As CEO of Australia’s first statutory place-branding authority, Todd Babiak knows a thing or two about the topic, and he’ll be sharing some of that knowledge at the Place Branding Australia conference in Sydney.

During his address to the conference in June, Babiak will showcase Tasmania as a case study in place branding, and unpack how the strategy has helped the state respond to challenges and opportunities around tourism, trade, investment and talent attraction, as well as fostering a sense of identity and social cohesion, in the six years since Brand Tasmania was established.

“What we’ve tried to do in Tasmania, rather than download things that have worked elsewhere, is deeply understand Tasmanian culture and use that to drive economic growth, so we’ve been a bit of a social lab for solving problems,” he told Government News.

“At the heart of that are questions such as how can something be uniquely Tasmanian? How can we make a strength out of Tasmanian culture?”

Babiak and other place branding leaders from Australian and overseas will explore what place branding is, and provide practical examples of how place makers and local authorities can make it work for them at Place Branding Australia 2024, which will take place during the Vivid Sydney Festival on June 12-13.

See the full program here.

Reframing tourism

Brand Tasmania has worked with most of Tasmania’s councils, as well as the Local Government Association of Tasmania, to develop unique and highly effective branding programs.

It recently teamed with Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux group in the Bass Strait, to develop a regenerative strategy aimed at combatting growing negativity and anxiety about tourism.

Brand Tasmania worked with the Municipality and the local community to come up with a brand story called The Islander Way aimed at reframing tourism on the island so that it generated benefits for the community, the environment and the economy.

“It’s it’s their title, it’s their story,” Babiak says.

“It’s been funded, and they’re now working with a group called the Furneaux Collective who are implementing projects that are going to bring real value to Flinders Island.

Attracting talent

Place branding is also being used to attract talent and plug workforce gaps.

“A main benefit of having brand Tasmania has been to unify efforts, so when we are going to market with a tourism strategy, it’s also acting as a student attraction strategy, a workforce attraction strategy,” he says.

“When we’re going to London or Japan, or Shanghai with Tasmanian products to sell to the world. It’s all one story. It’s all one brand.”

A key focus has been attracting health care professionals, Babiak says.

“The entire health, industry is in trouble around the world. Everyone’s fighting for doctors, everyone’s fighting for nurses. Everyone’s fighting for physiotherapists and pharmacists,” he says.

We know that if you’re just putting out ads that look like everyone else’s ad, just with a different government logo, you’re going to struggle.

Todd Babiak

“And we know that if you’re just putting out ads that look like everyone else’s ad, just with a different government logo, you’re going to struggle.

Place branding uses a back door approach to talent attraction.

“We’ve done a lot of research and interviews and it suggests when you come to Tasmania, it’s not for the job, it’s not for money. It’s for a more meaningful life.

“So what we’ve tried to do, put lifestyle and culture in the foreground and to speak to audiences that we call ambitious introverts who love nature.

“What we’ve tried to do put that in the foreground, and then say, by the way, you can have a great career here too. “

Tackling social issues

The strategy can also address social problems, such as the state’s multigenerational literacy problem, Mr Babiak says.

“As a Place Brand organisation you can either ignore wider social issues and only talk about the lovely qualities of Tasmania, or you can try to use the Tasmanian brand, the essence of Tasmanian culture, to solve them,” he says.

“Tasmania has a literacy problem that we’ve never been able to crack, despite having all the experts you could ever imagine coming here and trying to solve it. We’re trying to solve in a Tasmanian way.”

It’s an example of how you can take complex social problems and use a brand for a deep understanding of culture to solve those problems.

Todd Babiak

Enter the prize-winning Little Tasmanians campaign, which aims to bring the Tasmanian story into the lives of new Tasmanians in their early years, and connect parents and carers with Tasmania-relevant information about the first 1,000 days.

“Every family that has a new baby gets a little bag which has a baby book called Little Tasmanians, about four people who overcame adversity to make their dreams come true here.

“You also get a library card, and a Tasmanian onesie and a bunch of fridge magnets that highlight milestone for the first 1000 days of every baby’s life.

“So we’ve tried to take the Tasmania story, the Tasmanian brand, and bring it into the lives of our regular families. It’s an example of how you can take complex social problems and use a brand for a deep understanding of culture to solve those problems.”

A climate action workshop

Babiak says Tasmania’s history of environmental action, green politics and achievement of net zero emissions lies at the heart of the Powered by Tasmania campaign, which is designed to attract visitors, students, investors, trade, researchers and partners in renewable projects.

As the rest of the world cleans their grids, we can say come to Tasmania and really see this place as a workshop for climate action.

Todd Babiak

“That’s really compelling for businesses, for investors, knowing that we are self sufficient in renewable electricity,” he says.

“As the rest of the world cleans their grids, we can say come to Tasmania and really see this place as a workshop for climate action.

“It’s identifying, for example, the Hydro story, which has led to Tasmania being self sufficient in renewable electricity, Tasmania has net zero, Tasmania has more than half its land protected from development, so we’ve already reached UN sustainability and biodiversity goals. No other place in the world really has that.”

Place Branding Australia 2024 runs from June 12-13. Tickets are available here.