Exciting developments are underway regarding how the story of this region is told to the world via its destination marketing brand.
Margaret River region brand evolution
MRBTA has made the decision to evolve the ‘Your Margaret River Region’ regional brand in 2020. This will build on the work being done by Tourism WA to create a regional brand which is more impactful, more competitive and more useful for tourism operators. In particular, a stronger voice will be given to the City and town localities of the region.
Why evolve the regional brand now?
Over the last 12 months alone, the region has made some very significant achievements in interstate and international markets. 2019 saw the announcement of the Melbourne-Busselton direct air service; the region being named Lonely Planet’s No.1 Destination to Visit in the Asian-Pacific Region in 2019, and Yallingup being named Best Town in Australia by Australian Traveller magazine.
Alongside this, 2019 also saw MRBTA trial its first ever sub-regional marketing campaign, with online videos and content assets being created for the towns of Busselton, Dunsborough/Yallingup, Margaret River and Augusta. The level of local engagement with this campaign was unprecedented, and was instrumental in helping the campaign achieve over 435,000 video views.
MRBTA has made the decision to review and evolve the regional brand in 2020 in light of developments and achievements such as these, alongside a review of the current Your Margaret River Region brand’s ability to serve the region’s communities, as well as existing and new visitor markets. Through this process we intend to mark our place as one of the best tourism destinations in the world.
What do we want to achieve for the region?
The following objectives have been issued as part of the agency brief for the project:
- Use the latest Tourism WA ‘Western Australia Tourism – Our Story’ brand work to capture the unique story and competitive positioning for the Margaret River Region. This must create a clear point of difference for international and interstate markets.
- Show how the story for the Margaret River region can flex to capture the relevant and unique points of difference for City and town-level localities.
- Create a brand platform that allows City and town localities to feel proud about what makes them special and what they have to offer.
- Leverage the strong existing market equity around the “Margaret River” name.
- Further the region’s positioning as a premium destination.
What will the process look like?
While the process is yet to be finalised in liaison with our chosen agency, the proposed timelines include:
- March 2020: City and town-based workshops with tourism operators; community representatives and local stakeholders.
- March 2020: Project paused due to Covid 19 crisis
- August – September 2020: Project recommenced, agency completes brand strategy work
- September – December 2020: Agency undertakes design work
- February 2021: City and town-based workshops to share results of strategy and design work
- February 2021 – ongoing: Brand implementation in order of priority assets (e.g. margaretriver.com); development of MRBTA corporate brand
Alongside MRBTA-led activity, Tourism Western Australia will continue to roll out the state level brand work throughout 2021.
MRBTA members will be kept up to date on the progress of the project via member eDMs and mrbta.com.
If you would like to be involved in the workshops in March, please email [email protected] to express interest.