Mark Ritson Weighs In On Chapter 2 Of Tourism Australia’s ‘Come & Say G’Day’ Campaign

Mark Ritson has weighed in on the second instalment of Tourism Australia’s ‘Come and say G’Day’ campaign in a recent LinkedIn post, praising Susan Coghill for iterating on the highly successful ‘Come and Say G’Day’ campaign from three years ago, rather than ripping up and starting again.

Ruby the Roo, the CGI kangaroo mascot, makes a return accompanied with new friends of Robert Irwin, Nigella Lawson, Aussie actor Thomas Weatherall and Chinese actor Yosh Yu. Each of these stars will bring a different, more locally resonant flavour to the creative.

Ritson first acknowledged the success of the first instalment of ‘Come and say G’Day’ stating, “consumers that recalled the ads had a 15pt increase in awareness and consideration…. No wonder the work won five Effies.”

Ritson praised Coghill for being “a scholar of advertising effectiveness” adding that you can “see it in her work” with emotion, codification and maintaining the same campaign for years to ensure it has time to work.

“Most marketers pull campaigns and replace them long before they can have their maximal impact,” said Ritson.

“Susan knows better. Again the data confirms she is right. After two years the same creative tested just as well (in the UK) and actually improved over time in the US.”

Coghill, Ritson continued, “Does not disagree with ‘baking your cakes for longer’. Three years of the same creative is an eternity in the tourism and travel category and contrasts with Tourism Australia’s former approach of a new campaign each and every year. It’s also not a new campaign. Again, unlike less well trained marketers, Coghill is not throwing the consistency bathwater out with the new baby creative. She bills this work as ‘Chapter 2’. Same codes, same theme, same fluent device. Fresh but familiar.”

“New campaigns, especially extensions, eventually make sense. The whole media caravan that surrounds new work and launching can positively impact the market. This new work also keeps internal customers, retail partners and employees happy and invested. And finally, as effectiveness scholars there is the tempting ability to apply all the learnings from the first campaign to its second chapter. In the case of Come and Say G’Day II – the realisation that the creative will work better if local stars from China, Japan, America, UK, India and US are featured in each country’s messaging.

“I guess the point is that most brands should maintain their campaigns for much longer than they do. Two or more years makes effectiveness sense and contrasts with the creative myopia of 95 per cent of the industry. But after three years there is a case to be made for new work, providing it follows in the footsteps of what preceded it and builds from the lessons and limitations of the earlier work,” continued Ritson.

“So new cakes do eventually make sense. But only after the old ones have been baked for long enough. And provided today’s gateau looks a lot like 2022’s pavlova,” he rounded out.

Ritson’s assessment of Coghill’s approach to the campaign certainly marries with what she told B&T yesterday, when she explained the exponential benefits that compound creative will have for Australia’s tourism sector and the country’s coffers.

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