Introduction
Today’s media landscape is fractured and diverse. Attention that was once concentrated in a small number of newspapers, television networks, and specialist magazines is now spread across many channels — websites, social media platforms, podcasts, forums, and a few print titles that still hold a loyal readership. No single placement reaches most of an audience the way it once did.
This plan sets out how the Across Australia expedition addresses that fragmentation and how it will be promoted across owned, earned, and paid channels, sequenced across three phases: pre-launch, during the expedition, and post-trip.
Our approach relies on sustained, repeated presence across numerous channels, treating owned channels as the anchor of the campaign, with other channels amplifying that content rather than running as separate campaigns. No paid promotion is planned.
Phase One — Pre-Launch
From now until departure on 3 June 2027.
The aim is to build an audience before there is a single kilometre to report on.
adventures.net.au (owned)
A dedicated Across Australia landing page has been established on the website, giving every other channel a place to point to.
wellsandtracks.com.au (owned)
A secondary Across Australia landing page has been established pointing more towards the focus of this website.
Facebook Groups (effectively owned)
Western Australian four-wheel-drive groups, Suzuki-specific groups, overlanding groups, and desert travel groups, Auszookers, Jimny Owners of Australia and other marque-specific groups are targets.
Posts will concentrate on vehicle preparation, route planning, gear selection, and the Suzuki-versus-larger-rig angle. This is genuinely interesting content in its own right.
Instagram (effectively owned)
A dedicated account and hashtag for Across Australia has been established in addition to the Adventures Across Australia page.
Behind-the-scenes preparation content — vehicle builds, gear testing, packing — will be posted here.
ExplorOz Forum (effectively owned)
This is a Forum for navigation, tracks, desirable destinations and, more broadly, everything 4WD. Our approach here will be engagement by asking for information.
WA 4WDriver Magazine (earned)
The angle will be on “Little Vehicles, Big Continent”, since this differentiates the expedition from typical big-rig coverage.
We aim to negotiate a regular update slot leading up to the trip.
Horizons Magazine (earned)
Our pitch will be on “Little Vehicles, Big Continent” with the emphasis on the age of the vehicles and the participants.
Phase Two — During the Expedition
From departure on 3 June 2027 through to arrival at Cape Byron.
Trip Lapse Live — Real Time Tracker with Pics (owned)
Trip Lapse Live provides a genuine advantage, since most other overlanders doing YT vids and/or podcasts cannot deliver live, visual, frequent updates from remote country.
adventures.net.au and wellsandtracks.com.au (owned)
Leg-by-leg trip reports will be posted as the expedition progresses, connectivity permitting.
Trip Lapse Live will be embedded directly on the Adventure site. This is likely to be the single most shareable asset of the entire campaign, given its novelty.
Forums and Facebook Groups (effectively owned)
Short, daily updates including photos with a link to the full Expedition Plan on the adventures website and anywhere else it may have appeared at the time of the posts.
Where possible the posts will be linked to key milestones — Steep Point departure, the Gunbarrel Highway, Uluru, Kings Canyon, the Finke Desert Race, Dalhousie Springs, the Simpson Desert crossing, Birdsville, Cameron Corner, the Darling River Run, and arrival at Cape Byron.
Instagram and Facebook (effectively owned)
Daily photos with a description up to 125 words will be posted.
Posts of short reels from standout moments — the Steep Point departure, the Gunbarrel, the Simpson Desert dunes, the Finke Desert Race, and the arrival at Cape Byron.
Use of a single, consistent hashtag across the entire trip, tagging the Sponsor where relevant to the sponsorship arrangement.
Phase Three — Post-Trip
From arrival at Cape Byron onward.
Most expedition coverage ends where the expedition ends — this plan is designed so that it does not.
A wrap-up feature will be published on both websites, written in the website style (‘evergreen content’) constructed to draw search traffic for years.
Produce the Sponsor case-study article, as set out in the sponsorship proposal.
Pitch a full-length feature to WA 4WDriver Magazine. Post-trip retrospectives with practical lessons learned perform well, since readers planning their own trips want that detail.
Produce an Instagram highlight reel or short video recap, repurposing existing tracker photos and video to minimise additional production effort.
Post to the above-mentioned groups and forums, linking to the full write-up.
Additional Channels
The 4WD Podcast (earned), described as Australia’s fastest-growing podcast.
The online/print magazines Unsealed 4X4, 4X4 Australia, and Overlander (all earned) will be approached.
Sequencing
The three phases above describe what happens on each channel; this section sets out the order and dependencies — when each element is actioned.
Immediate (in progress / ongoing):
Website hub: both landing pages (adventures.net.au and wellsandtracks.com.au) are live — this is the foundation every other channel points back to.
Instagram account and hashtag: established, allowing behind-the-scenes content to begin accumulating before departure.
Forum and Facebook Group posting: begins immediately, since this content (vehicle prep, route planning) doesn’t depend on anything else being ready first.
T-minus 10 to 6 months (approx. August 2026 – January 2027):
Magazine outreach: pitch WA 4WDriver Magazine and Horizons Magazine on the “Little Vehicles, Big Continent” angle.
Podcast outreach: approach The 4WD Podcast for a pre-departure guest slot.
Sponsorship deliverables: confirm final terms with the Sponsor, including hashtag and tagging requirements, so Phase Two content is tagged correctly from day one rather than retrofitted.
T-minus 6 to 3 months (approx. December 2026 – March 2027):
Trip Lapse Live: final testing of the Raspberry Pi/Starlink system under real driving conditions.
Vehicle-prep content series ramps up on Facebook Groups and Instagram, timed to peak as vehicle work reaches completion — genuinely interesting to the target audience independent of the expedition itself.
T-minus 3 months to departure (approx. March 2027 – 3 June 2027):
Final push across all pre-launch channels.
Cross-link everything: every channel to have a working link back to the website hub before day one.
Phase 2a — Departure to Alice Springs (3–14 June 2027):
Trip Lapse Live goes live and embeds on adventures.net.au.
Daily/near-daily social updates commence.
Finke Desert Race (14 June) is the first major earned-media opportunity mid-expedition.
Phase 2b — Alice Springs to Cape Byron:
Sustained daily/near-daily posting across owned and effectively-owned channels through to arrival, with milestone-linked posts at each major waypoint.
From Cape Byron onward:
Wrap-up features: time-sensitive in the sense that momentum and interest peak immediately post-trip.
Instagram highlight reel.