The Celebrity Face of Tourism Australia

Celebrities bring star power when they serve as the face of tourism for a destination, in traditional media and in social media.

For example, the actor who plays Thor in Marvel movies, Chris Hemsworth, is the high-profile celebrity face of Tourism Australia. Interviewed by the New York Times, he gave his top reason for tourists to visit Australia: "Besides the sights, the people are also a draw. They are so welcoming."

Aussies are pleased and proud to have this actor represent them in tourism marketing, through ads, interviews, and other tools. In fact, Hemsworth has generated widespread media interest in Australia tourism around the world.

Hemsworth has nearly 11 million Instagram followers and frequently posts with the tag @Australia to promote the country to tourists and fans. He and his wife both mention Australia on social media, leading to hundreds of millions of impressions and positive associations for the destination. Some percentage of the many people reached by the ads or social media mentions will be influenced and then book a trip or extend a trip, resulting in a boost for Australia's tourism businesses.

Hashtags Keep the Marketing Conversation Going

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It's a hashtag world for marketers these days. On Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Vine, and Facebook, marketers and consumers use hashtags to identify content about specific brands, products, topics, events, occasions, people, and more. The idea is to start or add to a conversation, potentially propel a hashtag into viral territory, maybe even make people smile--and, ideally, give the brand a promotional push.

One key element of hashtags is that they must be short and to the point. A brand like KitKat uses a Twitter hashtag like #HaveABreak to encourage consumers to post photos or other content related to enjoying KitKat bars as, well, a break. For tips on choosing a hashtag for marketing purposes, check this MediaBistro infographic. To see which hashtag campaigns Search Engine Watch named the best of 2013, click here.

For more impact, keep the marketing conversation going across social media sites with hashtags. For visual impact, think Pinterest or Instagram. Instagram explains how to use hashtags for photo campaigns here. Don't miss the links to marketing uses by General Electric and #charitywater.

Kodak's Instamatic, the Original Pocket Camera

Kodak revolutionized the camera industry when it introduced the Instamatic 50 years ago. Not only was this a light and portable camera for everyday use, the film came in a sealed cartridge so users didn't have to hunt for a dark place to drop in the film and thread the leader.

Although Kodak offered the Instamatic in a wide range of sizes and technical capabilities over the years, with various price points to match, the entry-level point and shoot variety (with or without flash) was especially popular with teens and young families.

In the Instamatic's first 7 years on the market, Kodak sold 50 million units. These days, Kodak is busy getting its finances in order to exit from bankruptcy. The new Kodak will focus on commercial printing equipment and services, not cameras and film.


Now compare the Instamatic's sales history with Instagram's free photo-sharing app, available first for iPhones and then for Android phones.

Launched in 2010, Instagram now has more than 100 million users. Of course, the price (zero) has a lot to do with Instagram's success, as does the almost universal desire to instantly share photos with friends and relatives. Another key element is the incredibly speedy adoption of smartphones worldwide.

Instagram is part of the Facebook family of apps these days. What new innovations will it launch next?