Luhrmann to Direct, Walters to Star in, Australia Tourism Campaign
Brandon Walters, the 11-year-old Aboriginal boy from Broome who was plucked from obscurity to act in Luhrmann’s latest feature film, will now also star in the tourism campaign, which follows a New York couple escaping to the Australian wilderness.
The one-off campaign, which will cost Tourism Australia $50 million over 12 months, does not mention the movie directly, but will reflect its emotion, Baz Luhrmann told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
“What we hope to do is convey an emotional experience that is possible from going the extra distance and coming to this unique special place on the edge of the world,” he said. “When Tourism Australia came to us, we were reticent at first because we did not want to confuse the promotion of the film with a tourism campaign. …The more we talked, the more I realised that we both had the same aims — to celebrate the truly unique and transformative power of this ancient and extraordinary continent. With this in mind, we agreed to put our team into the conception and realisation of a contemporary campaign which, while not aping the film, reflects this singular and attractive truth.”
This isn’t Luhrmann’s first foray into blending one of his films with an advertising opportunity. He directed a “Moulin Rouge!”-inspired Chanel commercial starring Kidman that looked a lot like the movie.
The “Australia” campaign has been conceived to celebrate the continent and will feature themes of romance, adventure, transformation and Aboriginal music
It’s also a Hollywood studio’s dream of free movie publicity. The 30- and 45-second TV and movie spots, which will begin airing in October, will feature “an urban couple transformed by an adventure,” Gysberts said.
Executive General Manager of Marketing, Nick Baker, said, “We remain one of the world’s most desired tourist destinations, but converting that desire into reality is becoming harder than ever for many travellers. …The need to create urgency and fashionability around a country’s ‘brand’ is stronger than ever and even Australia, which has long enjoyed an exceptionally high brand reputation, needs to keep its marketing fresh and compelling.” He added, “There is no better way to do that than to secure the help of one of the most creative and innovative talents, Baz Luhrmann, his creative partner Catherine Martin and the entire Bazmark team. …The themes of romance and adventure, coupled with the power of the Australian land and people to transform, will resonate in the tourism campaign, as it does in the film.”
The campaign will run in cinemas, on television and online and in print. It will run from October 2008 in 22 of Tourism Australia’s international markets with two advertisements - one for eastern markets and one for western markets.
ABC radio program PM have reported on the release at length, listen to the opinion of experts, industry insiders and the man, Baz Luhrmann himself. Download the report in our Media section.
Additionally view a video report from Nine MSN Australia
sources: Tourism Australia, LA Times, utalkmarketing
July 29th, 2008