Queensland Australia's ‘best job in the world’ tourism publicity stunt has to be one of the best out there. Here’s an example of a tourism department thinking outside the box for a mass marketing solution that beautifully promotes their area, does so at low cost and capitalizes on viral marketing. Too bad we don’t have that caliber of marketing power behind our tourism department.
What is ‘The best job in the world’ you ask? It’s a well disguised gimmick to promote Queensland tourism. Very simply, Queensland tourism came up with the idea of offering a well paid 6 month job as ‘caretaker’ of a string of islands in the great barrier reef. Your duties? Stay in a plush 3 bedroom house, tour around and blog about your activities. Absolutely brilliant.
How do you get ‘The best job in the world’? You go to the website filled with beautiful pictures and information about the islands and submit a video entry to suggest why you should be the caretaker. Unsurprisingly this site has been a viral hit gaining free coverage in newspapers and magazines while also leveraging the power of people passing the link on to their friends.
Here you have a small investment of likely a few hundred thousand that by *Beyonce platinum period* marketing measures must be returning gajillions worth of advertising. Imagine, you go to the site, fall in love with the idea of being the island’s caretaker and ultimately submit an entry. You spend months dreaming about being selected and all the while get more and more used to the idea of visiting the islands. Even when you’re not selected, you’re more inclined to read the blog and watch the video updates of the person who was and are likely to dream for some time about what it would have been like if it was you. Ultimately you resolve that Queensland is a place that you want to visit. Now that is tourism marketing.
What’s our idea of innovation? Beyonce concerts, themed nights at baseball parks and wayward spending on non-mainstream publications.
Lame.
What? Bda Gov, what would be in it for all those with their hands and pockets open?
Posted by: Airman32 | April 10, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Mirjam’s has my vote! This is outstanind way to advertise, create life longing dreams to vist and shows great ingenuity.
So far I have not seen any of this from our Gov.
Posted by: Airman32 | April 10, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Your tourism information, at least here in Atlanta, is targeted singularly towards black Americans - the wisdom of which is debatable based on demographics – with TV commercials featuring black women at breakfast or lunch or something discussing how many times they got laid while in Bermuda. Wow. No thought to disposable income, frequent flyers or any real metrics. Nope, we get Brown’s fantasy in the form of some sluts cooing about being screwed on a beach. That is not going to appeal to 90% of the folks in the south, or north for that matter.
Posted by: gonebabygone | April 10, 2009 at 04:34 PM