Thursday, October 09, 2008
Proud to be an Australian
My friends often comment that I am not that patriotic in comparison to a lot of Australians. I guess I often keep it to myself as there is a lot of negative perceptions of my countrymen. Although I love Steve Irwin, Kath and Kim and Alf from Home and Away. We are often seen by people around the world as what Australian would term a 'feral' .
I believe the new campaign from Australian Tourism Board working with Baz Luhrmann absolutely blows this away. The previous campaign was cheap Australian humour that really didnt help change the perception I was talking about. The current campaign has delivered on a fantastic insight about 'going on walkabout'. If you dont know what that is. The indeginous people of Australia, 'the Aboriginals' would at the age of 13 as a right of passage, go on walkabout for up to six months to truly understand themselves and build who they are going to be as an adult. This has continued through the ages. What country have you been to where you havent seen an Australian. We are everywhere. I have been doing it for 3 years now and did many a trip in the years leading up to my exit.
Lynx in Australia targeted 18-20 year men and found a similar insight that they would go travelling at this age as a right of passage, so they created a sexy airline, Lynxjet. The campaign won the grand prix at Cannes.
This insight constitutes our history, our social make up and we want to share it with the world. We know everybody has a curiosity to explore the unknown, to truly break away from the daily grinds of life and do something different and exciting. The distance and the harsh wilderness of Australia creates the ultimate place to go walkabout.
The execution of each of the stories I believe audiences can really relate too (there is another one filmed in Shanghai). The fantastic high production value and beautiful music from the Australian Symphony Orchestra brings together a fantastic showcase of Australia.
So ask yourself the question... is it time to go walkabout (english people I dont mean the bad aussie pub chain)
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5 comments:
Hi Michael, I'm not sure if i'm on board w/you re: the Lynxjet campaign being on the same insight of 'going on walkabout.'
I see the Linxjet campaign and all the other body deodorant brands (e.g. Axe and TAG here in the states) delivering on the promise of "getting guys more tail." At the core, most dudes 18-20 are only thinking about one thing at this time in their lives. Chicks. Well at least from my observations here stateside. However you dress it up, be it as a fake airline or an army of babes chasing you down a beach, it's all about attracting the opposite sex.
Am I missing something in the Linxjet campaign that you're seeing?
BTW, in all my travels, I've always had the best times sharing a beer and stories with Aussies on their walkabouts. Central America, Europe, Asia, you name it, Aussies were there...everywhere. cheers!
saw this today on my stack of old surfer mags. had to share w/you.
have a nice weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/windo/2929586057/
yeah UM Sydney shared the presentation with the network. The international insight is about that but this particular campaign was more about the specific product and I think they combined a global thought with a local one really well.
They were actually close to buying to an airline as well
gotcha, i can see that. that would've cool to have seen them partner w/Virgin Atlantic airlines.
more on Baz and the walkabout in today's Ad Age.
http://tinyurl.com/59p5zf
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