Over ambition blamed for Brand USA delay
US marketing agency Brand USA has admitted it was over ambitious in its plans to expand to Australia last year.
Destination management firm Gate 7 only began working on the account locally on June 1, a year after Brand USA hoped to launch.
The delay frustrated many in the Australian industry.
Changes in Brand USA management, which followed a congressional report detailing “waste and cronyism”, is thought to have hampered the roll out of the multi-million dollar marketing campaign.
But Gate 7 managing director Jo Palmer said the delay was probably the result of over enthusiasm from a newly formed organisation.
“Brand USA is a start-up and start-ups are visionary, ambitious and chaotic,” she said. “And it is easy to become too ambitious too quickly. Brand USA is the largest tourist board on earth and it is being built from scratch which is a phenomenal task.”
The complexities of a Government agency and its funding requirements may also have contributed to the delay, she said.
Palmer also suggested a high profile marketing campaign involving print and TV is unlikely to launch in December as earmarked by the US Department of Commerce.
There is too much “clutter” in the market in December with Palmer predicting it could either be brought forward or delayed until the new year.
Before then however, Brand USA will hold seminars with the travel industry next month to discuss its plans, including funding, as it seeks to establish partnerships.
The Australian office will not get a set budget but will receive financial assistance from Washington once co-operative marketing funds have been secured with industry partners.
Precise details of funding have yet to be nutted out, Palmer said.
Meanwhile, Brand USA president and chief executive Chris Thompson said it will expand its presence from three to 11 markets this this year, Australia among them.
Canada, UK and Japan were the original launch countries for the campaign with Thompson insisting that “it’s working”.
Brand USA is initially gauging its success on ‘intent to travel’, with Canadians showing a 22% increase in their intention to visit their neighbour with the UK and Japan up 14%.
The 11 markets to see the campaign generate 75% of international arrivals to the US.
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