South Australia’s Brand Platform Took Two Years to Make. The “Lofty Goal”? Last a Decade, Leave a Legacy

South Australia wants to “leapfrog” other states on the consideration set and become known for its ‘Simple Pleasures’ as a result of a new and highly-crafted brand platform; it took two years to make, but is designed to last a decade.

Erik de Roos joined the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) as executive director of marketing almost four years ago, and he’s been working on launching a brand platform ever since. His ambition is to combat a lack of brand awareness internationally, and build equity in an idea the SATC can own and grow over time.

“We've had beautiful campaigns, but they've always been campaign, campaign, campaign, start again, campaign, campaign, start again. That doesn’t serve our long-term purpose,” he said in an interview with LBB.

Erik knew a big platform idea had to feel true to South Australians first and foremost, who are extra susceptible to the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ for which Australia is known. It also had to sell its rare Mediterranean climate and varied landscapes, from world-class wine regions and rolling hills to park-bordered cities and beaches.

So the SATC worked with local indie shop Frame Creative to partner with local artists, chefs, musicians, and winemakers to signal and support the state’s creativity, capture its beauty and light, and boost the local economy, across both tourism and the arts.

The resulting platform, ‘Celebrate the Simple Pleasures’, positions South Australia as an antidote to the state of “permacrisis” people are experiencing.

“A lot of people in the world are looking for this return to innocence, this desire for simplicity, and because of the way South Australia is designed, and because of the way that we live our lives, I think it is something that we can really own and really build equity in over time,” Erik said.

The platform also had to “be the right things to the right people, rather than trying to be all things to all people”; South Australia wants to attract discerning travellers.

“We're not trying to compete internationally against the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower,” explained Tim Pearce, the co-CEO of Frame.

“If you want to go box ticking, that's fine … But if you're the type of traveler who's not willing to put up with more rat race even on your holiday, or pure escapism and detachment, which doesn't really create genuine rejuvenation anyway, you actually want something where you can be present and engaged and in a place where serendipity happens … South Australia is the answer for those people.”

The launch campaign resists tourism category tropes in both aesthetic and execution, featuring a series of ‘episodes’ instead of one hero TVC; artworks from Australian artists James Brown, Cecilia Gunnarsson, Mickey Mason, Mike Barr and Lisa Temple; and a roll-out that spans TV, online, OOH, radio, podcasts, digital, editorial, PR, and cooperative campaigns with key partners including airline Virgin.

“We're trying to do some heavy lifting for South Australia that hasn't been done before. We really want to jump high on the consideration set. We need to leapfrog a few states, and so we can't go out there looking and sounding like other states or a typical tourism campaign,” Tim said.

The striking posters centre the artworks, and the first batch of cinematic films each focus on food and drink: ‘Long, Long Lunch’, ‘Pipis to Plate’, and ‘Harvest Eyes’. Each episode is set to an original piece of music, and in the latter, for example, “we wanted a sound that was quite unique, so we went up to the Adelaide Hills and recorded it on an old analogue desk to tape with the band in the room,” Tim said. “Some of them had never recorded before.”

Erik added in ‘Pipis to Plate’, a shot of a painted hand being pushed through water has “actually been painted by the guys at Frame themselves.”

Tim confirmed the craft implicitly communicates care and quality. He continued, “We also took inspiration from historical South Australian figures like [landscape artist] Hans Heysen and his ability to capture light. The rare air and light we're in here, it's famous in the Mediterranean, and doesn't appear too many other places around the world.

“The writing of Colin Thiele, and the way he describes sun on the stubble. He turns something normal into something special. And that's what we've tried to do in this whole campaign, to take big things and make them small, take small things and make them big. That play between the grand and grounding.

“It gives the campaign a feel you don't get from just sweeping drone shots of a beach. We tried to put people in the audience's seat, from a first person point of view, up close and really visceral … as if you're in the scene.”

The SATC commissioned artists and musicians for the campaign, but ensured they kept the IP, and instead licensed the work: a “really a fundamentally brilliant thing to be doing”, Tim said. “What SATC has done is actually put their money where their mouth is.”

“The easiest thing would have been to go to AI. But why?” Erik added.

The marketer wants the platform to drive “long term growth, become a legacy, and 10 years from now, [ensure] we become synonymous with 'Simple Pleasures', that we own something.”

For Tim, “it's even bigger than tourism.” His “lofty goal” is for local creatives to aspire to have their work featured in the campaign and seen by the world, “and that becomes a new legacy for creativity in South Australia.”

Erik added, “If we were known as the state where creativity lives and thrives, I mean, how amazing would that be?”

Erik transitioned into marketing roles after a career in agencies, notably spending over seven years at Clemenger Adelaide. His tenure there overlapped with Tim’s, who worked at a variety of agencies including Clems before starting Frame in 2013 alongside his two brothers.

The agency has offices in Adelaide and Hollywood, counts Harry Styles’ brand, Pleasing, as a client, designed the credits for Mortal Kombat II, and worked on Khloe Kardashian’s ‘Khloewood’-themed 40th birthday party.

“So much of the work is reflective of Frame's ability to be culturally connected and have that real high level of craftsmanship, and [being] unwavering on little things,” Erik said.

‘Celebrate the Simple Pleasures’ took two years to make, which required the government client to trust in the messy creative process.

“You do actually have to recognise the role that the client has played in allowing us the space to go wide and deep,” Tim said.

“Sometimes we go deep, and it's not where we need to be. So we come back out and go wide again. There's extreme patience from the client. That's not easy either. There's many, many stakeholders. For Erik and his team to do that within government … It's impressive and has allowed the work to emerge.

“That's why there's a sense that the work is beautiful, because it hasn't been forced.”

The time it took has given Erik extra confidence in its chance at longevity. SATC couldn’t have launched such a platform five years ago, he said, because the state has built its events calendar and solidified its sense of self in recent years.

Adelaide now hosts the LIV Golf tournament, Illuminate Adelaide festival, and food and wine showcase Tasting Australia, and has just received $15 million in government-funding to bring international art exhibitions to South Australia.

The platform launched in key domestic markets ahead of the AFL’s Gather Round in Adelaide, and following the announcement of direct flights between Adelaide and the US. It will roll out across the US, UK, Europe, China, Singapore, and New Zealand from mid-year. Erik said those markets will relate to South Australia’s attitude to “copping a bit of heat” from eastern seaboard cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

“South Australians are a bit like, 'Ah, whatever. It's their loss. If they don't know how good we've got it, we don't really care'. That's what's reflected in this work, and I think that's ultimately what will connect, whether it's domestically or internationally.

“South Australian creativity is infinite. 'Simple Pleasures' here are abundant … This is really just a starting point, and the stories that we stand to tell in many, many years to come– that's the most exciting thing for me.”