The NT Government’s ‘Do the NT’ tourism marketing campaign was last night recognised as the one of the best in Australia, picking up a prestigious advertising award.
The campaign was named the year’s most effective advertising campaign in the category of Travel, Leisure and Media at the Australian Effie Awards.
The Effie Awards are recognised by advertisers and agencies as the pre-eminent award in the advertising industry. Gold, Silver and Bronze Effie trophies are awarded to category winners, with Tourism NT receiving a bronze award for its category win.
“To win an Effie award is a great honour. Of all the advertising awards, an Effie is seen as the one to win, with category winners judged on effectiveness,” said Tourism NT Director of Domestic Marketing, Tony Quarmby.
The Do the NT campaign beat other finalists to claim its award including Tourism Tasmania, Perth Racing and Carnival Cruises.
The campaign, which aimed to push the NT off Aussies’ bucket lists and onto their to-do lists, successfully re-branded the Northern Territory as an active and adventurous “must-do” holiday destination and led to a surge in domestic visitors to the NT last year.
“To win an Effie you must have delivered outstanding return on investment and surpassed the targets the campaign set out to reach,” said Mr Quarmby.
“The Do the NT campaign, launched in 2013, helped re-position the NT from a passive, ‘look but don’t touch’ destination to one full of ‘hands on experiences’, fun, energy and surprise. Shifting the region from a ‘one day’ experience to an ‘do now’ holiday destination, the NT became Australia’s fastest growing domestic tourism market in 2014 helping drive domestic visitation to a five year high with domestic visitor numbers jumping 20 per cent.
“This Effie award is a testament to the strategic thinking, creative ideas and hard work put in by Tourism NT and our communications partners and we are confident our latest campaign, It’s About Time…Do the NT, will be equally as successful.”
Andrew Baxter, CEO of Publicis Australia, the advertising agency who created the campaign with Tourism NT, said the Do the NT campaign reduced the sense of distance, both emotionally and physically, between Australian holidaymakers and the Northern Territory.
“Given the inherent attraction to the Northern Territory among Australians, we always knew the challenge could be met. With a great idea, ‘Do the NT’ we knew we could shift people from passive interest into real action and results,” Mr Baxter said.
For a full list of Effies winners go to: www.effies.com.au
View the 'Do the NT' commercial here: https://youtu.be/0YTk2aOgmdM
Photo attached: Tourism NT’s Tony Quarmby (centre) with the Effie Award
ENDS
Media Contact: Lisa Andrews, Corporate Media and Communications Manager +61 401 115 634
