live like a local east gippsland

Objective

In discussions with East Gippsland Shire, East Gippsland real estate agents and the local business community, a theme was established; whereby many working suburban families and individuals liked the idea of moving to a rural area but there was always a mental barrier to accomplishing the move. Some of the barriers were things like “I won’t be able to find a job that pays well” or “the schools/house prices aren’t as good” or “I like my coffee/sport/wine too much”.

This project aimed to address the typical barriers of people moving to East Gippsland by attracting prospective residents who are currently in the workforce, and providing them with the tools to progress their move to regional Victoria.
The 'Live Like a Local' campaign aimed to position East Gippsland as a welcoming, vibrant and stimulating region that offers satisfying career opportunities, value for money, and time to enjoy the magnificent surroundings.

**Campaign Rollout **

EGMI created a series of video case studies (funded by Regional Development Victoria) as well as a competition to win a grand prize of “living like a local” for an entire weekend. The prize incorporated experiences with key businesses including Venture Out (stand-up paddle boarding), Parks Victoria (Buchan Caves) and Riviera Nautic (sailing the Gippsland Lakes) along with food and wine, and accommodation experiences.
The competition entries would also mean that we had an opportunity to communicate with prospective visitors long term about the benefits of living in East Gippsland.
The case study videos showcased various people that had moved to the East Gippsland region focusing on the following topics:
Career Opportunities (e.g. Workways CEO)
Small Business / Career Change (e.g. Sailors Grave Brewing)
Raise a Family / Living the lifestyle (Tamara Cook, Captain’s Cove)
Build your dream home (King and Heath Real Estate)
Case studies were placed on the Live East Gippsland website and Love East Gippsland youtube channel so that the campaign had longevity.

A digital campaign was created, including:
Banner advertising on sites such as LinkedIn, Google Adwords, Facebook and Youtube
Retargeting campaign across a vast digital network to promote the competition / website

Media releases were also sent out promoting the competition and East Gippsland lifestyle

**Summary **

Overall, this was a very successful campaign which went well beyond its targets. While the final data review for looking at residential sales was due to be completed in 2020, COVID 19 impacts meant that this was delayed. Anecdotally, the building and real estate industries in East Gippsland are busier than ever before.