Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism recently concluded its “BDE (Big Deal Energy)” campaign to promote tourism after the devastating summer bushfires.
Full service agency littleBIG conceived and executed the campaign, which aimed to stimulate new bookings and visitation to the region.
The campaign grabbed attention online and directed travel dreamers straight to a selection of great deals from across the Grampians region. With cheeky image selection, the tagline said, “We’re giving BDE – Big Deal Energy”.
With the region’s peak summer tourism trade wiped out by two consecutive summers of bushfires, stimulating new bookings and visitation was an urgent priority for industry recovery.
“We needed a campaign with immediacy to help replenish operators’ businesses after massive losses,” Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism CEO Marc Sleeman said. “This one was about getting as many clicks to the deals page, and hence bookings, as quickly as possible. It had to be bold and get you to act. No mucking about and littleBIG delivered.”
Not just a catchy tagline, the campaign effectively highlighted the natural appeal, diverse accommodation, unique attractions and myriad food and wine experiences within the region, all key to the destination marketing strategy.
“We wanted to be playful and upfront to inspire confidence and action. We wanted to counter any perceptions that the Grampians weren’t still beautiful, accessible and a great time post-fires. It’s an awesome place, with a great energy and great people and places to visit, all year ‘round,” littleBIG founder and director Sally Harley said.
“Colloquially, it’s got BDE and you want to be around that.”
The campaign ran across Meta, TikTok, Google Display and YouTube, resulting in a 130 per cent uplift in new website users and a lift in Operator Booking actions from the site of more than 70 per cent during the campaign period.
“It’s been an extremely positive, tangible step towards revitalising our tourism industry since the fires and there’s lots to come from here,” Sleeman said.
Many deals are still on offer and available to book.
