October 13, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
A fluffy souvenir kangaroo called Ruby, created through CGI animation, will be the next face of Australia’s international tourism marketing push, with Tourism Australia providing a glimpse of the campaign that officially launches next week.
Billboards around the world, including in Tokyo, London and New York, are already giving potential visitors a taste of the campaign, which is the next iteration of Tourism Australia’s existing overarching “There’s nothing like Australia” platform.
“From today Ruby will hop onto billboards in Singapore, London and New York building anticipation ahead of the launch of the new campaign, which will invite international travellers to Come and Say G’day,” said Australia’s federal tourism and trade minister Senator Don Farrell, who was in Tokyo for the unveiling of the new Tourism Australia billboard ad.
“Ruby will resonate with international audiences as the campaign is rolled out across key international markets to remind the world why There’s Nothing Like Australia,” he said.
Tourism Australia’s managing director Phillipa Harrison said the latest campaign was all about pushing potential visitors further towards conversion.
“We know that Australia consistently ranks high on people’s consideration list but we need to get travellers to take that critical next step and book their holiday to Australia to experience everything we have to offer,” Harrison said.
“Visitor economies around the world are looking to rebuild as we emerge from the pandemic and that will make the tourism landscape more competitive than ever before, which is why we have made sure Come and Say G’day will cut through and make Australia stand out today and in the long term.”
Tourism Australia’s chief marketing officer Susan Coghill said the new iteration of brand Australia marketing was backed by research.
“The use of an animated character in Ruby was a deliberate move that aims to cut through the clutter of destination marketing internationally,” said Coghill.
“In Australia, we’re so lucky to have a globally recognisable and adorable icon in the kangaroo and to bring that to life through CGI animation creates a uniquely Australian Brand Ambassador in Ruby, who translates across both English and non-English speaking countries.”
The English-speaking version of Ruby will be voiced by Australian actress Rose Byrne, while in Japan the kangaroo will be voiced by Japanese actress Maryjun Takahashi.
