Driving Destination Advocacy through Social Media: Unveiling Newcastle's Charms

The City of Newcastle

Newcastle, a hidden gem of Australia, boasts a captivating coastline, vibrant arts scene, exquisite dining, and an inviting outdoorsy lifestyle. To elevate the city’s profile in a competitive marketing and digital media landscape and cater to evolving travel preferences, a targeted social media strategy was crafted, complete with measurable metrics to gauge its impact. The primary goal was to entice high-value travellers within New South Wales and increase day and overnight visits to Newcastle.

Emphasising the dreaming phase of the purchase funnel, the strategy focused on generating awareness and positive sentiment by highlighting Newcastle’s unique offerings.

Five distinct content pillars - aquatic and coastal, active, arts and culture, culinary, and after dark - were designed to align with audience preferences. To drive the narrative, a collective of Novocastrians and visitors' stories was harnessed to foster destination advocacy, uniting the audience, industry, and residents under a coordinated narrative - who knew.

A lively, colourful campaign identity positioned Newcastle as a modern and vibrant tourist destination, dispelling the outdated perception that it was only known for its steel-making past. The question “who knew?” accompanied refreshing perspectives of the city, captivating over 1 million people across New South Wales. The campaign boasted exceptional ad recall lift and click-through rates, leaving a strong impression on the audience.

Praising the strategic approach, Anita Monticone, Destination Marketing Manager at Visit Newcastle, stated that The Brand Pool provided an ideal solution to evolve the city’s tourism offering, showcasing a clearer direction for the future and yielding outstanding campaign results with high ad recall.

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Awabakal Country
PO Box 1695
Newcastle 2300
New South Wales
Australia

Wadawurrung Country

Surf Coast Shire
Victoria
Australia

We acknowledge that we work on the lands of the Awabakal and Wadawurrung nations. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and future – and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within our region and all of Australia.

Awabakal Country
PO Box 1695
Newcastle 2300
New South Wales
Australia

Wadawurrung Country

Surf Coast Shire
Victoria
Australia

We acknowledge that we work on the lands of the Awabakal and Wadawurrung nations. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and future – and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people continue to play within our region and all of Australia.