Tourism Australia and Virgin double marketing partnership to $12m

by Marketing ON 13 December 2012

Tourism Australia and Virgin Australia have announced plans to double the value of their current marketing partnership in a bid to further support the growth of Australia’s inbound tourism market.

Under the new arrangement, the two parties will increase their current joint commitments from $6 million to $12 million to be spent on a range of joint marketing activities, including the promotion of major sporting and business events, over the next three financial years.

The news comes just weeks after Qantas pulled out of its $50 million partnership with the national tourism body over allegations its boss was involved in a consortium to take over the airline.

The global partnership will focus on key inbound visitor markets to Australia – the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, continental Europe and Asia.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy pointed to a bounce back in US arrivals, up 4% so far this year, as a significant opportunity the pair could leverage.

“Virgin Australia has an international footprint which spans a number of Tourism Australia’s key markets, including New Zealand, the United States, Europe and the Middle East,” McEvoy says. “When you add to this the airline’s extensive domestic network, the benefits of strengthening our partnership are both logical and compelling.”

Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti says, “Both Virgin Australia and Tourism Australia recognise the importance of tourism to Australia’s economy and are committed to promoting Australia as a world class destination.

“Thanks to our growing international operations and our recently formed alliances with four of the world’s leading airlines Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, we now have the ability to access international visitors from over 400 cities around the world.

The expanded arrangement will feature marketing on traditional and digital media platforms as well as event and sponsorship activities.

Tourism Australia and Virgin Australia will each contribute $2 million annually, for the next three financial years, equating to $12 million by the end of 2015.

Tourism Australia partners with more than 200 industry partners including airlines, distributors and Australian industry in its key tourism markets.

Study: Brand Australia’s decline continues, hitting 4-year low

by Marketing ON 25 October 2012

Brand Australia continues to decline on the world stage, slipping five places below its world-beating peak to sixth in 2012’s rankings of the world’s top country brands.

FutureBrand’s ‘2012-13 Country Brand Index’ (CBI), shows brand Australia declined in strength relative to other country brands for the third time since 2008 when it topped the rankings as the most valuable country brand in the world.

Canada, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, and Switzerland, which topped this year’s rankings, all emerged ahead of Australia, based on perceptions of quality of life, tourism, business conditions, culture and value systems among 3600 residents, investors, tourists and government officials from 18 countries.

Australia’s decline has not been as stark as the United States’, however, which fell again in 2012, marking a fall from grace which has seen the country slip from first in 2009 to eighth place this year. The report identifies successive financial crises, a decline in the clout of Western values and questions over the nation’s public policy as factors behind its steep decline.

“Despite an upswing in brand perceptions following the 2008 appointment of President Barack Obama, attributes like ‘political freedom’, ‘stable legal environment’ and ‘freedom of speech’ have suffered declines in perception as the nation nears its 2012 presidential election,” the report reads. “Amid questions of foreign policy, the near-approaching ‘fiscal cliff’ and a staggering US$14 trillion national debt, brand USA is left to face its biggest opportunities and, possibly, setbacks during this year’s election cycle.”

In contrast, Brand UK, buoyed by eighteen months of celebrations and international coverage, rose two places this year to hover just outside the top 10 at number 11. However, the report warns the impact of the Royal Wedding, Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympic Games may be short lived. “While brand UK now enjoys some of the highest rankings in the CBI’s ‘awareness’, ‘familiarity’ and ‘preference’ dimensions, once the fanfare of the Olympics dies down and the ubiquitous display of the Union Jack fades, focus will turn to the United Kingdom’s uncertain future,” the report reads.

Other themes to emerge from this year’s study were the ‘hard benefits of soft power’ embodied by the social stability, freedom, tolerance, transparency and environmentalism of nations such as Switzerland, Sweden and Finland; and the ‘untapped power of the PIIGS’, which earmarks Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain as nations with rich cultural and natural assets.

Australia, which has ranked in the top 10 for the past eight years, came in between tenth and fourteenth place for the key major attributes of quality of life, tourism and business conditions.

In a new addition to the study, FutureBrand has published the Future Fifteen, a ranking of 15 country brands on course to transform the global landscape economically, politically and culturally in years to come. The fifteen earmarked for the future were:

Black Friday data positive for Oz retailers

by Marketing ON 30 November 2009

Black Friday trends in the US suggest Australian retailers should expect consumers to spend up this year.

Data compiled by Coremetrics found consumers are more likely to be shopping from lists, sticking to budgets and browsing less both online and offline.

Black Friday, the day after US Thanksgiving holiday, data is historically used to benchmark retailings fortunes for the Christmas season. According to Coremetrics, there was a 35% year-on-year increase for the average spend per order in the US.

“What’s most revealing about the results is the change in browsing behaviour. Abnormally high bounce rates and low page views per session is a warning to retail sectors worldwide – consumers want to find what they’re looking for quickly and without having to traipse through irrelevant information and product offers. They’ve got an agenda and they’re going to stick to it, so make their online shopping experience as smooth as possible,” said Kevin Mackin, general manager of Coremetrics Australia New Zealand.

Despite an 18% increase in number of items purchased, consumers were browsing 5.4% less, the number of people leaving a site after viewing a single page spiked by 39.4% and page views per session declined by 30.4%.

“It’s not all bad news though! There’s been a healthy jump in the average amount of money people are willing to spend online which suggests that consumers have adjusted their shopping patterns to the reality of the economic downturn. I’d say, Australian and New Zealand retailers will definitely enjoy a return to higher spending this year but consumers will be thriftier, savvier and on the hunt for a bargain. So, it will come down to retailers being able to offer a superior online shopping experience that makes it easy for consumers to find products, peruse special offers and ‘check out’ quickly,” added Mackin.

First time US brand beats Oz

by Marketing ON 6 January 2009

FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index (CBI) has rated the US number one country brand for 2009.

Australia held the top spot for the past three years, but slipped to third place in 2009 behind Canada, host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Continuing the neighbourly correlation, New Zealand took fourth place.

FutureBrand suggest the ‘Obama effect’ is behind the US’ rise, the first time the country has taken first place in the index’s history. The company also suggest Australia has benefited from ‘The Best Job in the World’ campaign and Baz Luhrmann’s Australia – explaining the drop in place with the move toward ‘value travel’ and staycationing.

“After three years in the number one position, a remarkable achievement by any measure, this new development was just a matter of time. The measurable decline of some key attributes, combined with the revitalisation of Brand USA, has resulted in the effect on Australia’s ranking. It highlights the importance of keeping a country brand fresh, relevant and engaging – no small challenge in a highly competitive international marketplace.” said Tim Riches, CEO FutureBrand Singapore and growth officer, Asia-Pacific.

Australia remains the country most people have on their wish list to visit, live in and/or extend a business trip in.

The days of countries marketing themselves with travel posters are over. Wise governments harness, propel and amplify their country as a brand, given it also encompasses culture, exports retail, real estate and of course tax revenue. The popular phrase says ‘tourism is too big to fail,’ but if no one is paying attention or if it is undervalued or taken for granted, the competition will benefit,” said Rene A. Mack, president, Weber Shandwick Travel & Lifestyle Practice.

CBI Top Country Brands

United States
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
France
Italy
Japan
United Kingdom
Germany
Spain