Evolution of 100% Pure New Zealand set to wow
Monday 27 August 2012, 6:19PM
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By: Chief Executive Kevin Bowler
In two days' time Tourism New Zealand will release the latest evolution of our 100% Pure New Zealand campaign.
The Middle-earth themed television and cinema advertisement will be shown first to industry at the Tourism Export Council's 2012 conference, before being posted on our Pure New Zealand You Tube page and newzealand.com.
Campaign activity starts in Australia on Sunday August 26 before rolling out across the world through TV, cinema and online activity.
This is a venture to promote New Zealand, using Middle-earth as a lever to gain more attention and greater reach for our messages.
Why? Because millions of people globally have seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy and we expect millions more to watch The Hobbit trilogy.
More than 50 per cent of the people in our top six target markets, already interested in visiting New Zealand, call themselves fans of the films. With the launch of the campaign, our work begins in earnest to convert these fans into travellers.
I am extremely excited about introducing this campaign to you all and am confident that we will see a significant increase in desire for a New Zealand holiday.
By way of background - the idea behind the campaign actually came from comments made by cast members on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films' production blogs. One of the actors spoke of how New Zealand's landscapes actually look fake because you just can't believe that such places really exist.
Our aim is to convince everyone that yes, these places do in fact exist and you can have some amazing adventures and experiences here within movie-like landscapes.
But we do need some support from you: I encourage you to share the link to our campaign with all your friends, family, customers and stakeholders and help spread the word of 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand.
The advertisement will be loaded on our Pure New Zealand You Tube page and newzealand.com so bookmark this now and come back after 6:00pm on Thursday. I promise you won't be disappointed.
From Friday you will find new Middle-earth themed pages and experiences on newzealand.com. We also have Middle-earth information and imagery available on our international media website, our trade site and our image library making it easy for anyone who writes about or sells "Destination New Zealand" to leverage off the popularity of Middle-earth.
As we get closer to the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in December, you will see us increase the Middle-earth influence even more.
But for now, we bring just a touch of Middle-earth to our 100% Pure New Zealand campaign. Remember to view the ad and share the ad from Thursday. I look forward to hearing your feedback.
About the films:
A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the first of three films from filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy, who shot the films concurrently on locations across New Zealand.
The screenplay for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and the second and third films of the trilogy are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing being handled by MGM.