The response to the Freycinet Tourism Association’s social media-based Dave’s failed proposals campaign, devised to establish Freycinet as the number one romantic tourism destination in Australia, shows people just love a good romance and they love engaging with the notion of romance on social media.
As for the winning entry, it was a case of art mimicking life with Dave’s failed proposals getaway weekend winner Natalie Morgan’s prizewinning suggestion an exact replica of her real-life experience of the day her husband proposed to her in Freycinet six years ago, which has subsequently led to their first baby – Benjamin, born just 10 days ago.
“Freycinet will always hold a very special place for me, since my husband proposed to me there,” Mrs Morgan said.
“The fact that I’ve now won the opportunity to re-experience my proposal weekend back in Freycinet, with a new family addition, feels like a completion of something special that started six years ago.”
Freycinet Tourism Association spokesperson and Freycinet tourism business owner Sam Jaeschke said the campaign was supported by NBN funding and demonstrated the indisputable value of using social media – especially for industry sectors without huge marketing budgets.
“The Dave’s failed proposals campaign was a great opportunity for the Freycinet Tourism Association to market its strengths from a different perspective,” Mr Jaeschke said.
“We have all learnt a great deal through this process and are looking forward to strengthening our use of social media in the future.
“The fact that so many people got into the spirit of the campaign, and actively shared positive tourism content about Freycinet, is very gratifying for Tasmania’s east coast tourism operators.”
With 266 followers on the Dave’s failed proposals Facebook page actively ‘liking’, ‘commenting’ and ‘sharing’ campaign hero Dave’s journey to an eventual “Yes” after his seventh marriage proposal, each Facebook status update was exposed on average to almost 40,000 unique people.
In line with the differing levels of Tasmanians’ uptake of the other key social media channel Twitter, thanks to Twitter ‘retweets’ by accounts with large Twitter followers such as Discover Tasmania, Dave’s story reached a total of almost 12,000 Twitter followers.
The social media campaign was funded by the Tasmanian Government’s NBN Industry Assistance Package.
Under the package, the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Small Business Council of Tasmania were each given $250,000 to develop programs demonstrating the benefits of high speed broadband.
The Minister for Economic Development, David O’Byrne, said its original and creative campaigns like Dave’s failed proposal that help drive the Tasmania’s tourism potential.
“This campaign shows the power of social media, and its immense potential for our tourism industry,” Mr O’Byrne said.
“The number of innovative projects rolled-out under the NBN Industry Assistance Package continues to grow.
“As a government looking to diversify our economy and play to our strengths, we’re delighted to play a role in getting projects like this off the ground.
“I congratulate the Freycinet Tourism Association for having the courage to give the campaign a go. It was great to be part of it,” he said.
The campaign also utilised a number of videos to tell Dave’s story, which can be viewed on YouTube (youtube.com/davesfailedproposals) and to date have attracted more than 5,000 views.
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania
