PHASE ONE:
GREATEST EXPORTS
Australians and New Zealanders don’t travel like everyone else.
Geography shapes psychology. When you grow up at the edge of the world, travel isn’t a weekend escape - it’s a pilgrimage. You save relentlessly, then go all in. One big, life-defining Overseas Experience (OE).
It’s where identity is formed, independence tested, global friendships forged, and personal mythologies born. Back home these stories become social currency - retold for decades to come. The OE is a rite of passage woven into national culture. And since 1962 the overwhelming majority of young Australians did it on a Contiki.
So I flipped it and asked… if many Europeans meet their first Aussie or Kiwi because of Contiki, what role has the brand really played?
Contiki hasn’t just facilitated travel - it has shaped global perception. It has been the stage where Australasian humor, openness and boldness became reputation.
That lead me to the core insight:
For young Australians and New Zealanders, the OE isn’t just about seeing the world. It’s about being seen by it.
Contiki doesn’t just enable travel. It amplifies a national personality.
We are our greatest export, and Contiki is the stage.
PHASE TWO: CAPTURED ON CONTIKI
THE CONCEPT:
If we are our greatest export - why do we only celebrate exports when they return? Why not celebrate our travellers in real time. This European summer, Contiki turns Australia into a live gallery of it’s greatest export: it’s youth. While they’re overseas shaping global perception, we would showcase them back home - in public, at scale. Not curated influencer content. Real travellers. Real moments. Elevated to national status by posting our favourite traveller posts on Digital OOH in real time throughout Australia and New Zealand. We turn them into cultural ambassadors in a living exhibition of Australasian's in motion. Because legends aren’t made in feeds. They’re made on stages.
THE INSIGHT:
In the social era, identity only counts when it’s witnessed - and young Australians want their OE recognised at home as much as it’s experienced abroad.
We surprise and delight some luckly travellers by giving them a heroes welcome when they come back from their legendary adventure. Think All Blacks coming home after winning the world cup to adoring fans at the airport to cheer them on. Big signs, big crowd of family, friends and extras, gifts, limo waiting etc
Working with PR we ladder this stunt back into the OOH gallery, with backstory.
EXPERIENTIAL CONCEPTS
True legends are glorified with statues and plaques. But who really decides who’s worthy of a statue? The person commissioning it, in this case us. So laddering back into Captured on Contiki (phase two), we secretly work with local councils to erect temporary statues and make our passengers legends overnight.
The statues will have a plaque and story about a Contiki moment that turned them a into legend.
Example above - Jeff, for teaching the Italian locals how to do the perfect Manu bomb in Cinque Terra.
WHERE IT LANDED
During production the concept changed, but held onto the concept inspiration of showcasing real Contiki (past) passengers and filmed the shoot from a traveller POV. Although it wasn’t authentic traveller posts, it was still hero’d authentic brand fans and filmed in a way young people could see themselves on a Contiki. It went out on Social, OOH, and dropped into high-impact cultural moments like Love Island Australia.
PHASE THREE: LEGENDARY MOMENTS
The Problem:
Following COVID travel had slowed down for young Aussies and Kiwi’s. In the earlier phases Contiki re-established its Legendary status in Australasia but it became clear the youth needed a compelling reason to explore and reconnect with the rest of the world. Off the back of the ‘Legendary’ campaign success we didn’t want to introduce a new campaign so the brief became how to solve this business problem within another phase of Legendary.
Here are three of my concepts, two were taken to production in this next phase. Another Day, Another Legend was not.
Legends Live On
Past passengers love Contiki and stay engaged, sharing advice and reminesing about their trips for many years. So our community repeatedly told us the moments that were legendary for them. Although the stories that reached legendary status were as unique as the people and groups on the trip, but one thing became clear…
You don’t find your legend. You live it - and only later realise it was one.
So we invited young travellers to go on a Contiki and discover their legend…because everyone wants a story worth telling, but you cannot curate it. You have go out and live it first, only then will your legend come to life.
In your 20s idenity formation is important, they’re desperate for defining moments. Contiki has been a cultural rite of passage for young Aussies and Kiwis because it’s full of those experiences. Contiki changes you.
Playing with this idea that Legends are remembered for moments - not lifetimes (Achilles heel). I got curious about the Legends perspective. History might remember the moment, but you remember where it started. Giving Contiki a role in their origin.
Visual treatment: we match this with scroll stopping mid-action shots (or micro-moment clips), the unresolved nature of the freeze-frame storytelling compels the viewer to find out more. This allows us a window of attention to show their legendary origin story.
This idea was chosen for production. See it’s creative development as the messaging is simplified further below.
ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER LEGEND
Legends are made in small moments with big significance, it’s these moments that define us, stick in our minds and get retold. Think Johnny Wilkinson’s drop kick to win the 2003 RWC. We collectively select special moments and elevate the person to legendary status because of it, not because of who they are everyday.
This is important while you’re in your 20s (our core demo). In this stage of life they’re building an identity, hyper-aware how you’re perceived, and want a legendary defining moment, but most people will never have a stadium moment.
So we strategically reframed that legends must be massive, because while history crowns a few legends, every friendship group creates their own - forged in small moments that feel big to the people who lived them. We see them written in posts/comments from our past passenger all the time.
Seeing others find their legend, becomes an invitation for 18-20 year olds to go out and find their own, because on Contiki micro-legends are being created everyday.
Social and Activation level.
We can elevate this by crowning legends in peak season on trip and online.
Tram Design
Put commuters in the Contiki journey. Aligns with “you are the greatest export”.
Past Pax enjoy remenising
We allow Australians the chance to day dream on their commute with a different view out of their tram to an exciting adventure.
The greatest export is you. We use the tram doors as a social media opportunity by letting them reveal the legends of Melborne.
We expand upon the coach wrap to do something never done before in Melborne. We also wrap the tram stops to be iconic locations. The tram changed into a Contiki coach will take Melborne commuters to iconic locations all around the world.
We also do experiential surprise and delights at different locations.
Legendary Results
+1391% uplift in Top-of-Mind Awareness
32% increase on target incremental ROAS
40% uplift in conversion rate
Unaided Ad Recall up +585%
Ultimately winning us Best Campaign at the 2025 Umbrella Awards