According to industry experts, advertising in regional Australia should be a ‘no-brainer’. The message comes from the first of Boomtown’s 2024 masterclass series, which officially launched last week, with close to 100 industry representatives in attendance.
The Boomtown masterclass series launched in 2020, and since then has educated thousands of executives on the impact of regional media.
The class involved a panel of guest speakers made up of Bek Fraser, head of growth for Koala, Sam Buchanan, CEO of IMAA and Tom Wenborn, executive creative director at Thinkerbell.
Discussing their experience with Boomtown advertising and regional campaigns, Fraser said: “Moving into the regional markets has been really interesting because the products we offer in metro also resonate with regional areas and that is because of the customer benefit. In metro, customers want the convenience of something being delivered fast, whereas in regional, customers have less choice. As a fully online business, regional is important because we can give regional populations more choice rather than just their local option or having to drive three hours to their nearest home centre.”
Buchanan agreed, telling the class participants: “It’s a no-brainer to me that brands and agencies should be advertising in regional Australia. 9.6 million people is not a figure to be ignored when you’re considering your media plans and campaigns, it’s a valuable audience.”
Wenborn added: “Don’t underestimate the savviness of regional audiences. It’s a market where you can get a lot of cut-through – you don’t have the saturation of advertising and you can be a little more nuanced and take the time to target different audiences. Additionally, it gives you the chance to unlock more insights or to test campaigns regionally, before bringing them into metro.”
Boomtown masterclass
Boomtown represents the 9.6 million people living in regional Australia. Regional Australians now make up more than a third of the population, with the demos moving to the regions meaning that regional audiences are younger, wealthier, and more digitally connected than ever.
Masterclasses are held regularly throughout the year, and include sessions designed to explore the regional media landscape, while also focusing on the tools needed to help plan and buy regional media. Additional Boomtown masterclasses will be announced in the coming months.
Boomtown chairman, Brian Gallagher, said: “Our Boomtown masterclasses have become an integral part of personal development and training plans for the media industry – and our first masterclass for 2024 was no different. Bek, Sam and Tom offered some great advice and insights on the benefits of buying regional media, from their combined decades of industry experience. Their shared knowledge demonstrated the power of regional media and what it can bring to media strategies for agencies and brands nationwide.”