How do you stand out in busy advertising environments? Doing less seems to be the tactic of choice for brands wanting to disrupt their respective marketplaces. 

Following suit, Tourism Tasmania is ‘coming down for air’ with its summer 2022/23 campaign.

‘Come Down For Air’ invites mainlanders across the Bass Strait with the promise of a break from their everyday stress and routine. 

The campaign assets deliver off-centre messages like “Get your step count down”, “Do some hardcore pondering” and “Firm plans are no match for soft grass” over images of Aussies looking totally knackered in natural settings.

The campaign includes two very simple videos for TV and online. 

One is set at a “Nice Rock” and starts with an image of ants climbing over an al fresco lunch. The lunch belongs to ‘Kate’, who is napping on said rock while her children whine “Muuum” a few metres away. She turns her back on them and the breathtaking mountain view and continues to sleep.

“‘Live life to the fullest,’ they say. ‘Seize the day.’ But Kate’s parasympathetic nervous system disagrees. The air is sweet, she hasn’t checked her phone all morning and she reckons if you’ve seen one view, you’ve seen them all,” the breathy voiceover narrates.

A soft approach from Tourism Tasmania

This interesting approach from the state tourism authority and BMF has chosen sympathy and ‘relatability’ over the grand promises of travel.

“For many Australians, holidays have become an extension of the pressures of daily life: often competitive, goal-oriented, busy and over-planned. There is growing sentiment, particularly since COVID-19, towards slowing down and simplifying holidays,” says Tourism Tasmania.

“The campaign highlights simple, joyful and mindful moments of a holiday in Tasmania to show audiences that here you can feel freed from the expectations of modern life, with the choice to do everything or nothing without fear of judgement or guilt.”

Tourism Tasmania will deliver the campaign through paid media activity in broadcast television and on-demand, online video, cinema, print, radio, social media and digital ads. It will also feature on out-of-home advertising including billboards, street furniture and public transport.

Running until 13 March 2023, the campaign will also be supported by content on Tourism Tasmania’s Discover Tasmania website and social media channels.