SUCCESS STORY:

Tourism Western Australia wanted to capitalise on their brilliant, unique wildlife, a key pull for UK travellers.

Consumer research had demonstrated that the number one driver for destination choice amongst British High Value Travellers was nature and wildlife. With this audience being our key target for client Tourism Western Australia (TWA), it was apparent that whilst TWA has a plethora of strong nature and wildlife experiences, other Australian States had stronger consumer associations with this driver. SLC identified a need to grow TWA’s fame for nature and wildlife to improve preference and performance versus competing destinations.

One of TWA’s many wildlife experiences is the chance to see quokkas, a mini marsupial endemic to WA, which had been dubbed ‘the world’s happiest animal’ thanks to its seemingly smiling demeanour. SLC saw an opportunity to leverage the growing fame of this photogenic animal by amplifying its association with happiness.

Partnering with Leeds University, we conducted primary research  to measure levels of anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate in participants as they watched videos of quokkas, with the results showing stress levels falling by up to 50%. With this perfect media hook, we could boldly highlight the power of nature and TWA’s unique wildlife, saying confidently that ‘quokkas are scientifically proven to make you happier’. This led SLC to the development of our Quokka TV, where participants could watch for themselves.

Partnering with Singapore Airlines (SQ), the study’s results were made available on dedicated pages on SQ’s website. A sharable, visual AMP story was created alongside the academic papers that gave authority to the study, and content was repackaged for SQ’s email and social channels. In addition, SQ incorporated a 20-minute documentary on TWA using Quokka TV on their in-flight entertainment system, reaching thousands of SQ flyers.

SLC created a trade outreach programme, with over 40 key tour operator and media partners receiving a Quokka Happiness kit and content, inviting them to watch and share the content whilst having a cup of quokka branded ‘positivi-tea’. Content was also used in agent training sessions and shared with other global TWA teams.

The story launched with an exclusive on BBC Breakfast, which included a montage of quokka shots, followed by coverage across BBC radio, Sky News, This Morning, national newspapers including the front page of The Telegraph travel section, several of the UK’s biggest online outlets and 11 UK regional newspapers covered the story as a ‘trending topic’.  The story also went viral with outlets as far afield as Good Morning America, New York Post, Fox News, ABC News and CNN covering it. In total coverage spanned 15 countries from NZ and Indonesia to France.