When I first applied to be a Boomtown Insider, I was excited to learn more about a part of Australia I’d had very little exposure to. As a Kiwi who moved to Sydney a few years ago, my understanding of Regional Australia was limited, and honestly, full of assumptions.
I used to picture small towns, farming communities and a lot of countryside. What I didn’t understand was the scale and diversity of what I now think of as “Boomtown” and not “Regional Australia”. Cities like Newcastle, the Gold Coast and Geelong have large populations and a lot of spending power.
Needless to say, my assumptions were well and truly challenged. Being a Boomtown Insider encouraged me to take a step back and rethink.
Challenges I faced with regional marketing was measurement and fragmentation – how do we show the effectiveness of our campaigns and where should we be spending our money? When some of our main KPI goals become unmeasurable, e.g. reach & frequency, how do we plan and show media effectiveness as well as incremental reach for national campaigns?
What I’ve come to realise is that Regional Australia shouldn’t simply be viewed as incremental reach. It’s a significant market, and success doesn’t mean reaching everyone. What’s more important is identifying the right audiences and prioritising where investment will have the most impact. With the addition of new tools like MOVE and Audology helping bridge the measurement gap, planning and buying towards Boomtown has become a lot more accessible.
But the biggest change wasn’t how I thought Regional Australia itself, my overall perspective.
Being a Boomtown Insider gave me an opportunity to spend time with regional specialised media partners who really understand these markets. As agencies, clients rely on us as the experts of our field, giving weight to our recommendations. This experience reminded me that we should approach media partners with the same mindset.
Looking back, the biggest takeaway wasn’t learning a bunch of facts and stats. It was gaining a different perspective, challenging assumptions, and encouraged me to think differently about where growth opportunities exist.
In an industry that moves as quickly as ours, programs like Boomtown Insiders provide a valuable opportunity to step outside our day-to-day responsibilities and learn from others. I’d encourage anyone in the industry to find and embrace opportunities like this whenever they can. You might come away with a completely different view of the market and a whole new mindset