16-Mar-2006 10:41 AM
UK to reconsider tourism ad ban as campaign rolls on
Analysis
Tourism Australia has welcomed the offer by the British Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) to review their ban on the use of the word 'bloody' in Tourism Australia's new campaign TV commercial. This follows meetings in London this week with the Small Business and Tourism Minister Fran Bailey.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, Scott Morrison said "a lot of work has been done over the course of the past week and we would especially like to thank Tourism Minister Fran Bailey for her role in securing this result".
Tourism Australia and M&C Saatchi will now make a further submission to the BACC which they are hopeful will enable the uncut commercial to be broadcast on UK TV.
"We always knew there would be a risk of the ads not getting up in the UK, but it has definitely been a risk worth taking. The interim ban has given the campaign a great 'free kick' and the opportunity to now have the decision reviewed, means we maybe able to have our cake and eat it!"
"We never set out to be controversial, just authentic. We have always been hopeful that when the ad was considered in context by the UK regulators they would see the light," Mr Morrison said.
In the meantime Tourism Australia, with the help of Lara Bingle, has been making the most of the opportunity created by the controversy. UK traffic to the campaign website has quadrupled to more than 50,000 visits since the ban was announced last week.
Mr Morrison said "the response to our new campaign has been unprecedented, creating a global online traffic jam".
The campaign has now been viewed in nearly every country in the world and has generated record levels of worldwide online traffic. Despite only being launched in just five countries (including Australia), the uncut TVC has now been downloaded by people in 80 per cent (156) of the 191 nations across the globe.
Mr Morrison said "we're still waiting on people in Burundi, Kiribati and North Korea to get online and have a look, but the support from our customers and trade, particularly in the top seven markets, that generate two thirds of our $17 billion inbound tourism business, has been phenomenal".
Tourism Australia is a CAPA Member. For more information on the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's membership service, please click the icon below.
Tourism Australia and M&C Saatchi will now make a further submission to the BACC which they are hopeful will enable the uncut commercial to be broadcast on UK TV.
"We always knew there would be a risk of the ads not getting up in the UK, but it has definitely been a risk worth taking. The interim ban has given the campaign a great 'free kick' and the opportunity to now have the decision reviewed, means we maybe able to have our cake and eat it!"
"We never set out to be controversial, just authentic. We have always been hopeful that when the ad was considered in context by the UK regulators they would see the light," Mr Morrison said.
In the meantime Tourism Australia, with the help of Lara Bingle, has been making the most of the opportunity created by the controversy. UK traffic to the campaign website has quadrupled to more than 50,000 visits since the ban was announced last week.
Mr Morrison said "the response to our new campaign has been unprecedented, creating a global online traffic jam".
The campaign has now been viewed in nearly every country in the world and has generated record levels of worldwide online traffic. Despite only being launched in just five countries (including Australia), the uncut TVC has now been downloaded by people in 80 per cent (156) of the 191 nations across the globe.
Mr Morrison said "we're still waiting on people in Burundi, Kiribati and North Korea to get online and have a look, but the support from our customers and trade, particularly in the top seven markets, that generate two thirds of our $17 billion inbound tourism business, has been phenomenal".
Tourism Australia is a CAPA Member. For more information on the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's membership service, please click the icon below.
