Brand partnerships are often one sided - one party gets all the fame at the other’s expense.

This however wasn’t an issue for Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ). They needed to leverage the credibility of an established brand to gain real cut-through.

Known for their high scale consumer experiences and product innovation, Uber was unexpected partner helping to create an unrivaled experience, that drove urgency whilst shattering misconceptions about the health of the Reef.

The result was a win, win for all - Uber dominated the headlines, but the focus of the stories was all about the Reef!

Watch the news and you'd think the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was destroyed.

Whilst it's true climate induced bleaching has impacted the Reef, the true story is more nuanced, and large portions remained unaffected and beautiful.

Yet media globally were reporting that false narrative that due to climate change the Reef was in jeopardy - dead already, or dying soon.

This misperception was rapidly driving down visitor numbers from key markets - extremely concerning for Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), since the Reef supports 64,000 jobs and contributes approximately $6.4 billion to the Australian economy every year. Every tourist who visits the GBR contributes an average $6.50 to conservation efforts.

For the good of the reef we needed to turn the tourism decline back into growth.

The goal was to create maximum impact, and give consumers a timely reason to experience the Reef with their own eyes.

The Reef is like any city; there are certain parts that aren’t always as bustling and vibrant as others.

But with the right guide, you can discover an abundance of life.

Consumer research revealed global travellers would 'rethink the reef' if...

1. They could see the Reef live and in all its glory

2. Media who previously covered the bleaching of the Reef confirmed it's healthiness

3. Travellers were shown ways to tour the Reef without impacting it

To help people navigate the Reef, we needed something truly unique to get people talking.

We proposed an electric submarine with a 260° window that gave consumer a never-before seen view of the Reef, in a sustainable fashion.

This unique form of travel, and those lucky enough to ride it, would be able to capture the world’s imagination and provide people with an unfiltered lens of the Reef in its authentic state.

An underwater submarine is cool. But an underwater submarine you can book on Uber is even cooler!

To create a global story at scale required one important partner – the world’s largest ride-share platform, Uber.

With only 8 weeks until the launch of the campaign, we pitched the concept and proposed a partnership to deliver an idea with global newsworthiness and scale: scUber - the world's first ride-sharing submarine.

Together we worked to relocate an electric submarine from the USA to Australia, integrated the campaign into Uber's platform to make it bookable and co-developed the media strategy, incorporating teams and media relationships in each international market to reach Ubers 50M global users and millions more through the creation of videos and stills.

We identified a suitable launch location on the Reef - Heron Island - and installed WiFi, power and infrastructure to support a global press room.

We hosted 36 media from six of TEQ and Uber's key international markets, who were kept completely in the dark until the press call when the submarine emerged from the Reef in front of them, with the Queensland Minister for Tourism onboard.

They learned about the initiative from key stakeholders at TEQ, Uber and Reef scientists who discussed the health of the Reef at an interactive panel session.

Simultaneously, a 48hr global press office was managed from Heron Island, with ground support from state government, with Uber and TEQ's global media teams helping drive mass media coverage in each market on day of launch.

A consumer competition to drive further media coverage closed the campaign allowing lucky winners from key markets to experience scUber.

scUber brought tourism and technology together for a greater purpose. It set TEQ apart from other tourism localities and attractions locally and globally.

Whilst Uber was the vessel, the story played out on the Reef. Through this smart partnerships, we were able to increase relevancy and appeal to both TEQ and Uber's target audience maximising opportunities for earned.

scUber was TEQ’s most successful campaign to date, even bigger than 2009 “Best Job in the World”!

Goal

• Educate and drive awareness of the GBR’s abundant marine life across six key western markets with a target reach of 100M.

Outcome

• More than 4.5 Billion potential media impressions across key western markets.

Goal

• Drive advocacy around the GBR, among tier one media outlets globally, with a focus on consumer titles to achieve positive balance against the negative noise.

Outcome

• 4,320 earned media placements. Generated via national TV, print and online stories, across key western markets.

• 95% of media stories were positive or neutral in sentiment

• Positive GBR social sentiment grew from 21% to 62%.

Goal

• Create a ROI of $40M in AdvertisingStandard Rate from earned channels alone.

Outcome

• $130M+ earned media value generated.

Goal

• Increase consideration and travel intent to the GBR among our high value traveller.

Outcome

• Tourism numbers are growing again +4% YOY

• Travel partner sales increasing (UK travel sales +22%)

• 152,000 competition entries over a two week period

• 700,000 website views over an eight week period