Tourism Australia: Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home [2:15]

Credits & Description:

Brand TOURISM AUSTRALIA
Entrant DROGA5 NEW YORK
DROGA5 New York, USA Entrant Company
DROGA5 New York, USA Idea Creation
DROGA5 New York, USA Production
REVOLVER/WILL O'ROURKE Sydney, Australia Production
BISCUIT FILMWORKS New York, USA Production
SECOND CHILD New York, USA Production
DROGA5 New York, USA PR
KOVERT CREATIVE Sana Monica, USA PR
UM New York, USA Media Placement
UM Sydney, Australia Media Placement
EXILE EDITORIAL New York, USA Additional Company
David Droga Droga5 Creative Chairman
Chris Colliton Droga5 Creative Director
Kevin Weir Droga5 Creative Director
Jim Curtis Droga5 Associate Creative Director
Ryan Fitzgerald Droga5 Associate Creative Director
Devin Croda Droga5 Design Director
Jen Lally Droga5 Designer
Jesse Brihn Droga5 Co-Director of Film Production
Andrew Slough Droga5 Executive Producer, Film
Jocelyn Howard Droga5 Director of Business Affairs
Alex Smith Droga5 Producer, Interactive
Cliff Lewis Droga5 Director of Art Production
Will Davie Droga5 Group Strategy Director
Colleen Leddy Droga5 Head of Communications Strategy
Delphine McKinley Droga5 Communications Strategy Director
Hillary Fink Droga5 Senior Communications Strategist
Janet Kim Droga5 Data Strategist
Edward Rogers Droga5 Group Account Director
Marissa Guerra Droga5 Account Director
Annie Sherbon Droga5 Account Manager
Jeff Winsper Droga5 Associate Account Manager
Marianne Stefanowicz Droga5 Global Head of PR
Danny Hernandez Droga5 PR Manager
Steve Rogers Revolver/Will O'Rourke Director
Michael Ritchie Revolver/Will O'Rourke Managing Director
Pip Smart Revolver/Will O'Rourke Executive Producer
Russell Boyd Revolver/Will O'Rourke Director of Photography
Pete Sciberras EXILE Editor
Ted Royer Droga5 Chief Creative Officer

Synopsis
Out-of-region travel from the US has grown by 11% in recent years, and yet Australia’s share of US tourism has been stagnant at only 1.3%. Because while the world loves the idea of an Australian holiday (we rank third in the world in desire), the “tyranny of distance” means we struggle to convert that desire to visitation.
With Europe and the Caribbean so close to the US, Tourism Australia’s traditional campaigns promoting our wine and beaches weren’t presenting a compelling enough argument for the extra 10 hours on a plane. Add to that the fact we’re outspent in an industry that spends over $5.6B a year, we simply needed to do something different.
Our tasks were clear and vital: we needed to break Australia out of the tourism sea of sameness in a way that made us A) top-of-mind, B) different and C) drove US intent to book today.
Strategy
While Tourism Australia historically spreads investment across the year, to break through we needed to own a single moment—the Super Bowl—to be noticed by our audience: American high-value travelers.
The existing tagline, “There’s Nothing Like Australia,” was designed to differentiate Australia, but prior campaigns simply showed tourism-generic sweeping shots of coastlines and vineyards.
But what makes Australia special isn’t just its physical nature: it’s the nature of its people. Aussies are known for their casual warmth and irreverent sense of humor. No one embodied this better than Paul Hogan in 1986’s Crocodile Dundee. This film was, in essence, a tourism campaign in disguise. A campaign that made Australia (and Australians) feel so desirable to 1980s America, that Australia enjoyed the biggest tourism upswing in its history.
So could we recreate these conditions in a way that didn’t just say “There’s Nothing Like Australia,” but proved it?
Relevancy
One of the most highly anticipated and talked about movies of 2018 was actually an elaborate tourism campaign for Australia.
Over two weeks in January, Tourism Australia convinced the world that a new Crocodile Dundee film was on the horizon. Under the guise of a franchise reboot, the campaign blatantly showed the best Australia had to offer, before revealing the truth on the world’s biggest stage: The Super Bowl.
This unprecedented campaign transcended the tourism category and rose to the top of Hollywood and pop-culture conversations. It has also sparked a worldwide movement to turn the reboot into a reality.
Outcome
By every metric, this is the most successful tourism campaign in Australia’s history.
Our campaign phasing drove the most pregame organic PR and engagement (Amobee), and as a result Dundee became the #1 Most-Viewed Super Bowl Campaign (AdAge/Visible Measures).
Top-of-mind
Dundee generated 14,310 PR mentions with a media reach of 7.7B and an equivalent advertising value of $84.4M (Meltwater). Our teasers reported the highest Ad Recall of any Facebook study EVER in the Entertainment category.
Different
78% of American travelers felt Dundee differentiated Australia as a vacation destination, helping to drive a 50% lift in destination desirability (Campaign Tracking).
Driving Intent
66% of exposed American consumers were more likely to visit, with an 83% increase in intent to book (Campaign Tracking). Australia.com reported an astounding 20% organic lead conversion rate (vs. 2% historical) and 24% paid lead conversion rate (vs. 6% historical), generating over 250,000 leads.
Execution
We developed three phases to create a media frenzy, without actually making a film:
I. TEASE
To drive PR before the Super Bowl, we launched Dundee a month out, the way any studio would: a website, social handles, an IMDB page, PR, digital and OOH. We released four teasers through our talents’ social, each designed to arouse more suspicion than the last.
II. REVEAL
Our :60 Super Bowl TVC revealed our involvement to 100M+ viewers. What began as a typical movie trailer slowly unraveled, becoming a flagrant excuse to highlight Australia’s dazzling locations, food and wine.
III. INVITE
When the TVC aired, the campaign flipped from “film” to “tourism,” directing people to Australia.com to explore itineraries via a dedicated campaign marketplace. Importantly, our “Tease” phase wasn’t just for comedy: each teaser built our audience pool that we retargeted with “Why Australia?” content we produced simultaneously, featuring McBride.
Campaign Description
In 1986, Crocodile Dundee introduced Americans to the land down under. The iconic film put Australia on the map and is one of only a few 1980s classics not to have been rebooted in Hollywood. Until now.
In January of 2018, the iconic Australian franchise returned with Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home. Presented as a buddy comedy, the movie features American Danny McBride as Brian Dundee, the long-lost son of Mick Dundee, and Australian Chris Hemsworth as his sidekick, Wally Jr. The all-Australian supporting cast has an impressive roll call of Hollywood heavyweights, including Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Ruby Rose, Liam Hemsworth and Isla Fisher.
Teaser films and a promotional campaign encouraged fans to see the “official movie trailer” during Super Bowl VII. However, on the world’s biggest stage, the truth of the campaign was revealed: it was all an elaborate tourism ad for Australia.