Australia Advertising Effectiveness ROI October2011
Background & Methodology Visit California entered the Australian market with paid media in 2010, building upon other international presence the agency has been able to implement since 2008, the first year full funding was available from the rental car assessment. This is the third wave of interviewing and is designed to measure the impact of the advertising placed throughout 2010 and 2011. The first two waves measured the reach of the media and its impact on building interest in visiting California. This final measurement focuses on the impact of the ads on generating visitors and spending. SMARI s methodology for measuring advertising effectiveness relies on the assumption that the state would receive visitors from this market even without any advertising. Therefore the rate of travel by unaware households is considered the base while any travel above this base by aware consumers is considered influenced. For this wave of interviewing, 1,510 online interviews were completed in the two target markets of Sydney and Melbourne with sample provided by an international sample vendor. To qualify for surveying, respondents were screened on having traveled outside of Australia, having visited the U.S. in the past two years or being likely to visit in the next two years. www.smari.com 2
CONCLUSIONS www.smari.com 3
Conclusions 2011 Australia In its first year in the Australian market, Visit California Incremental Trips 28,728 generated an additional 28,700 trips to the state for Economic Impact $88.1 million an additional $88.1 million in visitor spending. This ROI $63 translates into an ROI of $63 for each $1 spent and a Tax Revenue $1.4 million Tax ROI $4.38 tax ROI of $4.38. Awareness of the advertising through the first two waves using both Serious Business & Misconceptions was quite high at 47.3%. Awareness of the June wave featuring Three Days had a lower awareness, 14%, but it was a limited buy. The June wave also did not increase awareness significantly (only 3%). However, it did generate media overlap, exposing households to multiple California messages that positively influenced travel. The overall results were encouraging for the first effort in this market, and indicate that there is great potential to increase visitation from Australia. Other research that Visit California has conducted also shows dramatic growth. Continued consumer advertising in this market should help support and accelerate this trend. www.smari.com 4
Conclusions Though Visit California has focused on two non-north American markets with the same advertising creative the UK and Australia these visitors are a bit different than each other. Those visiting from Australia are more likely to visit other states during the same trip that includes California. But in addition, they more often include states outside of the Western U.S., an indication that they are attempting to see as much of the country as possible in a single trip. Media and other promotions should encourage them to see more of California and to spend more time in the state. Additionally, visitors also indicate likelihood to visit again, so efforts should be made to communicate options for what to do during repeat trips. Though spending by aware visitors is slightly higher than the overall California visitor from Australia, there is not much difference. In the domestic markets, there are significant differences in spending by aware consumers, indicating there are different impacts for domestic and international advertising. Domestically, not only do ads influence travel but also to a greater extent they encourage visitors to stay longer, do more and spend more. However, internationally, the role is to prompt a visit as the length of their trip and the amount they spend will not vary much less based on exposure. www.smari.com 5
ADVERTISING AWARENESS www.smari.com 6
Campaign Overview Visit California advertises in a number of international markets. In addition to Australia, the organization has paid media in Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. However, as Visit California has found the Canadian market views travel to California similarly to consumers in the U.S., the agency has moved to a single North American marketing plan rather than classifying Canada as an international market. The Japanese market is measured separately, but different creative is employed here and the audience is quite different. As the remaining international markets, Australia and the UK, are both English-speaking countries in which the same creative is employed, comparison between the two are relevant. However, Visit California has been in the UK market with paid advertising since 2008 and did not place media in Australia until the fall of 2010. So comparisons here are between an international market in which paid advertising has had time to build, the UK, against Visit California s new entry into the Australia market. www.smari.com 7
Campaign Overview Visit California entered the Australian market with a consumer ad campaign in the fall of 2010. Three cities were targeted Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and a total of $750,000 was spent. The Serious Business brand spot was used. For the second wave, which occurred in spring 2011, the new Misconceptions brand spot replaced Serious Business. In addition, only two markets were targeted: Sydney and Melbourne. As a result, while the overall campaign spending was down, since it was split between two markets versus three, the total spent in each market increased substantially. A final small wave of advertising occurred in June 2011 featuring the Three Days spot and focusing on the visit by the British royal couple (William & Kate). Market Sydney & Melbourne spending Fall 2010 $521,147 Spring 2011 $670,899 June 2011 $195,000 Total $1,387,046 www.smari.com 8
Advertising Awareness The recall of the June wave was fairly low, but the media expenditures were also low. The first two waves each involved $500K-$700K in spending, where the June wave was only $195K. Additionally, this wave only added slightly to the overall awareness, with a 3 percentage point impact from 47.3% after the spring wave to 50.3% after this wave. 45.9% 54.8% 50.3% 12.5% 16.0% 14.1% Sydney Melbourne Overall June Wave Total www.smari.com 9
Advertising Awareness Though the Three Days spot did not add much to the level of awareness in the Australian market, it did add to the ability of the advertising to generate media overlap. This is important as when consumers are exposed to multiple ads, their likelihood to visit often increases. With a limited media buy, especially with the Three Days spot, it is quite good that the more than half of aware households were aware of more than one of the three ads that ran throughout 2010 and 2011. Awareness of Multiple Ads Three, 19.6% Two, 33.8% One, 46.6% www.smari.com 10
IMPACT OF THE ADVERTISING www.smari.com 11
Overall Travel Total travel to California by qualified households was 12%, significantly higher than travel from Visit California s other international market, the UK. But as there are far more targeted households in the UK, the result is more total trips from those in the UK than by those in Australia. 2011 Australia 2010 UK Qualified Households 937,169 4,067,714 Total Travel 12.0% 3.8% Total Trips 112,336 155,575 Persons per Trip 2.6 2.8 Total Visitors 292,074 435,610 Given the number of persons per trip, this results in just under 300,000 visitors in the past 12 months. CIC Research, Inc., conducted an international visitor volume study for Visit California in July 2011 indicating there were 502,000 visitors to California from Australia in 2010. However, the CIC study encompassed the entire country whereas this research is a review of only two target markets where households were highly qualified as U.S. travelers or potential U.S. travelers. www.smari.com 12
Overall Travel California garners the highest share of U.S.- based trips by Aussies than any other state, significantly higher than the share of UK trips. In the 2010 evaluation of the UK market, California was receiving only 16% of U.S. trips by Brits, behind Florida and New York. As the state has the highest share among this new target market, it is an indication that travelers from here are disposed to visit the state over other U.S. competitors, not surprising given the proximity to the country. Total Travel Share of Trips California 12% 26% New York City 10% 20% Las Vegas 9% 18% Hawaii 6% 12% Florida 4% 8% Washington, DC 4% 7% New Orleans 2% 5% Colorado 1% 3% Dallas 1% 3% www.smari.com 13
Impact of the Advertising The advertising did have a strong impact, with the level of travel among those with advertising recall at 16.4% versus 10.3% among the non-aware. That means there was a 6.1 percentage point impact from the ads. When the level of incremental travel is applied to the number of households with advertising recall, the campaign generated 28,728 trips to California. Overall Impact 10.3% Unaware 16.4% Aware Incremental Travel Trips Aware Households 470,956 Increment 6.1% Incremental Trips 28,728 *Travel percentages include people who indicated that they already had a trip planned to California and that the trip was taking place by the end of 2011. www.smari.com 14
Impact of the Advertising While awareness of any advertising had a positive impact on travel, there is not much difference between being exposed to one or two ads. There is a small incremental increase when exposed to all three ads, but as the Three Days spot had a limited run, there were few households aware of all executions. Impact of Multiple Ads 16% 15% 18% 10% None One Two Three www.smari.com 15
ROI The campaign generated $88 million in additional spending in the state, and $6 million in taxes. The ROI is $63 for each $1 spent and the tax ROI is $4.38. While the direct spending and the tax revenue from the Australian markets is considerably less than that garnered from advertising in the UK market in 2010, the media buy was considerably smaller. As a result, the return on investment and the tax ROI were higher for the first year of the Australian campaign than the third year of the UK campaign. ROI Incremental Trips 28,728 Average Trip Spending $3,065 Direct Spending $88,051,320 Tax Revenue (6.892%) $6,068,497 Media Expenditures $1,387,046 ROI $63.48 Tax ROI $4.38 Economic Impact 2010 UK $202.9 million 2011 Australia $88.1 Million ROI $61 $63 Tax Revenue $12.9 million $1.4 million Tax ROI $3.92 $4.38 www.smari.com 16
TRIP SPECIFICS www.smari.com 17
Trip Specifics Travel to the U.S. is primarily motivated by economics. A trip is more affordable than it has been in the past with a more favorable exchange rate and affordable airfares. Of course, visiting friends and relatives either is a major motivator or it is not; there is not much middle ground. While an array of other factors motivate the decision to choose California, being associated with celebrities is not one of them. However, the creative of both Misconceptions and Serious Business prominently feature celebrities and consistently receive some of the highest creative ratings. Motivations for Visiting U.S. Major Deterrent Strong Motivator Cost of general travel related exchange rate 2% 33% Affordability of airfare to U.S. 6% 29% Available paid time off from work 5% 15% Distance from Australia 5% 7% ESTA registration requirement 3% 7% Perceived customs hassles in the U.S. 11% 6% The $14 ESTA fee 3% 4% Motivations for Visiting California Not a Motivator Strong Motivator Visiting friends and relatives 34% 33% The appeal of big cities 9% 32% Visiting a specific attraction or event 7% 29% A chance to explore non-urban areas 7% 22% Availability of air service into LAX or SFO 7% 21% Hollywood and celebrity lifestyle 25% 12% www.smari.com 18
Trip Specifics Trips to California are most often part of a larger trip to the U.S. Though visitors report spending 15.6 days in the U.S., 7.2 of those are spent in California. Compared to international visitors from the UK, Australian visitors are more apt to include a greater geography of the U.S. on their visit rather than limiting the trip to Western states. As only 60% of trips by UK visitors included other states and of those 16% were outside of the Western U.S., it seems British travelers believe they will make other trips to the U.S. while Aussie visitors want to see as much of the country as possible during their trip that includes California. Visited Other States 60% UK Travelers 69% Australia Travelers UK Visitor AU Visitor Nevada 60% 46% Washington 24% 25% Arizona 32% 22% Colorado 12% 15% New Mexico 16% 10% Utah 8% 10% Oregon 12% 4% Wyoming 8% 4% Montana 20% 4% Idaho 12% 2% Other 16% 34% www.smari.com 19
Trip Specifics Given their ports of entry into the U.S., it is not surprising that Los Angeles receives the highest visitation of Visit California s regions. 71% report their port of entry as Los Angeles, 12% as San Francisco, 7% New York City, and 4% Honolulu. Again, given that trips including a California visit are likely viewed as their only trip to the U.S. and they have a number of states to visit, more than half only visit one or two of the regions. Region % Visited Los Angeles County 64% San Francisco Bay 46% Orange County 32% Central Coast 26% San Diego County 18% Desert Area 17% Sacramento High Sierra 13% Gold Country 13% Central Valley 9% Inland Empire 7% North Coast 7% Shasta Cascade 2% Number of Regions Visited Four, 13% Five or More, 18% Three, 15% Two, 25% One, 29% www.smari.com 20
Trip Specifics While shopping is a trip activity that regularly receives some of the highest rates of participation not just for California but for all destinations it is not typically a motivating activity. However, it was the primary motivating activity for visitors from Australia. And though visiting a theme park received lower participation than a number of other activities, it was the second highest motivator for a trip to the state, an indication this could be featured prominently in advertising to this market. Participate Motivate Shopping 76% 35% Visiting a theme or amusement park 49% 33% Viewing and enjoying natural scenery 56% 25% Go sightseeing or take tours 51% 25% Experiencing the unique culture of the area 35% 16% Entertainment and nightlife 49% 13% Fine dining or eating at a unique local restaurant 57% 13% Visiting a national or state park 32% 10% Arts activities 33% 8% Visit historical sites 34% 7% Gambling 22% 7% Visiting small towns and rural areas 28% 4% Driving on scenic byways or roads 35% 4% Visiting activities that are fun for small children 14% 4% Going to the beach 31% 4% Watching sporting events 10% 3% Visiting a winery 16% 2% Hiking or camping 8% 2% Adventure activities 9% 2% Boating or other water activities 8% 1% Golf 4% 1% Visiting a spa 8% 0% www.smari.com 21
Trip Specifics With more visitors from Australia also visiting other states, their length of stay in California was shorter than the average from the UK market. However, more used paid accommodations and fewer traveled with kids. Expenditures on the trip were about $3,000, and advertising recall had a slight positive impact. UK Visitor Australia Visitor Nights spent in California 9.1 7.2 Used Paid Accommodations 82% 93% Visited Other States 60% 69% People in Party 2.8 2.6 Children in Party 38% 31% Expenditures CIC Study Overall Aware Travelers Lodging $1,015 $1,184 $1,175 Food & Beverage $853 $585 $631 Shopping $547 $518 $569 Entertainment $499 $522 $549 Other $77 $129 $141 Total $2,991 $2,938 $3,065 www.smari.com 22
APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE www.smari.com 23
Questionnaire www.smari.com 24
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