T-QUAL Accreditation 2012/2013 Marketing Campaign Update
Background
The 2011/2012 consumer marketing for T-QUAL was launched by the Minister for Tourism on 6 December 2011.
This included preferential listing of T-QUAL endorsed products on Australia.com, the development of a T-QUAL
micro site on TripAdvisor (and supporting advertising across travel planning sites), and the T-QUAL Tick Tour that
saw celebrity chef Matt Moran travel around the country visiting and promoting T-QUAL endorsed operators.
Consumer research was conducted at the conclusion of the campaign with the results suggesting the campaign
was successful with consumer awareness of the marketing activity for T-QUAL Accreditation achieving 15%.
Tourism Australia is now building on this success with the implementation of the 2012/2013 strategy.
This report provides an update on the status of the 2012/2013 marketing activity.
Digital
T-QUAL micro site on TripAdvisor’s Australian website
The T-QUAL micro site on TripAdvisor’s Australian website was launched on 24
October 2012 and will be live for the six months up until 23 April 2013.
Improvements made to the site include:
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Addition of over 1,500 products
Update of all copy on the site
Update of T-QUAL video
Update of banner advertising
6 million T-QUAL advertisements on TripAdvisor’s Australian website,
directing traffic to the micro site over the campaign period.
Updated destination page on
TripAdvisor micro site
After four weeks, the TripAdvisor micro site is performing very well, having achieved:
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10,032 unique users (of a projected 27,000 for the duration of the campaign)
Very strong average dwell time of 4.22 minutes on the destination pages (that house the T-QUAL
endorsed products)
1.8 million T-QUAL advertisements displayed on TripAdvisor’s Australia site
3,518 clicks to the micro site from this advertising. This means a strong click through rate (CTR) of 0.19%
has been achieved. Benchmarks for standard advertisements are 0.03% CTR (Source: MediaMind Global
Benchmarks, 2011), and 0.07% for tourism.
Over 4,800 T-QUAL endorsed products and services listed on the site.
Australia.com
The preferential listing of T-QUAL endorsed products on Australia.com continues. Additionally, the layout and
content of the About T-QUAL page on the site has been updated as shown below.
Key Statistics:
4,786 T-QUAL endorsed products preferentially
listed on Australia.com
Unique visitors:
Preferential listing of
T-QUAL endorsed
products
Visitors
Month
536
517
554
550
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
Updated layout of About
T-QUAL page
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing activity has been established to direct consumers to the T-QUAL micro site on
TripAdvisor through the utilisation of Google search terms, contextual targeting and audience targeting.
Results
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2.8 million ads have been displayed, delivering 1,930 clicks to the micro site (CTR 0.07%)
Average cost per click (CPC) is $1.41
The best performing campaign has been Australia-Travel, with 194 clicks at an Avg. CPC of $1.15.
Print Advertising
T-QUAL Accreditation has secured nine four page advertorials
in News Ltd’s Sunday Magazine, QWeekend and Sunday
Times Magazine which are distributed in NSW, VIC, QLD and
WA. Each insertion will be dedicated to a T-QUAL endorsed
quality assurance scheme for a fee of $5,000.
Provided below is the schedule of insertions.
Date
Quality Assurance Scheme
4/11/2012
25/11/2012
16/12/2012
17/2/2013
10/3/2013
31/3/2013
28/4/2013
26/5/2013
23/6/2013
AAA Tourism
ATAP
Accor
YHA
CRVA
Ecotourism
Big4
TBC
TBC
Layout of four page advertorials
International
A number of marketing activities have taken place to raise awareness of T-QUAL Accreditation internationally
including:
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Dedicated T-QUAL Accreditation pages developed in nine languages on the Aussie Specialist website
Banner advertising developed in nine languages for Aussie Specialist website
T-QUAL advertising in the buyer/seller manuals of the India Mega Famil and Workshop (IMFW) 2012
T-QUAL advertising in seller and buyer directories of the South East Asia Mission (Malaysia)
T-QUAL ads in buyer/seller manuals along with logo placement for accredited operators at TTG Incontri
(Italy)
T-QUAL flyers distributed and included in media packs, and buyer manuals T-QUAL message integrated
into appointments with buyers at World Travel Market (UK)
Industry Communications
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Two T-QUAL Accreditation newsletters distributed
T-QUAL Accreditation Communication packs updated and emailed to stakeholders
One T-QUAL webinar delivered to 60 industry representatives
T-QUAL presence at industry events including:
o ANZPHIC – T-QUAL stand and video
o Gippsland Tourism Conference – T-QUAL presentation
o Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference – T-QUAL insert in delegate bags
o ARTN Convention – T-QUAL presentation
o Tourism Directions Conference – T-QUAL brochures, banners and video
o Newcastle Tourism Industry Group – T-QUAL presentation and brochures
o T-QUAL content included at industry briefings in Canberra, Tasmania, Gold Coast and Cairns
Key Achievements and Next Steps
Date
Action
Jun 12
Consumer, Program Partner and industry research to measure success of 2011/2012 campaign
Jul 12
Research results analysis and development of 3 marketing approaches for presentation to the
TQCA
19 Jul 12
Presentation of proposed strategies to TQCA
Aug 12
Development of the TQCA’s preferred approach (TripAdvisor micro site and cooperative 4 page
print advertorials in News Ltd publications) and distribution of marketing plan
Sep 12
TQCA sign off of marketing plan
25 Sep 12
Presentation of marketing plan to Program Partners and securing of cooperative advertorials
Oct 12
Updating and distribution of industry communications packs
Oct 12
Development of cooperative advertorial content and first insertion – AAA Tourism
24 Oct 12
T-QUAL micro site on TripAdvisor and search engine marketing activity launched
30 Oct 12
PR planning workshop
4 Dec 12
Presentation of PR strategy to TQCA
Feb 13
PR campaign launches
Apr 13
Continuation of PR campaign
May 13
12-13 marketing strategy planning commences
Jun 13
Post campaign consumer awareness testing
30 Jun 13
Completion of all 12-13 marketing activity
Jul 13
Post campaign reporting