Tourism Queensland's "The Best Job in the World" marketing campaign

Tourism Queensland Marketing Analysis: "The Best Job in the World"

Brief company overview

Nature of the business. The stated goal of Tourism Queensland (hereinafter alternatively "the corporation") is "to be one of Australia's lead creative organisations, providing support to all operators and protecting and growing jobs for our industry" (TQ profile 2011, p. 1). In order to accomplish this stated goal, the corporation measures its success in terms of how well it achieves its primary responsibility, as outlined in the Tourism Queensland Act 1979, which is to facilitate the promotion, marketing and development of tourism to and within Queensland, including the following functions:

To facilitate the promotion and marketing, domestically and internationally, of tourism to and within Queensland;

To facilitate the development of the tourist and travel industry;

To facilitate the making of tourism and travel arrangements;

To facilitate the provision of tourism and travel information services; and,

5. To prepare a State tourist and industry strategic marketing plan in extensive consultation with the tourist industry, the general community and appropriate government departments (TQ profile 2011, p. 2).

b.

Brand's origins and background. Tourism Queensland is a statutory body established pursuant to the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982 and the Financial Accountability Act 2009 (TQ profile 2011).

c.

Brand's popularity (market share, brand preference, positioning-perceptual map). Queensland's brand values are:

1. Pride in Queensland;

2. Hospitality;

3. Authenticity; and,

4. Creating holiday experiences that delight visitors -- The Holiday State (TQ profile 2011).

The corporation embraces the foregoing brand values in several ways, including promoting eco-friendly and environmental responsible tourism activities (Zeppel 2002). In September 2010, following a year and a half of research and consultation with industry experts, the marketers at Tourism Queensland consolidated the foregoing brand values into a formal "TQ Brand." According to the corporation's press release concerning the initiative, "We have launched Queensland's first truly global tourism brand. Queensland, 'Where Australia Shines,' introduces a new vision for Queensland as a tourism destination" (TQ brand 2010). Although the corporation frames its initiative in flowery terms, the true objective of the branding initiative can be discerned from the corporation's press release that adds, "We've known for a long time that Queensland is where Australia shines in so many ways; now we can tell the world through a clear and consistent tourism message for our state" (TQ brand 2010, p. 1). As to the further purposes of the branding initiative, the press release concludes that, "The brand is about why we love living in Queensland. It's about adding value to people's experiences and about discovering and sharing the magic of Queensland that only the locals can know and understand -- quite simply, Queensland is Where Australia Shines" (TQ brand 2010, p. 1).

The analysis and discussion that follow will demonstrate that the corporation has succeeded in achieving these functions and formalizing its 'Queensland is Where Australia Shines' branding initiative in significant ways in recent years, including most especially its "The Best Job in the World" global media campaign for a caretaker position on Hamilton Island, located in the pristine Whitsunday Islands, which is discussed briefly below.

According to King (1997), the Whitsunday Islands have increased their share of total Whitsunday arrivals relative to the mainland and Hamilton Island Airport has likewise accounted for an increasing proportion of arrivals since its completion in 1983. Furthermore, for the romantically inclined, Hamilton Island features numerous sybaritic-themed facilities that make it clear that there is much to enjoy on Hamilton Island for everyone, and it is not that surprising, perhaps, that the international media would be interested in any job that offered so much in return for so little (one observer in the Tourism Queensland video presentation concerning the campaign is quoted thusly: "That can't be right"). What is surprising, though, is just how effective the media mix was in achieving the stated goals of the campaign. The outcome of the campaign is briefly mentioned by this industry observer, who suggests that the winner of the caretaker position would certainly benefit from the competition, but the clear winner was Tourism Queensland: "For the money, he or she will write a weekly blog on the internet and promote the region generally, though the promotion could hardly be any more successful than it has already proved" (Nolan 2009, p. 68). Some of the inclusive tour packages that are currently being offered to Hamilton Island include those provided at Appendix A.

Competitor analysis

Notwithstanding its widely acclaimed beauty and features, Hamilton Island is in competition with a number of other island resorts, including those Great Barrier Reef destinations set forth in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Representative List of Hamilton Island Competitors

Competitor

List of products

Strengths

Weaknesses

Paradise Bay Eco Escape

1. Helicopter and boat tours.

2. Humpback whale viewings

3. Stellar accommodations

1. Highly acclaimed cuisine.

2. Privacy.

3. Unique eco-adventures

Expensive

Peninsula Airlie Beach

1. Wide range of accommodations, including plush apartments, is available.

2. Geographic proximity.

3. Full marina.

1. Access to Cannonvale or Airlie Beach.

2. Security.

1. Poor check-in service quality cited by some recent guests.

2. Poor room cleaning cited by some recent guests.

Lizard Island Resort

1. Coral reef scuba diving opportunities.

2. Oversized cabins.

3. Restaurant/terrace overlooking sea.

Only 40 cabins on entire island, ensuring small groups and degree of privacy.

None identified

Campaign objectives

The main objective of "The Best Job in the World" campaign was to quantifiably increase the number of domestic and international visitors from the current two million a year to Hamilton Island by raising the perceptual awareness levels of the destination among potential visitors.

Campaign selling ideas/core message

The core message of "The Best Job in the World" campaign was to "create international awareness of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef" and the campaign selling ideas were to promote the desirable features of Hamilton Island to increase using the video blogs of the newly installed caretaker to help improve the recession-hit Australian tourist industry (Mouland 2009).

IMC tools and media mix

One of the most interesting aspects of "The Best Job in the World" media campaign was the innovative way the Tourism Queensland marketers employed social media networks to spread the word concerning their competition. Certainly, the position in question lived up to its title by most accounts, with a generous (U.S.$150,000) annual salary (but the position was only for 6-months) with a plush, three-million-euro, three-bedroom villa known as "Blue Pearl" appointed with all of the amenities, including spectacular views of "Whitsunday Island and a plunge pool from which to best enjoy them" (Nolan 2009, p. 68). Reviews of graphics of the island and its geographic features, together with the international hotel chains and family oriented offerings indicate that Hamilton Island has a great deal to offer families and groups. For instance, Grier reports that:

Hamilton Island has been known to have it all, with a range of options for dining, accommodation, activities and events. Hamilton Island produces a wide array of entertainment that comes in many shapes and forms. The latest addition to the activity list is a nine-pin bowling alley that aims to provide endless family fun. And to top it off, other attractions the island will boast this year will include the Australian Ballet and the Great Barrier Feast event. (2009, p. 37)

Moreover, beyond the innovative use of social media networks to promote their campaign, Tourism Queensland also ensured the international mainstream media would be included in their media mix. For instance, Nolan empirically reports that during his visit to the island preparatory to the announcement of the finalist, international interest in the competition was at a frenzied level: "When I left Hamilton Island the following afternoon, it already was gearing itself up for next Wednesday's announcement. U.S. TV crews, the Aussie networks, the BBC et al. are flying in to cover the result of the competition that captured the imagination of the world" (Nolan 2009, p. 68).

The winner of the competition, UK's Ben Southall, appeared capable and confident during his acceptance speech, and his video entry managed to win out over more than 37,000 entries from 200 countries (Nolan 2009), including Vatican City and Dean Martin's son (Tourism Queensland.mp4), reflecting the global interest this campaign generated. In sum, Southall was the perfect individual for the highly sought after position: "Already a prolific blogger, he must also keep a video diary of life on the island which he will share with his 21-year-old Canadian girlfriend Breanna Watkins (Mouland 2009, p. 27). Clearly, the marketers at Tourism Queensland must have been jumping up and down at this point, celebrating the enormous success of their campaign, and they had good cause to do so given that they had also taken careful steps to exploit the competition even after it was completed. Promoted as "a prize that isn't a prize," but rather "the best job in the world," the caretaker position campaign was intended to achieve a maximum return on investment for Tourism Queensland by offering a prize "that would capture the imagination of people all over the world" (Tourism Queensland mp.4). For instance, although the position is highly flexible in terms of overall responsibilities, Southall was required to "explore the area to discover what is on offer and to report back weekly via blogs, photo diaries, video updates and media interviews. Other responsibilities include cleaning the pool which comes with the caretaker's free resort home, feeding the fish and collecting the mail (this will be done by joining the aerial postal service for a day or two to get a good view of the neighbouring islands)" (Turner 2009, p. 3).

Even Tourism Queensland's competitors must have grudgingly admired the positive outcome of the media campaign. In this regard, Turner reports that, "Cynics say the Hamilton Island 'job' is just part of an admittedly well-thought-out tourism promotion. Not only did the advertisement website continually crash because of the number of job applicants, but by the time Ben won the post after succeeding at a final interview stage, the campaign had also generated more than $200 million (Australian) in global publicity value for Tourism Queensland" (2009, p. 3). The truly remarkable thing about the media mix used by Tourism Queensland to achieve this highly impressive outcome, though, was its cost effectiveness compared to traditional media outlets. Beyond the low- or no-cost social media networks used to promote the competition, Tourism Queensland also used an inexpensive Web site (islandreefjob.com) that generated so much global interest that it crashed as a result. In addition, the Tourism Queensland video presentation indicates that the campaign also used print media advertisements as well as online job recruiting sites such as monster.com as part of their "stage one" implementation of the media campaign, as well as social media networks such as YouTube. Stage two involved press releases and online media updates concerning the paring down of the initial 35,000-37,000 entries to just 16 applicants, with visits to Hamilton Island being provided to the finalists with the concomitant media interest this stage generated. Stage three included mainstream media interviews with the finalists, and stage four involving the announcement of the final results of the competition for "The Best Job in the World" (Tourism Queensland mp.4).

Indeed, the global interest -- and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of publicity -- generated by "The Best Job in the World" campaign was achieved through the innovative application of still-emerging social networking platforms that are being used by increasingly larger numbers of consumers around the world. Although researchers continue to examine the specific differences of adaptation rates of these mobile technologies for marketing purposes, it is apparent that the marketers at Tourism Queensland took advantage of what is known and what is available to develop a "perfect storm" of media interest that succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. For a relatively modest investment of just $US1.2 million, Tourism Queensland generated an estimated $US150 (Tourism Queensland mp.4) to $200 million in global publicity, an outcome that must be regarded as successful by any measure.

Reflective statement

Although it is axiomatic that hindsight is 20-20, the marketing campaign used by Tourism Queensland in conjunction with the job search for the caretaker position on Hamilton Island was simply inspired. The savvy marketers at the corporation managed to translate a unique but single job opening into a media blitz that spanned the globe. In fact, more than 630 hours of user-generated content was submitted in response to the campaign; at about one minute per presentation, this means that at lest 37,800 would-be caretakers (and their friends) invested a great deal of time, money, energy and thought to this media campaign in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. In reality, though, Tourism Queensland did in fact have a great deal to work with in its media campaign. For instance, as one observer pointed out during his visit to the island prior to the announcement of the winner, "Making a claim that it's the best resort hotel in the world would be pointless, given that no one has visited all of them. I can, however, say this - having been to more than a few, Qualia is unquestionably the best I've ever stayed in. I hid under the bed when the time to leave came, but sadly they found me anyway" (Nolan 2009, p. 68). In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that "The Best Job in the World" media campaign by Tourism Queensland will be included in marketing textbooks for years to come as an example of what can be achieved using a mix of traditional media resources together with emerging social networking venues to promote tourism destinations.