Gondwana Rainforests
- 2 September 2010
- Case Studies
- Branding, Environmental Graphics, Print Communications, Web Design
In Australia’s highly competitive domestic tourism market, the Central Eastern Rainforests Reserves of Australia was limited in its capacity to compete with other high-value tourism experiences due to low brand awareness. However, it was this ‘undiscovered’ quality which presented the brand with it’s greatest opportunity.
Industry Setting
Gondwana Rainforests are a world-heritage listed series of rainforests areas along the NSW and QLD coasts. Spectacularly beautiful and entirely accessible, these places have the same world-heritage value as Fraser Island and Kakadu – but none of the consumer recognition.
Challenge
In Australia’s highly competitive domestic tourism market, the previous brand ‘Central Eastern Rainforests Reserves of Australia’ was limited in its capacity to compete with other high-value tourism experiences.
With very little brand awareness, there was an opportunity to rename and reposition the brand to improve awareness and marketability. We needed to create a brand personality and profile that elevated appeal in order to compete with other tourism experiences and destinations.
Strategy
It was important to turn the brand negative into a brand positive: low awareness was turned around to be the discovery of an extraordinary undiscovered place. This enabled us to increase desirability of the destination, tap into a sense of awe and appreciation, and talk to local and international tourists who wanted to see the ‘real’ Australia before anyone else did.
Our asset-building process identified a number of untapped areas. The evolutionary importance of these rainforests, and their physical relationship with the super-continent of Gondwana is an exciting value that sets these areas apart from any other World Heritage area in Australia.
A mosaic device underpinned the creative platform, conveying beauty and fragility – and also providing a connective device to visually unify the 14 separate sites.
Result
In June 2007, the name Gondwana Rainforests was officially adopted at the 31st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in New Zealand. We continue to work with UNESCO to develop the brand architecture and implementation across the associated sites.
