Sync Watch: South Australia calls on Aussie artist Jonathan Boulet for big tourism push

South Australia is trying to lure local tourists back into its midst with a large national advertising campaign.

The ad features various visual and sensory highlights of adventuring and relaxing in South Australia, with the Jonathan Boulet ‘A community service announcement’ track playing in the background.

The track was first released for Boulet’s 2009 self-titled album, which was released via the now defunct Modular Recordings, then owned by Universal Music Australia.

He re-recorded the track for the campaign, however, with the deal negotiated and licensed via Native Tongue.

Boulet has toured with the likes of Kate Nash, The Middle East, Mumford and Sons, and Tame Impala, and his songs have previously been used in EA Sports games, including FIFA 13. 

His most recent musical venture is Party Dozen with saxophonist Kirsty Tickle.

The ad featuring his track screened during State of Origin last night, as part of a huge push by the Nine Network to increase the scale, quality and impact of television advertising in Australia.

Nine has been pushing for large-scale advertisers to treat the three State of Origin matches like Australia’s Super Bowl moment, and create big, memorable, meaningful ads which are just as much a part of the entertainment as the match itself.

The initiative – named State of Originality – will offer the ultimate winner more than $1 million worth of inventory across Nine’s television, radio, digital and print assets.

Last night, ads from South Australian Tourism Commission, McDonald’s, Google and Bundaberg were in the mix for the competition.

Nine’s director of Powered, the company’s marketing solutions team, said she couldn’t be happier with the first ads to emerge from State of Originality.

“These first four ads highlight the incredible creativity that exists within Australian adland, and they have taken advantage of the unique platform that is the State of Origin to reach an audience of millions of Australians,” Liana Dubois said.

“Our goal in creating State of Originality is to drive new creativity and ensure the advertising on screen is as entertaining and engaging as the footy on the field.”

Last night’s match had a metro TV audience of 1.911 million. With an additional 797,000 viewers in the region, its total audience was 2.708 million.