done some pretty good stuff before for Coopers, San Remo and others but they seem to have dropped it a bit with the ACC. I hope this new campaign works out better - if anything I reckon that new star should be more recognisable. If they can give the SA 'brand' a warm and fuzzy feel-good factor then it should be good for the state.