In 1986, Crocodile Dundee introduced Americans to the land down under. The iconic film put Australia on the map; in fact it’s still the first association many Americans have when they think of Australia. The problem is the world, and Australia, has evolved dramatically since then.

Enter the latest Hollywood craze: Classic film reboots.

In January 2018, we announced the franchise was returning with DUNDEE: THE SON OF A LEGEND RETURNS HOME. Presented as a buddy comedy where Danny McBride (Brian Dundee) teams up with Chris Hemsworth (Wally Jr.) to save Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee from danger, the duo runs into a star-studded Australian cast along the way.

Teaser films and a promotional campaign fuelled conversation, speculation and organic interest from film fans until we reveal it was all one epic prank - The Super Bowl of all places. There was no movie: it was an elaborate tourism ad for Australia.

This idea required three campaigns in one.

I. TEASE – A FILM RELEASE

To spark conversation DUNDEE had to appear real, one-month out from Superbowl we launched as any studio would. Behind-the-scenes ‘leaks’, PR releases and four blockbuster trailer drops fuelled ongoing intrigue. All supported by a comprehensive suite of ‘official’ assets (website, social handles, IMDB/wiki pages, digital, OOH) to cement DUNDEE’s legitimacy.

II. REVEAL – A SUPER BOWL AD

Halfway through our 60” Super Bowl TVC we revealed the rouse to 100M+ viewers. At that moment, all media (website, social, OOH, etc.) flipped to a tourism campaign; from ‘coming soon’ to ‘come soon’.

III. INVITE – A TOURISM CAMPAIGN

Turning interest into visitation, we retargeted all who engaged with compelling offers and additional content addressing ‘Why Australia?” - directing them to Australia.com to explore itineraries through dedicated campaign ‘marketplace’ with airfare and tailored holiday offers from 20+ campaign partners.

By taking this unprecedented approach, Tourism Australia earned the highest organic PR and engagement pre-Super Bowl (Amobee), were the Most-Searched Super Bowl advertiser (Google) and DUNDEE was the #1 Most-Viewed Super Bowl Campaign (AdAge/Visible Measures).

All of which saw us over-deliver on our objectives:

a) Top-of-mind

DUNDEE generated 14,310 PR mentions (Meltwater), reaching a potential 7.7B consumers, with an equivalent advertising value of $84.4M.

b) Different

78% of American travellers felt it differentiated Australia as a destination, growing our already strong destination desirability by 50%.

c) Drive intent

66% of consumers exposed were more likely to visit, with an 83% increase in intent to book.

Over 250,000 leads were generated and, more importantly, they’re qualified with an astounding 24% paid conversion rate (vs. 6% historical).

While trended visitation data isn’t available for months, every metric has already revealed this as one of the most successful tourism campaigns in Australia’s history.

One of the most talked about movies of 2018... was actually an elaborate tourism campaign for Australia.

For four weeks in January, we convinced the world a new Crocodile Dundee film was coming; a movie that just so happened to highlight the best Australian holiday experiences. Media played a critical role, stealing all film-marketing conventions to fuel conversation and validate the film’s existence – before ultimately revealing the ‘prank’ on the world’s biggest stage: The Super Bowl.

Every media interaction built a pool of qualified prospects to retarget with conversion-driving content, delivering Tourism Australia’s most impactful campaign ever.

Our media strategy was threefold:

IMPACT (ALL AMERICANS)

Historically Tourism Australia spread investment across the year, using precision media to engage American High-Value Travellers. However, to get Australia back on the agenda we had to create a circuit-breaker moment that got people thinking differently about it.

…and we aimed for the biggest moment of all – The Super Bowl.

AUTHENTICITY (FILM FANS)

We needed an idea that matched the ambition. Enter DUNDEE, a contagious concept that relied on public belief a film was on the horizon. Knowing fans smell ads a mile-away, media went to extreme lengths to manufacture legitimacy. From launching PR first, to ghost-serving all content via credible partners and establishing realistic substructure (IMDB/Wiki pages), every OESP touchpoint worked to convince people DUNDEE was real and get them excited about it

CONVERSION (HIGH VALUE TRAVELLERS)

Every interaction with DUNDEE fuelled our remarketing database to enhance critical conversion efforts.

U.S. out-of-region travel has grown by 11% in recent years, yet Australia’s share remained stagnant at just 1.3%. While Americans love the idea of an Aussie holiday (Australia’s ranked third in desire) the ‘tyranny of distance’ means we struggle to convert that desire to visitation, with most seeing Australia as a ‘some-day’ destination, not one to visit today.

With Europe and the Caribbean so close to the U.S., Tourism Australia’s traditional campaigns promoting our wine and beaches weren’t presenting a compelling enough argument for the extra 10 hours on a plane. Add to that we’re outspent in an industry that spends over $5.6B a year, we needed to do something different.

Our tasks were clear and vital: we needed to break Australia out of the tourism sea-of-sameness in a way that made us a) top-of-mind b) different and c) drove U.S. intent to book from ‘some-day’ to ‘today’.