Made of Ballarat makes a comeback

AFTER months of researching and planning, the City’s Made of Ballarat campaign is coming back, this time new and improved.

To assist the city in recovery, City of Ballarat mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the marketing team has been planning the tourism marketing campaign to be launched early 2021.

“Now, more importantly than ever before, we need to be doing all we can to get people into Ballarat and spending money at our shops, dining-in at our cafes and restaurants and staying as many nights as they can,” he said.

“The original Made of Ballarat campaign was seen as an aspirational campaign that had the capacity to elevate perception of

what people thought about Ballarat as a place to visit.

“The campaign had gone a long way in starting to change these perceptions, so it made sense to continue the great work that had been started.”

This time around, the team analysed brand health across the board and researched Ballarat’s visitor market and what motivates them to better tailor the campaign to its audience than the original.

In acknowledging that Ballarat attracts a variety of people for a variety of reasons, this next phase of the campaign aims to take a multifaceted approach to marketing all the stakeholders.

“When Made of Ballarat launched in 2018, it launched with a focus on cinema advertising, print, digital and public relations and was aimed at the busy millennial,” Cr Moloney said.

“This time around you can expect to see refreshed creative and a broader media buy that gives us the opportunity to reach more people.

“The marketing team has analysed… how best to improve the campaign, as well as conduct audience research to better understand who the campaign should be targeting.”

The aim of Made of Ballarat and Made of Ballarat WEEKENDS is to tell the stories of Ballarat and promote it as progressive, creative and enriching and to show off the region’s diverse experiences.

Operators are encouraged to get involved in the campaign and be featured on Visit Ballarat and Visit Victoria and can do so by listing their business on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse.

With a strong digital focus this time around, the campaign will utilise marketing tactics such as search advertising, remarketing, influencer partnerships, digital analytics, social media and collaborations with travel publications.

“With overseas travel off the cards, and intrastate travel still restricted, there has never been a better opportunity to compel Victorians, especially Melburnians, to explore their own backyard,” Cr Moloney said.

“With everyone competing for Melbourne’s attention and tourism dollars, we know we need to take an approach that is sure to stand out.

“We will be focusing on the distinctive characteristics of Ballarat to give potential visitors a reason to choose our city over other destinations.”

For more information on listing your business or upcoming event on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, contact the City’s visitor economy coordinator Joel Chadwick at [email protected].

For more information about the campaign, contact the City’s marketing coordinator Lucy Ibrahim at [email protected] or marketing team member Alicia Thomas at [email protected].