Brexit dominated the news cycle in 2019. With the political and economic fallout expected because of Brexit, Tourism Australia anticipated a drop in British tourists. Big vacations were less of a focus in the context of such turmoil. And if it was a consideration, most Brits were choosing to holiday in Europe before that became too difficult.

In this climate of uncertainty, how do you convince a nation to consider traveling to the other side of the world for a holiday? This was our main objective.

Our audience was Brits. Specifically high value travelers (they travel further into the country and/or for longer periods of time). They’re looking for authentic experiences and a connection to locals.

Matesong is a 3-minute ballad, performed by Kylie Minogue, to invite Brits to Australia. The pop singer is a sensation in the UK - calling both Britain and Australia her home. And in 2019 she’d had her biggest year yet - breaking records at Glastonbury (with the most-watched performance in the festival’s history), releasing a chart-topping album and packing stadiums across the UK on her Golden Tour. Brits couldn’t get enough of her.

Kylie Minogue delivered Matesong as a musical outstretching of the hand from Australia - a country that has a long, close connection to Britain. We still have the Queen’s face on our coins! We used the things that unite us, as well as the things that separate us, to remind the UK that if they ever wanted to escape the turmoil at home, they’d always have a mate in Australia who’d welcome them with open arms.

Although Brexit was the cause of Tourism Australia’s business problem, we realised it offered an opportunity - Brits were sick of Brexit and desperate for a respite. Australia was in a unique position to offer it. We were not only far away from the political and emotional toll of Europe. But we were also one of Britain’s oldest and best mates. So we decided to do what friends do in tough times. We invited them around to ours.

Matesong is a 3-minute ballad inviting Brits to visit their old mates in Australia. But it was introduced to the British public as a Kylie Minogue Christmas Special that was to be aired right before the Queen’s National Address.

To make sure people tuned in to see our ad, we pretended it wasn’t one. In the weeks before Christmas, our media partner, ITV, helped us create tactical promos and idents, as well as reminders to view in the TV guide. We made it feel like typical broadcast programming for a Christmas Day special.

On Christmas Day, just before the Queen was expected to deliver her National Address, when Kylie fans and Brexit-weary Brits tuned in, they discovered an ad for Tourism Australia - Matesong sung by Britain’s favourite Aussie. It was one nation extending a hand of mateship to an old friend in a time of need.

182M digital impressions

46M online views

$40M in earned media.

And Australia became the #1 searched holiday destination globally