Sunshine Coast launches its new destination brand 'For real'

Following the launch of a successful campaign by the same name, regional tourism organisation Visit Sunshine Coast (VSC) has unveiled ‘For real’ as the destination’s new brand to encapsulate the Sunshine Coast’s authentic experiences.

The VSC team shared the news with over 240 members at the Annual General Meeting and end of year networking celebration at the new Night Quarter venue on the Sunshine Coast.

‘For real’ encapsulates the authenticity the Sunshine Coast is known for, with VSC Interim Chief Executive Craig Davidson noting that ‘For real’ had been developed over the past 18 months in partnership with creative agency Banjo. The campaign took on a new relevance following the pandemic, with extensive research highlighting travellers’ desires for authentic, nature-based and real experiences.

Davidson advises “The new branding segues from our previous ‘naturally refreshing’ tagline, which has served us well for the past 10 years but our research showed was no longer setting us apart in the marketplace.

“Instead, we recognised the increasing importance of authenticity and nature in people’s travel choices, and the new ‘For real’ brand resonated strongly with travellers.

“For real will be instrumental in driving VSC’s marketing activities into the next decade as we position the Sunshine Coast as one of Australia’s most desired, premium destinations for families, couples, groups and business events.

“It builds on the region’s unique natural advantage of being home to many of Australia’s most pristine environments, including uncrowded beaches, two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, a World Heritage Marine Park, the dramatic Glass House Mountains and sub-tropical rainforest of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

“What has progressed so strongly is being able to offer tourism experiences that match the environment, and this brand is just as much about recognising those experiences, the people, culture, food and lifestyle that make up the fabric of the Sunshine Coast.”

For real shows the Sunshine Coast is welcoming and unaffected, the people are genuine and down to earth, it is where you meet amazing characters and experience real Aussie culture.

The new brand follows in the footsteps of VSC’s latest marketing campaign also named ‘For real’, which since its launch in October, has recorded more than 3 million social media impressions driving over 20,000 visitors to the dedicated Visit Sunshine Coast For Real webpage.

VSC has partnered with booking agents Wotif.com and Experience Oz for the campaign, with phase two offering consumers mid-week ‘Real Deals’ on the Sunshine Coast to help further drive bookings to local tourism operators.

Davidson said the launch of the new brand was perfectly timed with the arrival of VSC’s new Chief Executive Matt Stoeckel who will take up his position with the company in early 2021.

For more information go to visitsunshinecoastforreal.com.   https://sunshinecoastforreal.com/

Image top: Visit Sunshine Coast team gets behind new For Real branding, Night Quarter Nov 2020; and image above: L to R Richard Stephens (Accom Noosa), Daniel Gschwind (QTIC), David Ryan (Visit Sunshine Coast) Brett Kapernick (QTIC)