Pat Cummins Teams Up with Ruby for Tourism Australia, Inviting Cricket Fans to Come and Say G’Day
Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins stars in a special instalment of Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’day campaign to run on TV screens across India throughout the upcoming five Test series between Australia and India, which begins in Perth on Friday, 22 November.
With up to 50 million Indian cricket fans expected to tune in to watch the action on the pitch Cummins will feature alongside brand ambassador Ruby the Kangaroo between overs in Howzat for a holiday? to show Indian travellers the world-class tourism destinations and experiences Australia has to offer outside of its stadiums.
As part of the campaign there are 30, 15 and 6 second videos, Out of Home creative and digital to run in India this Summer. The assets will also be localised to run in the UK during next year’s Women’s Ashes series starting January 2025, and Men’s Ashes starting November 2025. Last week Tourism Australia also released a content series in India featuring recently retired Australian cricketer, David Warner, showcasing his favourite Australian holiday destinations.
Tourism Australia managing director, Phillipa Harrison, said India has long been a key market for Australian tourism and with arrivals from the country on the rise the Test series between our two nations presents the perfect opportunity to ramp up activity in the market.
“With a population of more than 1.4 billion people and more Indians looking to travel the potential in the Indian market is endless and we see the upcoming Test series as our chance to get on the front foot and promote our country to a captive TV audience,” Ms Harrison said.
“The Test series will attract enormous TV audiences of up to 50 million across India and tens of millions of those are high yielding travellers who are in the market for an international holiday.
“While we have their attention firmly on Australia for the cricket this is an unmissable chance to encourage those travellers to visit Australia and see what we have to offer as a holiday destination.
“The aviation links between India and Australia have never been stronger, the market was one of the first to fully recover after the pandemic and, according to forecasts, the number of Indians travelling to Australia will double 2019 levels by 2028.
“It will be a tough Test series for India on the field, but we are confident Indian travellers will still want to Come and Say G’day.”
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer, Susan Coghill, said the latest special instalment builds on the work the global Come and Say G’day campaign has already achieved since it launched in October 2022.
“Howzat for a holiday? proves the versatility of our brand ambassador Ruby the Kangaroo, who is once again voiced by the wonderful Rose Byrne. Ruby was at the centre of our global campaign when it launched two years ago and since then she has been central to all of our work including a campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and now cricket,” Susan said.
“We are so pleased to have been able to work with the Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins, Rose Byrne and also our new creative agency The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, who have helped to create a uniquely Australian campaign that will resonate with audiences in India and the UK.
“This new creative is part of a whole range of activity around the Summer of Cricket. Ahead of the Test series we launched a four-part social media content series with David Warner, we followed that with the launch of Howzat for a holiday? and we will also be hosting a group of Bollywood talent here in Australia. All of this activity will run in India throughout the series to showcase Australia as a holiday destination.
“This is now a proven formula and it is one we will execute once again with a push into England with localised creative during the Women’s and Men’s Ashes here in Australia next year.”
Managing director of The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, Matt Michael said, “It has been a pleasure to begin our relationship with Tourism Australia by having this opportunity to work with them on their Summer of Cricket program.
“Cricket is such a classic part of the Australian summer experience, and nothing beats attending a live match. The campaign taps into the possibility of seeing sporting heroes like Pat Cummins in the flesh, enticing cricket fans in markets like India and the UK to indulge their passion for the sport while sampling the best of the Australian summer – a double treat.
“Over the coming months, we look forward to further building on the ‘Come and say G’Day’ platform to showcase Australia and persuade travellers from around the world to take a holiday Down Under."
Howzat for a holiday? will go live in India today just ahead of the Test series between Australia and India. The series will be played in Perth (22-26 Nov), Adelaide (6-10 Dec), Brisbane (14-18 Dec), Melbourne (26-30 Dec) and Sydney (3-7 Jan). The campaign assets will also be adapted and go live in the UK from 10 January 2025 for the Women’s Ashes and the Men’s Ashes series against England in November 2025.
