Kangaroo Island aims to encourage people to let themselves go in new ad campaign via kwp!
A new national campaign to promote South Australia’s Kangaroo Island has just launched via kwp! Adelaide and KOJO.
Directed and shot by Jeff Darling and backed by the track Ride by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, the campaign captures the raw beauty and splendor of this amazing and relatively little known island.
The collaboration between KOJO and Moth Projects is also a first and the result is a rich and engaging tvc where the viewer is swept away to this unique destination in regional South Australia.
Says South Australian Tourism Commission’s Director of Marketing and Communications, David O’Loughlin: “Building an emotional connection with potential travellers is vital in a category that has become so commodotised and clichéd. Particularly with a product as powerful and transformational as Kangaroo Island.”
Says James Rickard, creative director for kwp!: “We’re talking to experience seekers, not your traditional tourists.They’re looking for unique experiences where they can actively connect with the environment and not just passively observe it. They want to truly connect not just have a leisurely escape.”
The campaign includes outdoor and indoor cinema, Free-to-air and Pay TV, along with newspaper, magazine, digital and social executions.
Creative Director: James Rickard
Creative Team: James Rickard, George Vargas
Media Team: Natalie Morely, Lucy McFarlane, Karyn Smith
Account Team: John Baker, Lucy Noblet
Art: Jodie Kunze, Jo Spargo
Agency Producer Di Willson
Client Team: David O’Loughlin, Emma Fletcher, Alda Ward, Melissa Librandi
Director/DoP: Jeff Darling
Production Company: Co-Production: KOJO and Moth Projects
Executive Producer: Barbara Devlin (KOJO)
Producer: Kate Sawyer (Moth Projects)
Editor: Adam Wills
VFX: Marty Pepper
Music: Rise, Eddie Vedder
Sound Engineer: Scott Illingworth – Best FX
49 Comments
South Australian’s should be angry that their money has been wasted on creating what looks like a bunch of generic stock footage put together with an expensive, licensed bit of music that nobody is going to recognise.
$6 million dollars behind this piece of same-same background noise.
There are so many wonderful places to visit in South Australia, it seems that the South Australian Tourism people have something against investing in any communications that may actually convince people to visit the state.
Come to your senses, come to South Australia.
I noticed it because of the music, stayed watching because of the pics, then laughed when I saw the logo at the end.
Somebody must have lost the idea while they were shooting in and around all those trees and bushes. All I see is a lot of people (kids mostly) making their own fun because there’s stuff all else to do. And that’s not just a criticism of this spot but most Australian tourism ads these days.
This is an amazingly, beautifully shot commercial. Well done.
Pay no attention to all the Negativo’s out there.
Would have been better if they’d shot it Victoria.
Loved it and the music, what a spectacular creation….Well done. (P.S. Love Eddie Vedders Ukelele songs, nice choice)
@Nice, I don’t disagree that this is a beautifully produced spot, the people at Kojo are very talented and everyone who worked on it made something that looks and sounds very nice.
The point I was making is that all this ad will do is make everyone who worked on it from the ad agency, the production house and the client feel all warm and fuzzy… it’s not going to convince anyone from interstate to go to KI, which is the underlying purpose of spending $6m of taxpayer dollars.
If we thought that those sort of ads would get people to respond, you don’t need to license expensive music, hire world-wide renowned directors and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in post. We know that SATC wasted $1.2M on ad production for the cellar door ads last year using a hollywood director, I’d guess this one wasn’t much different.
Given there isn’t any idea in the creative, just a cheesy tagline, try throwing $25k at a bunch of young film-makers with a 5D and they’d probably come back with something that looks 90% of what was produced here – would do the same job – that is, create some nice looking background noise that nobody is going to pay attention to.
@josh I believe it’s a mandolin. And while we’re on the music, such a sweepingly emotional track would make most places look good – perfect for that pretty ad with no idea. You could set images of a bulldog eating custard in slow motion to that music and it’d make you want to do it too.
7.52 Is it wrong to ‘make your own fun’?Are you someone who needs other people to make your ‘fun’ for you?
apart from the devil’s marbles how do i know that is KI?
Yes, Yuri, I do need the place and the people to make a destination fun for me. It’s called “TOURISM.”
And I don’t think “TOURISTS” will want to part with thousands of dollars to wander through tall grasses and play shoot-em-ups.
This is a brilliant ad! Wish it was on my reel.
I did a movie weekend last weekend. Each time this ad came up before the movie I noted that I remembered the beautiful footage but not what they were advertising.
I have to agree with Really? on this one. When you have a small overall marketing budget as SATC does, spending that ratio on production in 2012 is a bad bet. The high water mark for me to prove this point at the moment is STA travel as per http://www.campaignbrief.com/2011/08/sta-travel-and-three-mates-go.html The ideals and ethos of this strategy Vs a credits list like you see above could easily be adapted to the SA product and target market with a big $$ chunk left over to invest in media, web content etc..
I McHunt – I think you’ll find the Devil’s Marbles are in the NT. Or was that your point?
A lot of semen crusted keyboards over in Tourism SA offices I reckon….
Did he mean ‘burgeoning’?
@Mack you are right, that STA campaign was fantastic, but what sat behind that was an actual idea. The thing with SATC, there is no hunger for great ideas, it’s all about the broad sweeping shots with a cheesy line… just a bit too much of what @hmmm is talking about..
Managed to capture something difficult to get in summer, the true feeling of being wintery, cold and unpleasant in the dark clouds, rough seas and blustering wind. The lack of any colour topped it off. Oh and if it’s talking to the experience seekers why so many kids?
Maybe someone’s planning a family. I’ve actually seen this happen a few times. Suddenly the Art Director, Writer, Client, AD, CD, etc, wants to put kids in everything. They’ll find all kinds of ways (mostly subconsciously) to make kids part of the creative believing it’s a great consumer insight.
This spot is super generic. Dolphins, surfing, foodie shot, beach, gum trees.. The Eddie Vedder track works nicely, but the only thing this leaves you thinking is that South Australia is bland and looks like all of Australia, except it is a bit more overcast.
@Generiskt peraps SA can revise it’s positioning around their creative campaigns… ‘Brilliantly Bland’
I think the TVC is stunning! Captures the raw, natural beauty of Kangaroo Island. I look forward to discovering more when i visit in June.
I was going to go, and then I saw the place is full of kids.
KI = Kiddy Island
that looks like a cheesy jeff darling spot from the 90’s
Great ad, great music, great to see those human hating, self righteous, earth hour monochromes will not be there when I take my family.. Was your childhood really that bad ducky?
This ad is absolutely spot on, captures the fun, freedom and culture of KI beautifully, well done. Ignore the standard negativity surrounding any project involving the use of taxpayers money for a creative use. The irony is the conservative group speaking against this are precisely the ones that don’t know how to ‘let themselves go’ and desperately need to. KI is a participation destination, not a ‘view from the sidelines’, ‘serve me another cocktail while i sit here by the pool’ place, which is the exact point of the ad!
Be cool to be credited alongside Eddie Vedder though!
Beautiful ad. Reminds me of visiting as a child and as an adolescent. Absolutely captures the raw and untamed beauty of KI. Makes me want to go back. If the ad is aimed at South Australians it definitely wins… I’m not sure how it goes with interstate viewers however – it may not evoke that same sense of nostalgia.
I haven’t been to KI yet, it’s on my to-do list. I’ve heard KI is a beautiful place, but l didnt see anything in the ad that makes it special and unique. I could do most of those things in other parts of SA and save myself a ferry trip. I love Eddie Vedder but if we are promoting our state, why not use music from a local artist?
I love this ad, the scenery, the music and the children. Makes me want to go there. Absolutely beautiful. Thank You
Kangaroo Island would i have gone there no but the add puts it on the map its a beautifully shot commercial
The music caught my attention and I stayed for the ad. Looks like a good place to chill.
The only reason I found this site was to find out what the backing song was called. Although South Australia is a beautiful place (as is the rest of Australia), I think the person profiting mostly from this campain is Eddie Vedder as I am just about to download song on iTunes and wonder how many others have. Thanks SA tourism for introducing me to this beautifully crafted song.
God, I’d almost forgotten what a miserable bunch of old tarts the average ad people are. All bitching away about how the KI ad fails.
This advert does its job superbly. The sound track gets you in, the imagery makes you nostalgic and the clever part is that you are not sure what its all about so you actually sit up and make a note of what its about.
I’d imagine the recall factor is very high. A lot of people who had no idea of KI now want to go there.
And for those who feel it would be a lousy place to visit because you can’t get a double shot, skinny, mocktop, block chop latte on every corner – I doubt the ad is aimed at you.
Love the ad and the music. I’ve just visited KI for the second time – not as a result of the advertising campaign – and have since been highly recommending this stunning place to family and friends in Sydney who have remarked on the ad and its beautiful music.
While there’s quite a bit to see on KI, the campaign also shows it as a great place to “chill out”, making it a very attractive destination for us city-dwellers. $6 million dollars seems like money well spent, as the message is definitely getting through to those interstate.
Just for the record, I saw very few children on the island, but then it wasn’t school holidays.
It’s a beautiful ad & makes me want to visit Kangaroo island
this ad is gorgeous and made me want to jump a plane to SA and visit KI immediately, can’t wait to visit from Victoria.
in response to Ready’s statement:
Yes some elements of the production may have a large budget and using a high profile director/ production team can a strategy within itself but this spot connects you with Kangaroo Island on so many levels but it simply makes me want to go to Kangaroo Island as soon as I have watched the ad and I live in Byron Bay.
If you give a 5d and 25k to a “bunch” of students what you get is exactly that was produced up here for our Byron Bay Tourism campaign.
More stolen cliches than a one direction music video with no strong narrative to connect the viewer with the destination, a perfect example of why you should hire an agency.
Beautiful story, amazing work that will make people travel to K.I…simple
Love the music,found this site for that reason, ad appears to be doing the job
While I’ll admit the music track is great, it’s a shame that yet another domestic tourism campaign utelises foreign talent rather than a local singer. Melbourne’s ‘Lose Yourself’ did the same thing last year…
First thing first, they mention at the top here, the song is called Ride. Wrong. Its called Rise. I guess either way your on top, right?.
Second, Really? said nobody would recognise it. Wrong. It was the main thing that drew me to the add and now I love hearing and seeing it. Im an Adelaide fan from many years ago. I think its one of the best things Ive seen for a long time, yeah sure it cost heaps (like the carbon tax will) but its my money spent well.
Eddie Vedder sings the song, he is from Pearl Jam and the track was used in a great movie called -Into The Wild. Go see it then go see South Australia and the gold that lies within.
I love this ad. I love Kangaroo island. The ad has a refreshing and intriguing take on KI. I am gobsmacked by the wingeing.
i hear the song and think of the show on pay t.v that has been using for 3 years that i know of called the DEADLEST CATCH i hear the song and think of that so why cant kangroo island get there own cause i wont vist it since thay copy a real life tv show that one of the head skippers died on wake up S.A be ornginal
The music grabbed me from the start! Great ad – very creative. Makes me want to go back to KI soon.
Get into your nearest music store to pick up a copy of Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild” soundtrack . The music is all as good as the track used on the ad.
Found this page while searching for info on the music used for the KI ad, one of my favourite pieces of tv advertising in last 5 years. Surprised there are so many haters. This is a beautiful piece of film. I went to KI 15 years ago pre-kids. The ad captures the feelings I had from my first visit beautifully. So much so i will be going back. This time with the children. Based on the ad i am hoping and expecting it not to have fallen prey to the dumb and superficial trappings of mainstream tourism. Maybe the point of this ad is to let you know the kind of people who you won’t be rubbing shoulders with
I always thought of this ad as brilliant, however. When I started planning our trip to KI I was surprised at the requirement to book so far in advance, apparently the ad was such a success that tourism to KI showed a significant increase. So Really? you are correct, why spend all that money on a successful ad campaign if I have to delay my trip to SA because the place is booked out. Oh and another thing Really?, what do those fools know anyway, did they even take into account that during our our two week trip to SA we only spent one week on KI, we spent the second week stimulating the economy in other parts of your beautiful state.