Heart and soul plays marketing role

Given its vast size, selling the state as a holiday destination is a complex business; but energising those who live in WA to tell the story might be the key.

Rapid developments in digital technology are constantly changing how tourism is marketed, but the key challenge for Western Australia remains across all media – defining the state and its people, and taking that image to the world.

WA’s size and diversity has hindered the evolution of a single identity, according to marketing professionals, and probably kept some of the state’s most precious cultural assets hidden from sight.

Henry Boston points to the absence of indigenous culture in public art instalments in Perth as a powerful case in point.

The executive director of the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA said there were no signposts, literal or figurative, in the city to point visitors to the rich, indigenous culture that preceded European settlement and continues to this day.

And yet WA’s unique and ancient Aboriginal culture draws visitors from all over the world.

The huge crowds that filled the streets of Perth to witness the progression of The Giants revealed the public appetite for authentic, cultural experiences.

The images of these gigantic puppets were broadcast around the world, and for that weekend Perth led cultural broadcasts around the globe.

Mr Boston was part of the crowd soaking up the magic of The Giants.

He acknowledged the power of events to telecast Perth to the world, but said tourism needed a strong, broader culture of food, music and the arts to leverage big-ticket performances like that.

“It is the bedrock stuff that sits there all year round; it exists here, but because of the disconnect. between tourism and the arts it doesn’t get a wider understanding,” Mr Boston said.

He said the challenge for Perth was finding a way to communicate and market the city’s culture in the absence of a confident cultural identity.

Executive director of Perth non-profit cultural organisation Form, Lynda Dorrington, said while WA was brimming with unique visitor experiences, it lacked a coherent, creative strategy to promote these attractions.

She said discerning visitors and residents were seeking a multi-dimensional experience.

“A sense of place that delivers the full package; scenery, heritage, hospitality, recreation and soul,” Ms Dorrington said.

“We’ve got that in WA, we need to make sure people really know about it; and not only tourists … we need to value it for ourselves because then we’ll communicate our pride of place to the people who visit our state.”

Form has undertaken a number of important projects to create what Ms Dorrington calls cultural trails through WA’s vast regions.

These projects include a partnership with CBH to paint some wheat silos in Northam.

The striking result has attracted a lot of interest and provides a region such as the Wheatbelt with a fresh tourism attraction, as well as a new cultural dimension for its residents.

Leveraging the ‘voices’ of the citizenry to promote a destination was the key concept behind Curate Sweden, an innovative tourism campaign that gave Swedish residents the opportunity to help shape a voice for the country.

Each week, a citizen was given the ‘keys’ to Sweden’s Twitter account and the ability to curate its content and messages.

Adam Ferrier is the global chief strategy officer at Cummins&Partners, which counts Tourism Western Australia among its clients.

He said many tourism bodies were exploring how they could use their own citizens to promote or market their home as a tourism destination.

However, Mr Ferrier said, successful tourism campaigns were built on a strong purpose and delivered a concept that endured over time, such as New Zealand’s 100% Pure and the jigsaw puzzle Every Piece of Victoria campaign.

Ultimately, Mr Ferrier said it was about giving people a tangible reason to visit a destination.

It sounds like a simple proposition, but the rapid multiplication of digital communication channels in the past decade has shattered the traditional advertising model.

And tourism-marketing bodies have to disseminate their message through both traditional mediums, such as television, as well as through evolving mediums such as social media.

The marketing message for Tourism WA is delivered through multiple channels and increasingly in partnership with major industry players, such as airlines.

Chief executive Stephanie Buckland said digital technology had dramatically changed consumer behaviour in the past 10 years.

“The technology gives us the opportunity to be very targeted and very clever, but on the other hand the ability to cut through when people are using multiple devices is a challenge,” Ms Buckland said.

She said all of Tourism WA’s marketing campaigns were developed in partnership with tourism operators both in Australia and overseas.

These tie-ups provide an opportunity for the state-funded marketing body to access databases such as frequent flier clubs, and hit consumers with tailored offers if they have been researching holiday spots in WA.

These commercial arrangements have made marketing a lot more complex, according to Ms Buckland, because every partner wants unique content for their customer base.

And it’s made the business of selling the state a lot more labour intensive.

“In the early days when the focus was on television advertising, it was a lot less labour intensive,” Ms Buckland said.

“Now we need people to be thinking about those channels all the time.”

And all this is pressing on Tourism WA at a time of fierce competion, not just within Australia, but from international neighbours near and far.

The growth of the middle class in Asia continues to bring new visitors to our shores, but Ms Buckland warned these travellers were in search of more than a beautiful beach.

“Australia has already been ahead of the curve but increasingly consumers are not just looking to see an extraordinary attraction and have their photo taken, the are wanting to have a meaningful experience,” she said.