Star power gives wings to Shanghai push

Chinese actor Xia Yu arrives in New Zealand on a publicity tour this month - not for his latest movie but to promote Air New Zealand's new direct flights to Shanghai.

The celebrity is one of five high-profile Chinese who will travel here over eight months as part of the airline's $4 million marketing campaign for the new service.

The idea is for the well-known travellers to file blogs about their experiences and spread the word about New Zealand and its national carrier to young and rich Chinese, says the airline's international marketing manager, Michelle Lee.

The campaign is a departure from the company's traditional television, print and outdoor advertising push, forced by the cost and scale of doing business in China.

"We have taken a very innovative ... approach in Shanghai because we just simply do not have the money to do advertising such as television and print on a grand scale," said Lee.

"We also need to take a very focused approach in this market because it is so huge."

Air New Zealand will run three 777 flights a week to Shanghai from November.

Although the airline expects some growth in demand from New Zealanders curious to visit the ultra-modern Chinese metropolis, the real growth will come from Shanghai.

It is expected that about two-thirds of seats on the route will be filled by Chinese travellers.

The airline's advertising idea is winning praise from Auckland University of Technology senior advertising lecturer Dave Bibby, who says it is a good fit for the technologically savvy Chinese.

"It's all part of what we have called guerrilla marketing, getting word of mouth as part of that whole minimum-budget, maximum-impact strategy."

Lee said the Chinese celebrities selected for the campaign included movie stars and a chef, chosen for their appeal to the "emerging affluent" population.

They will write on their personal blogs and for an Air New Zealand blog site, set to go live next month.

"Blogging and online is such an amazing way for us to depict New Zealand because New Zealand is such a visual place," said Lee.

"[It's] a great way to describe New Zealand to people who have never been there before."

The campaign will also include 3-D billboards in key sites in Shanghai, print advertising and direct marketing to New Zealand expatriates.