VisitBritain and Host targets Generation Y to send young Aussies on a virtual Race to Britain

Host, Sydney has developed a new four week campaign for VisitBritain, aiming to put Britain top of mind as a holiday destination amongst Australia’s Generation Y. The campaign breaks on today (Wednesday, May 26t) and uses a promotional mechanic which sees participants propel themselves to Britain by interacting with content about the UK. The first two participants to virtually reach Britain will see themselves win two flights to London with Virgin Atlantic with another pair of flights offered as a prize draw to everyone participating in the game. The campaign hub sits on www.AussiesLoveUK.com.au

The background to the brief lies in the fact that many youngAustralians perceive the UK as a destination which is all too familiarto be exciting, and a place you can always visit at a later stage. SaysPascal Winkler, Digital Business Director at Host:  “When you get tothe bottom of it, a lot of Australian twentysomethings knowsurprisingly little about what the UK has on offer for them. Ourstrategy therefore focused on having the audience interact with thediversity of experiences, and demonstrate that there’s so muchhappening in regards to music, fashion, the arts and sport in the UKright now. The resulting brief was to combine relevant content with apromotional driver that could inject momentum.”

The online platform invites participants to enter their own virtualplane into a race to Britain and uses visual cues from a time whentravelling was still a real adventure. The planes get propelled bysharing and adding content related to British experiences – with themost active and connected participants advancing the quickest, and thebest content being rewarded with minor prizes. Host developed thewebsite in collaboration with C4, based on their Ripple social mediaplatform.

VisitBritain’s marketing manager in Australia, Mark Haynes, stressedthe importance of social media in their plans: “It was clear from theoutset that social media would play an important role in reaching thisyounger audience. The promotional campaign is just the start however, away for us to connect with the audience and recruit a pool of peoplewho have an interest in Britain. But the aim ongoing is to buildrelationships and grow this into a community of Australians with aknack for the UK – so that when they are thinking about going overseaswe’re high in the consideration set.”

Credits

Agency: Host Creative Director: Bob Mackintosh Creative Team: BrigittaRyan, Will Miles Design & Flash Development: Tim Grout, AndrewGuirgis, Chris Webb HTML and Backend Development: C4 Digital Strategy:Pascal Winkler Brand Planning: Carrie Booth Account Management: ToriMagill Producers: Claire Van Heyningen, Michael Griffiths, StaffordBosak Content & Community Management: Candice Juniper

Client: VisitBritain Marketing Manager: Mark Haynes Online Marketing: Tanya Carter