Image by littlenomads via FlickrYes it looks true, Oprah is not footing the whole bill and the Australian Government is using some of its dollars to pay for the show! But I actually think it makes sense to leverage a channel such as Oprah to spread the message about our great country Australia.
Personally, I'm not a Oprah fan as I don't fall into the target audience. But this show is one very powerful marketing show, and here are my off the cuff the reasons to why the investment is worth the effort.
The Perfect Social, Talking Storm
The final season episode that Oprah announced that she was taking the audience to Australia was watched by at least 7 million viewers with the majority of viewers being Women. This viewing audience are probably great influencers in their family households when it comes to the decision for a major purchase such as family holidays in the case of the Americans the vacation. Oprah's shows have the ability to move products in the millions; anything she likes and promotes tends to sell. She really is the queen bee when it comes to talk back shows.
The other big bang for buck is that The Oprah Show has global distribution in 145 countries that effectively means that the Australian Shows + the announcement get viewed in 145 countries. How much it would cost to run a TVC campaign across 145 countries to specific target audience? I actually believe $2 Million to $5 Million is value if you consider the cost it would take actually advertised on the time slot of a Oprah show. Considering the Australian Government blowed a cool $40m on creating an Ad for the overseas with the Baz Luhmann Australia AD which costed $40 million.
On the back of a envelope figures
The big questions will it bring visitors to Australia and how much will it generate for the economy. Let’s say there were 600 extra die hard fanatics that wanted to come out to Australian from the USA for 3 nights in Sydney just to be in the same city and maybe attend the show, if they got tickets.
- Flights Approx: $2,500 Return x 600 = $1,500,000 (lets hope they come on Qantas, for this argument)
- Accommodation: Conservative $180 a night x 600 x 7 Nights = $756,000 lets half it as they might be twin share $378,000
- Food and Beverage: tours etc. spending: $150 Each per day x 600 x 8 (days) = $720,000
There is over $2.5 million of potential revenue on some very conservative figures..
So what does the industry say about the show..
Tourism Australia's partnership with "The Oprah Winfrey Show," will see Ms Winfrey, her correspondents, and 300 of Oprah's most loyal viewers travel on an eight-day, seven-night trip to Australia, to film at least two episodes of the program during December.
The "Oprah" show cameras will be on hand to capture their journeys around Australia as well as bring everyone together at the steps of the Sydney Opera House - or as it will be known that week the "Oprah House" - for a spectacular show featuring Australian talent and special guests. Episodes will air first in the US in early 2011 and then roll out to other global markets.
Mr Dixon said the theme of the Australian visit "Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure" is a perfect fit for taking Australia's tourism message to the world.
Conversations
The word of mouth factor for the next 3 weeks from the announcement is worth every cent. Imagine the conversations around the water coolers in the office in the USA, or the social media sites (in which I'm sure the Australian tourism is measuring very closely) in regards to her announcement and show. Simply go and run a search for yourself on Oprah Australia and see what is returned, there is hundreds of results being returned from this announcement, it’s a great PR exercise.
The other positive is the domestic tourism factor is also good for Tourism NSW with the potential to have interstate visitors and intra--state visitors coming to Sydney to go to the show if they get a ticket. You only have to look at the comments on the Oprah site to see the Australian women that are hoping they will get a ticket and would be willing to travel to the show.
Here is hoping that we see more American Families travelling to Australia on the back of the any interest or seeds that Oprah plants in their minds.
Be sure to visit www.littlenomads.com for more great family travel ideas in Australia and best ways to travel with your kids.
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