Tourism message lost in Queenstown maelstrom

By Helen Vause

The strategic flaw with making one big snazzy launch to a bunch of stroppy journos is that you run the risk of getting a swift, loud and colourful reaction.

You don't necessarily get all your story across as you would like to and detail can get lost in the fray.

Every savvy PR practitioner knows this can be the outcome with press conferences. Such was the case with the unveiling of the Tourism Board's new campaign in Queenstown.

Reaction to the new M&C Saatchi campaign was mixed but "ho hum" was the loudest message from most media.

The glorious (but familiar) scenery in the TV commercial didn't really do it for this highly critical audience.

Subsequently, we didn't hear much at all about the components of the whole campaign, the thinking behind it or why it was that a lot of people in both tourism and marketing seemed to think that strategically it will work pretty well.

Even if the launching media strategy wasn't a resounding success for the Tourism Board, there is more to this new tourism campaign than a glossy, scenic commercial.

Both the Tourism Board's George Hickton and M&C Saatchi's executive chairman for Asia Pacific, Tom Dery, stand by the wisdom of having held a one-off media launch, but acknowledge they didn't achieve very close scrutiny of their whole campaign and the way they believe it will work.

"Yes," says Hickton, "there was probably still a fair bit of interest in politics and controversy at the launch because we were following on from the Saatchi & Saatchi saga. Nevertheless, from our point of view it is a very strong and appropriate campaign."

So what is this new pitch for our country all about?

The Tourism Board carried out extensive research in the target markets of Japan, the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

They found there was very high awareness of New Zealand but that travellers didn't have a strong commitment to coming here and were still choosing to go elsewhere.

People cited distance, cost and time as some of the barriers but they also had very vague perceptions of what the country had to offer beyond its world famous scenery.

The research showed that departing travellers frequently said the whole experience in New Zealand had often exceeded expectations. Because the industry is now well aware that travellers today want to have new and exciting experiences, rather than just observe a country, the Tourism Board accepted that New Zealand had a marketing problem.

For the new campaign, the primary target audience had been identified as interactive travellers who sought new experiences, enjoyed a challenge and wanted the status of a trip that distinguished them as individuals.

The way to overcome the woolly perceptions and sock our product to selected international markets was to come up with a clear message that could be consistently targeted to a wide range of people with a variety of travel aspirations.

The strategy behind 100% Pure New Zealand gave the flexibility to target many people, with many messages.

The central "100% Pure" brand positioning line was supposed to hammer home the message that whatever you did in New Zealand it would be one hundred per cent fantastic - as good as it gets anywhere be it skiing, tramping, fishing, gazing at that still fabulous scenery or chilling out discreetly in a luxury lodge.

It is what the marketers can add on to that brand positioning line "100% Pure" that gives the campaign endless flexibility to be very strategically targeted.

The TV commercial will run in Australia and on cable TV in Asia and the US, but most of the campaign will be rolled out in print media, where the message will be tailored to readership with many variations on 100% Pure New Zealand.

Some of the print executions prepared with a range of appropriately striking visuals include: 100% Pure Adventure, 100% Pure Bliss (world class fishing), Pure Suspense, Pure White (for skiers), Pure Indulgence, Pure Awe (scenery), Pure Rapture, Pure Welcome (nice folks).

M&C Saatchi's Dery said: "With this branding, we can target markets with concepts not usually associated with New Zealand. It gives us the cut through we are looking for in many different applications. Most importantly, it puts the country on the destination shopping list."