Analysis The Role of Public Relations in 'The Queensland' Campain

The Tourism Australia promulgates the Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’ as one of the most successful marketing operations in the world. The Queensland campaign determined a goal of developing an innovative method of promoting their destinations and simultaneously, aligning activities through all international markets. Specifically targeted at a younger demographic, the international Australian campaign offered a range of six jobs in total in exotic regions to six lucky winners. Furthermore, the job would require no prior experience, demand only a single blog post to be written weekly reporting about their adventures, offer free accommodation on one of the spectacular islands on the Reef and remarkably, pay a six-figure salary. The campaign tapped into a universal desire aiming to increase international awareness of Queensland’s ‘Islands of the Great Barrier Reef’ and also created a genuine employment opportunity that somehow sounds quite unrealistic. Thus, this essay examines the Tourism Queensland promotion of the Great Barrier Reef in 2009 in an effort to develop a deeper understanding of the public relations approach used in the campaign. Widely regarded as being one of the more effective public relations campaigns, this study further illustrates the power and impact that a well-considered and carefully planned strategy can have, especially in fast-growing emerging markets.

The demographic variables are the most commonly used segmentation bases for the distinction of groups of customers and consumers. It is important that even when the market is not described in terms of population, it is necessary to relate the demographic characteristics so that one can estimate the size of the target market and the means of communication should be used to achieve it more efficiently. The Queensland campaign attracted unprecedented levels of national and international attention and substantially transcended cultural boundaries by targeting a demographic that was in line with the associated values. This broad appeal also generated such an extraordinary story to the media and other sources. With a sense of mystery and excitement combined, the Tourism Queensland presented a storyline that fueled global interests and curiosity, making it an interactively engaging campaign as a whole. Evaluation enables practitioners to judge their success and modify the plan as needed. In this case for the Tourism Queensland, the campaign had an explicit goal of promoting the Great Barrier Reef as well as the attention-grabbing position of employment and through that, it gained favorable outcome and prompted a credible message. Using communication to influence the public is hundreds of years old, with its roots in ancient civilizations. When it comes to setting communication objectives, it is usually important to recognize that measuring the overall impact of a communication program or strategy can be difficult unless the individual elements or components of the program are clearly defined and measured, especially the response of key stakeholder groups. As suggested by Grunig’s situational theory of publics, messages or information must be individually tailored to fit the information needs of different publics, based on how active or passive their communication behavior is and what are issues of importance to them. The more information gathered from all available sources, including publics, the better equipped the practitioner is to constantly evaluate their strategy’s internal and external fit as they proceed, to ensure a consistent pattern of values, actions and responses. For this reason, public relations practitioners target specific messages to strategic publics; they know that the public receiving information will attend to the message. The campaign successfully communicated with their target audience by resorting to a simplistic outlook that appealed to every demographic and concurrently, received an overwhelming amount of responses.

From a public relations perspective, crafting a carefully considered image is the springboard to success and knowing who your audience is, and what they are likely to warm to, is a seminal part of this process. Brand building is about more than just your logo, it is about credibility, honesty and reliability. If images are based on these foundations, public relations campaigns are certain to help brands stand out in even the most crowded marketplace. The Queensland campaign boosted their campaign through public relations effort by using the form of competition to obtain the ‘Best Job in the World’. The company offered an image that could be translated beyond the possible job, and into the realm of potential vacation. Hence, utilizing a straightforward approach enabled rational correspondence in each segment. Good publicity also constitutes a major role in public relations. Positive exposure will skyrocket company culture and bolster its retention. With positive exposure assured through the media interest in the Queensland competition, the ongoing stream of news provided a demonstrative showcase for the entire regions assets. With five key areas including launch, application, shortlisting and voting, application section and employment, there was a comprehensive effort to maximize the exposure. Every measure of this prodigious campaign was centered around viably conveying the salient message to the largest group at a considerable standard. The campaign also turned to account on complimentary media coverage to attain the worldwide exposure plan surprisingly by combining different methods and incentives. This approach was brilliant in a sense that the campaign was focused on earning media coverage rather than buying it. The Queensland campaign resulted in significant publicity and earned hundreds of millions of media value on the back of their creative campaign, something they would never have been able to afford on, considering the fact that they had a strictly limited budget. It also managed a return on investment that few tourism promotions have had before or since and deserved the dozens of awards it received across the globe, including 8 Cannes Lions. This point has a clear impact on the manner in which other modern operations are conducted. With numbers that are hard to dispute, the amount of interest generated by free media coverage alone provides an enthralling enticement to the approach. Moreover, the contest also appointed its own stills photographer and enabled free, easy downloadable photos to be used by the media. Looking at the campaign from this angle, it clearly indicates the interaction between the company and the media as the operation was implemented on reciprocity. On top of that, the project scope incorporated set stages for further public relations and media opportunities throughout the campaign. For instance, when the Tourism Queensland officially released the shortlist of 50 applicants, this provided a great opportunity to drive greater awareness and exposure. It also posed a phenomenal platform for interested individuals to connect, interact and exchange views.

Like other management processes, professional public relations work emanates from clear strategies and bottom-line objectives that flow into specific tactics, each with its own budget, timetable, and allocation of resources. The most successful marketing campaigns incorporate a range of sophisticated tools, but they are underpinned by comprehensive planning and research, which in a way considered as a strategy. According to Montgomery & Porter, strategy is a holistic way of thinking about enterprise. It involves formulating a guiding framework to help an organization be successful and resilient, which includes responding to its publics and environment. The Queensland public relations campaign has been extensively conceived to be a representation of success and innovation by a wide variety of professionals and advertisers. It further promotes creativity and authenticity in a sense that it stands as a prime example of leveraging quality for tremendous positive returns. The informative style, coupled with the cognitive incentives combined to surpass company expectations. As evidence of their outstanding success, the Queensland Company claims the campaign has changed the face of global advertising in a positive manner and served as a solid foundation for future rationales. What nobody imagined was just how big 'the best job in the world' would become, not only catapulting Queensland into the international spotlight for its creative marketing, both inside and outside the tourism spectrum, but scripting an entirely new business model for savvy organisations across the globe.

This research depicted that the Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign has exceptionally assessed the role of the process and responded to the public relations strategy while preserving its authentic identity. Overall, it was the simple, straightforward and innovative approach that brought the campaign into effective effort. Using the picturesque locale and offering uniquely rare employment opportunity, alongside the simple principles of timing and effective communication eminently contributed to the interest of the entire global population. As a result, the company received free media coverage, a wide base for extended communication, a further advancement of their brand image and additionally, it successfully spread the message across about the Great Barrier Reef.