Tourism Australia is rolling out the second phase of its ‘Come and Say G’day’ campaign in key international markets, featuring the return of brand ambassador Ruby the Souvenir Kangaroo.
Ruby stars alongside well-known personalities from the US, UK, China, India and Japan in campaigns with locally tailored content that encourages travellers to plan and book Australian holidays.
For Susan Coghill, CMO of Tourism Australia, there was no doubt in bringing Ruby back to the world.
Ahead of the campaign’s launch, she revealed to Mediaweek that the animated marsupial’s presence was key to the campaign.
“I often say we don’t have enough money to be boring, but we also don’t have enough money to be chopping and changing all the time. We need to be consistent so brands can recognise us in market.”
Since its launch in October 2022, the ‘Come and Say G’day’ campaign has increased holiday consideration for Australia by 10% in the US, UK and China, lifted flight searches to Australia by 22%, and attracted more first-time visitors from key markets.
The pressure to create connection
Tourism Australia campaigns have always attracted attention, and for Coghill, the pressure to get it right has never subsided.
“Our stakeholder map is huge, the most important of which to us is our 350,000 operators, but also our trade and market.
“They need to know that we’re working hard to create an audience, and if we can get those two things working together, our operators here will be excited and get behind the campaign. If we get our trade excited and leverage our assets in market, that’s a winning combination.
“Now, that said, we also have 27 million stakeholders in every single Australian in this country. We’re keenly aware of that, and we try to balance that with the fact, though, that we are most effective when we focus on the customers in market who we’re trying to bring to Australia.
“There will be a difference, perhaps, on how people on shore might perceive themselves or want to tell the story versus what I know will connect with our high-yielding travellers in China, America or the UK.
“But hopefully we’re walking the fine line of something that Australians will love and feel proud of and laugh at and engage with, and then what I know will connect with our consumers in market.”
Ruby and her star power
Coghill acknowledged the debate around having an animated Kangaroo front the campaign but said: “She works so well in market, and I know that firsthand.
“I was in Japan recently for the World Expo in Osaka and watching the travelling public there engage with Ruby and take photos, watching our media when we had an event at the Ambassador’s Residence that evening or our trade partners trying to get a photo with Ruby, same thing when we have her at events in America or China.”
In the different iterations of the campaign, Ruby stars with Australian actor Thomas Weatherall, Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin for the US; food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson for the UK; actor Yosh Yu in China; entrepreneur and philanthropist Sara Tendulkar in India; and media personality and comedian Abareru-kun in Japan.
Coghill noted that while Ruby is developing somewhat of a star status herself, the combination of the marsupial and famous people is earned attention.
“There’s no doubt that recognisable, likable celebrity faces help a brand do that. The second piece would be local recognition. I think that helps that emotional connection between us as a destination or as an industry and our high-yielding travellers in market that we’re trying to appeal to.”
She also noted that how the campaign connects potential travellers to Australia and with Australians is a significant factor.
“That’s why we always choose people who have some sort of emotional connection to Australia. Whether it’s Nigella who loves coming down, or Abareru-kun and his passion for world heritage, there’s always some sort of connection with us.”
Tourism Australia will also roll out the ‘Come and say G’day’ campaign in 16 other markets, with brand marketing in seven of those and the rest with PR, content marketing, and media hosting to ensure the brand story is shared but through a different combination of channels.
Yosh Yu
‘Nothing sells Australia like Australia’
The tourism sector continues to grow, with visitor spending reaching $52.6 billion in the year to March 2025. Tourism Research Australia forecasts international arrivals will hit 10 million in 2026 and 11.8 million by 2029.
For Coghill, measuring the success of the campaign comes down to a matrix of measurements, including earned media value, reach and engagement.
“There’s a lot of metrics and a lot of measures. We have it mapped out by time horizon as to when we hope to see the impact.”
At the six-month mark post-campaign launch, she and her team will examine the campaign’s impact on brand consideration, awareness, the impact on partners and conversion rates.
“We do partnership campaigns with Qantas, Hayes Travel in the UK or Trip.com. We look at things like flight search, share of search overall, and people starting to look for Australia. At a longer-term macro level, our key measures as an organisation are grounded in first expenditure and then arrivals.
“Technically, we look at the dollar amount that it’s bringing into the economy. But then definitely we look at arrivals by country and we slice and dice data to understand what’s going on.”
She explained that they look at the percentage of holiday arrivals and first-time visitors.
“We love first-time visitors because we know that we have a high repeat visitation. Once somebody comes here, we know that they’re likely to come back. Nothing sells Australia like Australia, and first-time visitors spend more money as well.”
Tourism Australia also said that every dollar invested in attracting visitors delivers a $14 return to the economy, supporting more than 700,000 jobs and 360,000 businesses.
Japan version
‘A warm and timely welcome to the world’
The campaign, developed by Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, will launch in China later this week, followed by India in August, the US, UK, Japan and Germany in September, and South Korea in November. Launches and activations will align with peak booking periods.
Accenture Song CEO David Droga said ‘Come and say G’day’ was more than a campaign, “it is a warm and timely welcome to the world.”
“As an Australian living abroad, it is both a privilege and a deep responsibility to help invite the world back home.
“What makes it even more meaningful is seeing so many of the world’s top Australian talents, scattered across the globe and within our Droga5 network, come together to shape the next chapter of ‘Come and say G’day.’”
Global CEO of Droga5 Mark Green added: “We’re proud of our latest campaign for Tourism Australia led by Droga5 ANZ, and feel honoured to partner with such an important client, led by an exceptional team deeply committed to promoting Australia on a global stage.
“It’s a privilege and responsibility we share and take very seriously, bringing the best of Australia to the world.”
The power of investing in consistency
In anticipation of the campaign’s release, Coghill shared with Mediaweek she hopes the marketing industry appreciates the creativity, storytelling and strategy of the campaign, underpinned by consistent, clever and charming executions for the five target markets.
“I hope even more that they’ll respect the smarts that have gone into this, the deep thinking about the strategy, deep thinking about each of the executional elements that we put into it to make it a compelling and hopefully effective campaign in markets.”
“I would hope that they can take out some learnings around the power of consistency and running assets for a longer period than maybe you think.”
She highlighted the power of building second, third, and fourth chapters of an enduring idea and getting value out of it.
“I hope this is a really good case study for other brands to learn from.”
