Introduction
SLC Representation sought a partner to activate an awareness and consideration campaign for Tourism Western Australia targeting travellers in the UK market. The campaigns featured their iconic destinations from Perth and Margaret River to Ningaloo Reef and the Kimberley, showcasing unforgettable road trips, renowned food and wine, wildlife, and coastal and aquatic experiences. The multichannel marketing campaign utilizing Sojern’s custom travel audiences drove awareness and visitation and measured significant success through a brand lift study with On Device Research and Sojern’s Economic Impact Report.
Objectives
The UK market is Western Australia’s #1 leisure market for both visitors and spend. Historically, the primary focus for Tourism Western Australia was driving conversions with key trade and airline partners to grow spend from the UK. Following the market disruption caused by COVID-19, SLC Representation recognised the importance of top-of-funnel marketing to communicate that Western Australia was open as well as rebuild and reposition the destination as the place for an accessible, adventure-filled holiday. The team looked to activate a multichannel campaign across video, native, display, and Connected TV (CTV) to showcase the otherworldly landscapes and stunning coastline in Western Australia. They needed access to travel audiences to efficiently locate those most likely to travel, including people who were thinking about their destination, competitor destinations, or other long-haul travel to get in front of them with the right messaging across channels.
“One of the things that made Sojern stand out for us as a partner is your use of data. Working with taxpayers’ money we have to drive value and return, and your effective targeting, consistent monitoring and optimising the campaign as well as the Economic Impact Report helps us maximise impact and measure it. The brand study justified the approach of focussing more on the consideration funnel alongside more tactical led activity. Being able to accurately track so we can see how it's shifting the dial is really important to all DMOs, so it has been great working together.”
Solution
The partnership focused on raising long-term awareness of Western Australia with the right travellers, as well as re-instilling traveller confidence amongst those actively considering a trip to Australia in the near future. They activated a multichannel campaign on Sojern’s platform with a suite of assets working together to move travellers through the funnel. Through a data-driven approach to audiences and using machine-learning, Sojern found travellers most likely to engage based on their past travel behaviour, real-time intent signals, and interests. Testing and learning refined targeting to hone in on engagers and converters. Measurement was a critical piece. Over a two-month campaign, a brand lift study with On Device Research showed that preference of Western Australia as a holiday destination grew after exposure, with 64% of those exposed taking an action after viewing an ad. Western Australia went from 5th to 1st place versus competitor destinations among exposed users, growing the share of travellers searching and booking Western Australia compared to competitors. All brand perceptions improved, significantly driving positive perceptions on Western Australia’s nature, world-class beaches, food and wine. More than 8 in 10 responded positively to the adverts–levels far exceeding the benchmark (55%) with those very likely to travel on a long-haul flight recording 94% positive responses. The team also saw return on ad spend through Sojern’s Economic Impact Reporting.
About the Partnership
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“One of the things that made Sojern stand out for us as a partner is your use of data. Working with taxpayers’ money we have to drive value and return, and your effective targeting, consistent monitoring and optimising the campaign as well as the Economic Impact Report helps us maximise impact and measure it. The brand study justified the approach of focussing more on the consideration funnel alongside more tactical led activity. Being able to accurately track so we can see how it's shifting the dial is really important to all DMOs, so it has been great working together.”
