Australia was one of the last countries to reopen to the world post COVID and needed to go big to remind the world of our incredibly unique, diverse country and iconic laid-back personality.

Our brief was to reintroduce the world to our warm Aussie welcome. Traditionally, Tourism Australia makes bespoke campaigns for a single market but this time they wanted one big launch that could work in any market in the world, cross any border and be adaptable to local customs, sensitivities and languages.

The objective was to create a massive PR uplift that would lead to consideration of Australia as the destination of choice for high yield travellers globally.

Character-driven animated movies appeal to vast international audiences. So what better way for Tourism Australia to stand out to potential travellers than to entertain and encapsulate our unique personality, with a category-defining campaign. To really connect with audiences, we transformed one of our most recognisable native animals, a Kangaroo called Ruby, into a loveable, sassy spokesperson for Oz.

Her adventures with a charismatic toy unicorn called Louis began with an Australian greeting, also familiar with global audiences, ‘G’day’.

Our use of spectacular Australian scenery and icons like Uluru and the Sydney Opera House were designed to remind travellers what they’d been missing during the pandemic.

International celebrities Rose Byrne and Will Arnett brought the characters to life in English-speaking countries, while local stars added to the hype in other markets. A spectacular simultaneous launch captured the global attention we needed.

The campaign was built to appeal to international consumers across a number of culturally diverse markets, specifically targeting Tourism Australia's high yield travellers.

With a strong ATL animated live-action short film Directed by acclaimed Australian director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) as the lead creative asset, the earned strategy was to help edit this and BTS content to strengthen the emotional connection between consumers and the brand. This PR and social content would then provide global markets with a PR media kit appropriate for editorial use to drive consistency and connection, dovetailed comms plans were then created for all key market teams.

Treating the campaign like a cinematic launch, a short film with a single narrative was edited for any market worldwide and a phased approach to include teaser content, social media posts and finally a global reveal moment in New York for key stakeholders, partners and global media.

G’Day was a hugely ambitious undertaking - an animated short film to run across the world, entertaining markets as culturally diverse as Europe, USA, China and beyond. Casting was critical, and we embodied the warmAustralian spirit by recruiting beloved Australian star Rose Byrne. Hollywood celebrity Will Arnett brought comic genius to drive humour and impact. The film was translated into [15 languages], using local talent to ensure each iteration had maximum impact and cultural relevance.

From conception to launch, the project was over two years in the making, with over [X] writers, 100 designers, animators and post production experts bringing their expertise. In sound alone, over 100 musicians, international composers, multiple choirs, orchestras, and legendary aboriginal artists created a rich soundtrack to bring the Australian story to life in a way the world had never before seen or heard.

The result was a truly global achievement, and a uniquely Australian

Working with 150 partners, 18 airlines and 115 KDP’s, the campaign achieved unparalleled global success with 650M+ campaign views and $193M in earned media so far (source: Meltwater).

It generated 3,347 editorial articles, and organic social content delivered 90M+ impressions and 7M+ engagements. Rose Byrne on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon gained 17.4M views, including Tik Tok (5.5M), Twitter (3.1M) and Facebook (2.4M).

As a result, awareness of Australia as a holiday destination rose by 13%, with consideration for a holiday in next four years rising 12% and intention to travel in the next two years by 13%.