In the latest instalment of a never-ending quest to cement its status as the world’s best agency, Tourism Tasmania is back with another quirky Only In Tassie marketing campaign that takes Visit Queensland’s iconic Best Job in the World, says “hold my Fox Friday”, and goes off.
(Before this article goes any further, I should declare that I am a happy “victim” of Tourism Tasmania’s brilliance. Lured interstate from NSW by their fantastic Come Down For Air campaign, I relocated with my family to Tassie in January 2024. So I may be a little bit biased).
Aimed at mainlanders seeking an antidote to rising burnout rates, Tourism Tasmania is this week rolling out its latest campaign, encouraging Australians to escape the pressures of their day jobs by applying for an “Odd Job” in Tasmania this winter.
These Odd Jobs are unique volunteer experiences designed by local tourism businesses around the state to showcase their unique value propositions and give volunteer applicants an alternative to the daily grind, with job titles such as Oyster Organiser, Paranormal Investigator, Truffle Snuffler, Star Seeker and Wombat Walker, alongside my favourite, Sauna Stoker.
Anyone wanting to apply for one of these dream jobs can do so here.
Complementing the state’s main Off Season winter campaign, Odd Jobs is designed to “put bums on seats” and give local businesses a boost.
And it smashes it out of the Blundstone Arena.
Well, the product rather helps. Tasmania – an island roughly the size of Ireland or Sri Lanka, but with vastly fewer people and lots and lots of incredible scenery – is pretty bloody good.
But so is Australia generally. Yet the little old state at the bottom of the world punches massively above its weight thanks to the brilliance of Tourism Tasmania’s campaigns.
As winter grips Australia, with temperatures up to 10 degrees below average in some places – subzero in Rockhampton, Queensland (WTF?!) – this week mainlanders are getting a timely reminder of Tasmania’s unique appeal. Winter down here truly is the best season.
“For Tasmanians winter is long!” said Lindene Cleary, Tourism Tasmania’s chief marketing officer, explaining where the Odd Job push fits within the broader Off Season campaign.
“We launch the [Off Season] campaign in early April and it runs right through to August.”
“Odd Jobs is about injecting a bit of buzz mid-campaign, to offset the high-level awareness advertising that we run throughout. It’s about what we call a ‘brand act’ to drive earned media and positive social media buzz.”
And then some. “The brief is still around awareness of the Off Season, getting people to think differently about a winter holiday, a different way from chasing the sun or going skiing.”
“While it’s about driving awareness to the operators involved, it’s also about showing Tasmania’s point of difference in more unexpected ways”.
One of the most authentically Nordic Tasmanian experiences is sweating it out in a sauna on a single-digit-degree day. Iconic saunas on a lake in Derby in the state’s north and at Randalls Bay in the south have become must-dos on any discerning winter visitor’s list.
A tasty, toasty new location destined to join this storied pantheon is a sauna perched over a stunning stretch of coastline between Bicheno and Falmouth on Tassie’s spectacular east coast.
The Little Beach Co. is home to the Sauna Stoker Odd Job, which requires successful applicants to “keep the fire steadily stoked throughout the day”, and “ensure the perfect temperature by testing the sauna for yourself”. It’s a tough gig, but someone has got to do it.
After relocating from Melbourne and launching her business just as Tasmania’s first lockdown lifted in December 2021, the Little Beach Co.’s Lynne Wilton is grateful for the extra publicity.
She and partner Paul Bunn opened with glamping tents, added villas in 2022, and the sauna in December 2023. It’s been a huge investment.
“When we built the sauna – it’s so stunning and magnificent – we knew it would take time for word to spread”, said Wilton, explaining the huge marketing boost from inclusion in the Odd Jobs campaign.
“There’s always a word-of-mouth lag. This kind of thing is like the quick start, the big splash.”
“The sauna sits on a dome-like boulder, it was only accessible from the beach. We had to clear 2-3 meter tall invasive vegetation [Spanish Heath] to very carefully build the deck and install the sauna. It’s a magnificent location.”
“It’s a really masculine coastline with the feminine overlay of the red on the rock from the iron ore, then you have the frilly beautiful movement of the kelp.” It certainly sounds dreamy.
To help Aussies get an insider view of the skills needed for an Odd Job, star comedian and emerging national treasure Josh Thomas travelled to Tassie to get involved.
“I love Tasmania so much,” said Thomas. “It’s my go-to place when I can grab a few days off to reset. Sometimes a bit of fresh air, some beautiful food and a dose of the unexpected works wonders.” And fresh air and fresh food really don’t come any fresher than picking your own oysters, as Thomas did at Freycinet Marine Farm on Great Oyster Bay.
“Josh is a big fan of Tasmania, genuinely”, said Tourism Tasmania CMO Lindene Cleary.
“He shot an episode of his show here, has travelled here on his own. We wanted someone who is representative of the mainland, very authentic, and a genuine person with a slightly offbeat personality.” Check out the campaign’s videos on YouTube and you’ll see Thomas nails it.
Any tourism business (or state agency) can learn a lot from Tourism Tasmania’s approach.
This is a highly professional team making the very best of a truly exceptional product.
But they don’t sit on their bums.
“We do our own brand health tracking, tracking our measure against other destinations,” said Cleary. “For Off Season it’s all about brand awareness.”
“We measure specific statements, such as ‘Tasmania is a must-do winter experience’. It’s about getting across our point of difference, specifically in winter.”
Discussing Les Binet and Peter Field’s seminal marketing classic The Long and the Short of it – a book based on the findings of years of research into winners of the Effies brand effectiveness awards, exploring the benefits of conducting long-term (brand building) and short term (tactical, sales-driven) marketing at the same time – Cleary explained where Odd Jobs fits in.
“Come Down For Air is in the long camp, Off Season is a bit of both, and Odd Jobs is about bums on seats”. And bums – naked bums?! – in saunas.
“This is not a job where we can sit on our bums,” she said. Well, they certainly aren’t.
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Simon Crerar is the managing director of Impact&ble, a sustainable impact advisory firm. He was editor-in-chief of SmartCo Media from 2022-24, and before that the founding editor and then GM of BuzzFeed Australia. Simon began his career on Fleet Street at The Times, and has also worked for the SMH and News Corp Australia. He champions businesses having a positive impact on LinkedIn.
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