Marketing to a cricket & Masterchef Australia crazy country - Tourism Australia's Plan 2020

Australia is all set to host two cricket ICC T20 World Cups next year, something Tourism Australia is leveraging to the hilt in Plan 2020.

Targetting passionate cricket fans, Tourism Australia has unveiled its latest India focussed tourism campaign. Calling out Indians to 'Experience the game and beyond', a digital film has been released as part of Plan 2020. Efforts are being put in to attract tourists into the stadiums of Australia as part of Plan 2020, where they can enjoy the game and later go home after a taste of the 'Australian way of life'.

Conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, the campaign came to life in 100 days — from concept to launch. It is a metaphorical take on every day as well as touristy life in Australia, against the backdrop of cricket commentary by Harsha Bhogle, Brett Lee, and Shibani Dandekar. The advertisement ends saying, "Come celebrate the game and fall in love with Australia."

Sharing the insight behind the campaign, Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, said, “Commentary has always been an extremely popular connect between a cricket fan and the game since the radio match telecast days. There are three things common between India and Australia – Cricket, Cricket & Cricket. So we decided to give this insight a creative twist by juxtaposing cricket commentary with Australian experiences.”

Over the last three decades, the interest in cricket has grown manifold, especially since the images of the Indian team winning in Australia, first created waves on colour television. The seeds of the dream to visit the foreign country were sown then, says Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, adding that the current campaign will add another dimension to the process.

Plan 2020

Nishant further tells us about the plan that will be rolled out as a part of Tourism Australia's India-centric campaign over the next year. The newly unveiled campaign video will be amplified on television, digital and social media. The entire campaign will run across three stages — Awareness, Consideration, and Booking. A mix of search, display, video, social, native, programmatic and content will be leveraged as a part of the campaign to showcase the destination through iconic cricketers from both countries.

There are multiple partnerships in tow that fall under two categories, one that focusses on nudging people to book experiences next year and another that concentrates on building Australia as a tourism destination for Indians.

Special packages are in the pipeline for Indians, one of the most interesting ones include an amalgamation of sports and culinary tourism. Nishant tells Social Samosa how the popularity of Masterchef Australia is a key reason behind this.

Also Read: Scarecrow M&C Saatchi to handle Tourism Australia account for Indian Market

While the Women's World Cup is slated to be held between February and March, the Men's World Cup will run through the October-November period. One of the key milestones being aimed for by Tourism Australia is to fill up the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the final match of the Women's World Cup on March 8, International Women's Day.

As a part of the efforts, the team will kick off an influencer campaign with 11 women achievers, who will be travel to wave the flag and support the team at the stadium. The tourism giant will also be partnering with corporates to create incentives and rewards for female employees. The idea is to create an ecosystem for all to participate in supporting women's cricket.

Nudging people to book

For an average value-seeking Indian, a trip abroad is a big event that needs careful budgeting. How would the campaign include them? Nishant tells us tourism marketing is not about an impulse purchase. He believes in sowing the seeds in the minds of the people and influence them into booking the experience. It may happen next month or in ten years, he adds.

"An average individual has a spending power of about Rs 2.5 lakh there, about Rs 10 lakh for a family of four. This is more than investing in a car and we understand the amount is huge and while they get a car at the end of it, here there are only memories that aren't as tangible," he explains how economics is definitely a consideration in the communication.

Target groups

Earlier, the targeting used to be based on demographics, however now with the help of improved tools, the team has moved to psychographics. The people being targetted by the team are those who can afford a vacation abroad and have an interest in the offerings. As a part of the campaign, several tie-ups with airlines and local travel companies are in the works, ensuring that people get value offers and the trip becomes a feasible option.

As per the data with Tourism Australia, most people who are likely to plan such trips are in the top 8 cities of India. They form about 80% of the total target group. The rest 20% live in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where the distribution channels have been strengthened with the help of regional as well as national level organisations and travel agents.

Road to World Cup

Brent Anderson, Regional General Manager, South, and South-East Asia, Tourism Australia says, “Australia and India have a strong bond through their shared love for cricket. While we have been witnessing impressive growth in terms of visitors and spend from India, the upcoming T20 World Cup provides us with a massive opportunity to take this to the next level."

"As part of our plan to make this one of the largest sporting spectacles in the world, a range of offerings and packages are being introduced in partnership with the ICC, Official Ticketing Agents, and our Key Distribution Partners," he added. The two tournaments will be contested across eight host cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.