Wotif

Putting an Australian icon back on the map

Ogilvy PR has worked on Wotif’s brand marketing, digital strategy and execution since 2018. As Australia’s first online travel site, the brand was once the leader in domestic bookings. It had since become more readily associated with foreign trips but wanted to get back on the local map as an authority on Aussie travel.

From the Big Prawn in Ballina to the Big Pineapple in Woombye, big things are a big thing when you’re traveling around Australia. So we launched a campaign to find the Next Big Thing, inviting Australians to submit open requests for their town to get a tourist attraction. A shortlist of four was created, telling the story of each location and putting the competition to a popular vote.

The campaign generated more than 2,000 pieces of coverage and reached a global audience of 200 million. The number of votes cast equated to about 70 per cent of the population across the four towns. Queensland’s Chinchilla is now the proud owner of the Big Watermelon. And work has started on putting another Australian location on the map with the Festival of Wot.