The Boomtown Masterclass hosted virtually last week delved into the opportunities for brands advertising in regional Australia and the potential for meaningful campaigns that deliver strong ROI.

The event was attended by more than 100 media and marketing industry professionals and featured a panel of senior marketers from Optus, The Speed Agency, and Kennards Hire.

The panelists revealed that many national brands are recognising that a large portion of their customer base lives outside capital cities and are adjusting their marketing strategies accordingly. Lauren Dawber from Optus said: “At Optus, we think about regional like we think about anywhere else in Australia. We know our customers are all over Australia – I think it’s remiss [of any brand] to think they only find customers in metro cities. Now, we don’t look at our customers as ‘metro versus regional’; we look at them based on demographic and channel – the digital ecosystem is powerful, it doesn’t matter where you live.”

Manelle Merhi from Kennards Hire said: “Around 35 per cent of our branch network and operations are based in regional Australia – it means that we ensure to focus a significant portion of our marketing spend in supporting regional markets,” she said. Merhi also stated that regional campaigns often have double or triple the impact compared to those in metro areas.

Rob Maxwell from The Speed Agency urged brands to consider regional markets as they offer significant growth opportunities. “The facts and figures about regional are compelling for agencies and clients and demonstrate how much opportunity there is, particularly when you look at the size of the population, as well as other socioeconomic factors,” he said.

Boomtown, since its inception in 2019, has been campaigning for increased advertising spend in regional Australia. Its efforts include running regular Masterclasses to educate agencies and brands on the benefits and opportunities of regional marketing. Boomtown’s eight Australian media owner members are SCA, WIN, Seven, ARN, ACM, Nine NBN, News Corp Australia, and Imparja.