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A
Bloody Masterstroke
The
8 March 2006 edition of the Z-mail Newsletter...
You know
you’ve hit the marketing mother lode when your new advertising
slogan transitions rapidly into becoming a part of the cultural vernacular.
From Wendy’s
classic “Where’s
the Beef” to Las
Vegas’ “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas,”
it just doesn’t get any better than that for a brand manager.
And, when the media turns apoplectic about your new campaign...that
doesn’t hurt either. Usually, it’s sex that has the media
jacked up (Carl's
Jr.’s use of Paris
Hilton comes to mind)...but in the case of Australia
it’s the use of a word that has garnered the Office of Tourism
millions of dollars in free media across the globe.
 The
$180 million campaign seeks to lure international travelers Down Under
by posing the challenge: "Where
the bloody hell are you?"
The question follows a sequence of everyday Australians saying: "We've
poured you a beer, we've shampooed the camel, we've got the 'roos off
the green" and "we've got the sharks out of the pool.”
The spot closes with a woman on the beach saying, "so, where the
bloody hell are you?”
While Americans might recoil at using the word “hell” in
a spot (could you imagine any destination but Hell
MI getting away with saying “So where the hell are
you?”)...it’s the word “bloody” that has people
in Australia in an uproar. So much so that Prime
Minister John Howard, who supports the new campaign, has
declined media requests to so much as utter the punchline slogan in
interviews.
Beyond the use of a word that the Prime Minister won’t say, the
campaign has attracted criticism from other quarters that it is dumbing
down Australia. Apparently, many in Australia recoil at the image the
now-famous Paul
Hogan ads portrayed of their country, believing the “shrimp
on the barbie” spots pandered to crude national stereotypes.
Of course, that campaign increased American tourism arrivals into Australia
by 40% in the mid-80s. More recent campaigns that have featured the
arts, culture and cosmopolitan cool of the country have failed to connect.
Which, of course, is a case study of marketing. It’s not how you
want your product to be seen as much as understanding what is within
your product that will resonate with the buying public.
Tourism Australia’s Managing Director Scott Morrison counters
the critics by saying, "this is not a cultural essay...but a carefully
crafted and well researched campaign designed to encourage international
travelers to get Australia off their wish list and into their travel
itinerary," he said. And, that’s what marketers refer to
as a “call to action.”
As Americans, we don’t need to endure 20 hours in the air (one
way) to experience “arts, culture and cosmopolitan cool.”
We can do that here. We will, however, submit ourselves to such torture
to have Paul Hogan toss another shrimp on the barbie for us...or have
Australians invite us with such incredible images and ideas as are included
in the first spot offered up in this campaign.
According to some media reports, there are those at Tourism Australia
that are re-thinking the translation ramifications in Japan, Korea,
Thailand and Singapore and may offer an expletive-deleted versions of
the campaign. But, they are also reportedly considering editing the
American spots.
One has to wonder upon which word they’re focusing their attention.
We don’t view “bloody” as a swear word...and most
of us think it sounds kinda cool. When my daughter spent a semester
in England, she loved adding this particularly British/Aussie term to
her vocabulary. It was oh so British...and allowed her to grow past
her "dull" American jargon.
Which is why many Americans love Brits and Aussies in their soap operas.
It’s so, you know, cool. Well, that’s exactly how most of
us will respond to “bloody.” And, as for “hell”...”bloody”
kind of “modifies” a word that we’re not
supposed to use in nice company. In the end, “bloody hell”
is...yes, kinda cool to most Americans.
And, you know something? The people in America (or anywhere else) that
don’t get it...or are offended by it? They aren’t the
target market anyway. Note to Australians that are concerned that
you might offend some with this new campaign: You wouldn’t want
those people visiting your country anyway.
The media furor has netted Tourism Australia 79,000 hits on the agency's
website in the first week after the slogan was announced...before a
single ad had aired in New Zealand, the first market to be targeted
with the new campaign. That is a major league coup.
As an aside, we note that Queensland
Premier Peter Beattle was somewhat non-plussed by the slogan...but
said he would “give it a go.” His biggest concern was that
consumers outside of Australia wouldn’t understand the invitation.
"I just think a lot of people will think: what the bloody hell
does that mean?”
My guess is, the target market will get it just fine...just as people
worldwide quickly came to understand what a “barbie” was.
And...I’m guessing that (with a $180 million marketing budget)
“where the bloody hell are you” will quickly move into the
American vernacular as quickly as “a shrimp on the barbie”
did.
Bill
Wanna
comment on this or other topics. E-mail
Me!
Bil
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