Give your business a boost of Vitamin SC

After the pandemic struck, the quirky Vitamin SC campaign was born, highlighting the Sunshine Coast's suitability as a business location. Macneil & Co., in collaboration with Sunshine Coast Council, meticulously crafted the campaign's creative direction, overseeing scripting, production management, landing page design, lead magnet content creation, and strategic rollout across Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and a lead nurturing sequence.

The results are impressive!

Campaign metrics

The Vitamin SC campaign has had a significant impact on economic development in the Sunshine Coast region.

Since its launch, the following results have been achieved:

1151

NEW LEADS

9

VIDEOS PRODUCED

8.78

MILLION AD IMPRESSIONS

3.1

MILLION VIDEO VIEWS

1.03

MILLION VIDEO PLAYS AT 100%

How we won two gold international awards!

The situation.

Macneil & Co. has been working with Invest Sunshine Coast since 2016. Over several years, the agency undertook qualitative and quantitative market research to inform marketing strategy.

The research showed that the target audience still thought of the Sunshine Coast as a holiday destination rather than a serious business hub.

After Covid hit, people experiencing dreadful lockdowns started fleeing the cities and the Sunshine Coast became one of Australia’s top migration destinations.

Macneil & Co. was tasked with creating a campaign for Invest Sunshine Coast that would use the region’s high migration profile to deliver messages to business owners about establishing on the coast.

The goals.

  • Raise awareness of the benefits of establishing, relocating or expanding business on the Sunshine Coast.

  • Gain new investment leads for Invest Sunshine Coast.

The strategy.

Specific investment attraction goals were outlined in the region’s Covid Economic Resurgence Plan:

  • Let investors know ‘we are open for business and that we remain business responsive’.

  • Escalate promotion of the Sunshine Coast International Broadband Network.

  • Position the region as an innovative, entrepreneurship and digital leader.

To accomplish these goals, The ‘Give your business a boost of Vitamin SC (Sunshine Coast)’ video series was created.

Through a series of TV-commercial style videos using great locations and a humorous script, the campaign highlighted the numerous business benefits of being located on the Sunshine Coast.

Each video in the series highlights a key benefit: work-life balance, lack of traffic, digital connectivity, thriving and collaborative business community, innovation, international airport, amongst others.

Initially, four videos were produced and a “behind the scenes” video. These were promoted in a multi-channel digital marketing campaign between 2020 and 2023. The campaign was extended for a further series of four videos that were produced in April 2023.

There were two primary ad objectives used.

  1. Lead generation - a lead magnet is used as a hook (click here for an example), when a user clicks on an ad, a form appears within the platform and pre-populates known details such as name, email address and phone number.

  2. Video views / traffic – when a user clicks on this type of ad, they are directed to a carefully curated landing page on the Invest Sunshine Coast website, where they can download the lead magnet or sign up for eNews.

The awards.

  • 2023 International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Excellence in Economic Development Gold Award
    Category: Multimedia / Promotional Video

  • 2023 International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Excellence in Economic Development Gold Award
    Category: Paid Advertising Campaign

  • Finalist: 2022 National Economic Development Awards for Excellence (EDA Australia)
    Category: Economic Development Strategic Thinking

  • Finalist: 2022 National Economic Development Awards for Excellence (EDA Australia)
    Category: Economic Development Marketing and Promotion

Mayor Jamieson

“Attracting business and investment to our region is a key outcome of the REDS, so it’s fantastic to see this clever campaign receive double gold recognition and showcase our Sunshine Coast on a global stage”

It all starts with an idea …

Pilot

In the initial 30 second TVC, stressed out city business owner (Cam) announces “We’re opening an office on the Sunshine Coast. Who wants to head it up?” The team jumps up, amusingly popping their heads up over their cubicle almost like meerkats, to say YES!!

Season 2

Initially, just one video was produced. The audience loved it! So, the client and the agency team thought, "Why not keep a good thing going?!". Season 2 messaging was all about tackling the sceptics, showcasing the new international airport runway and emphasising the importance of work-life balance.

Season 3

Season 3 showcases the latest in smart city technology, a thriving business community and a dash of working from paradise – sharing the quintessential Sunshine Coast message.