Australians will get an up close and personal look at that rare human species “the wild Albertan” in its natural habitat this week.
A number of these unique mammals have been exported to Sydney, Australia, where they will be displayed in cages at Sydney’s Darling Harbour Nov. 20-22. On display will be: Western Party Animal—also known as Extremeous Winterous Dudeous Maximus—the Elusive Skier/Snowboarder Dude, and the Great Outdoors Lover.
Every hour a “zookeeper” will bring one of the “animals” out of its cage to answer questions and interact with the crowd.
The unique zoological display launches a social networking campaign for Travel Alberta that is expected to be viewed by 250,000 Aussies.
The “zoo animals”—real Albertans from the tourism industry—are intended to drive traffic to FriendsBeyondBorders.com, said Don Boynton, communications director for Travel Alberta.
Once there, they’ll find videos, pictures and forums to connect and share experiences with people with common interests like hiking, skiing and mountain biking. The website isn’t branded by Travel Alberta, said Boynton, “and conversation is basically guided by the participants in the hope of creating friendships and more awareness about Alberta and the activities available here.”
The website will be supported by a Facebook campaign and contest, e-mails to outdoors clubs and other special interest groups in Australia and Alberta urging them to join FriendsBeyondBorders, plus a Google ad words campaign and information about the site on special interest blogs. The grassroots campaign is open ended to allow more Albertans to participate and “become ambassadors and guides to Alberta,” said Boynton.
Andy Shortt of Toronto agency Huxley Quayle von Bismark, which created the campaign with Calgary’s Ambush Advertising Group, said he is unaware of any travel authority that has created a social networking site.
“When we signed on I think they were expecting an Internet banner campaign, but as we did our research we found the number one reason for people to travel is to visit friends and relatives. So we thought, ‘Why not create a community where Albertans and Aussies can come together as friends?’ ”
Campaign results will be closely monitored and if it is successful, Shortt said it will likely be expanded to include other countries.
