Latest Stories Beat Stuff winners announced

Tourism New Zealand's activity to engage with the influential youth market has gained strong momentum with record votes for the latest Stories Beat Stuff competition.

Launched in April with a raft of new online and social media features, phase two once again challenged entrants to give up their prized possessions to be in to win one of two amazing 100% 'Story of a lifetime' experiences.

In less time, and with less media spend, results to date are already comparable to those of phase one, generating a combined 100,000 unique visits to the campaign pages and 100% Pure Facebook page. The videos of the first two experiences have also received 100,000 views on YouTube - up from 50,000 at the end of phase one.

A total of 350 entries were received for the latest two experiences and attracted 4,500 votes from the main target markets of Germany, UK, USA, Australia and Canada.

This week the winners of the latest two experiences from phase two were announced and will soon be winging their way to New Zealand for an experience of a lifetime.

"Our activity to target the global youth market is focused on improving the perception of New Zealand as a fun and popular  destination and increase youth arrivals," says Tourism New Zealand's General Manager Marketing Communications Justin Watson.

"With the results tracking as they are, we know that we are engaging with this market in a way that really resonates with them and will continue to deliver results."

Four lucky winners from Canada will arrive this week to enjoy New Zealand's legendary snow and ski for the Winter Highlife experience. The Natural Goodness winners from Germany, will arrive in July to experience all the natural wonders and outdoor activities the South Island has to offer. You can view the reactions of the winners here.

The winners will keep the wider global youth market updated with their experiences while they are in New Zealand with regular blogs on newzealand.com campaign pages - fully integrated with Facebook and YouTube to make sharing easier.

Justin explains: "Increasing the number of friends the winners can bring from one to three widens the potential social network that can be reached.

"The material provided from the online updates and blogs, alongside the videos that are filmed while the winners are in New Zealand, provides strong material to continue our engagement with the youth market.
"We have already seen this work with the videos of the first two experiences receiving huge interest form entrants. This is really positive as these videos show youth experiencing the unique New Zealand product for themselves - bringing it to life. These will continue to attract interest as the campaign is rolled out and we build on the material with new footage from phase two."

From Canada, Jeremy and Rob traded their ponitac time machine to win the Winter Highlife experience. They will make a cash donation to the British Columbia Children's hospital before travelling to New Zealand with two friends to enjoy a ski trip across the South and North Islands, starting with a bang at the Queenstown Winter Festival.

The Natural Goodness winners from Germany, Charlyn and her three friends, traded their entire shoe collection for the chance to enjoy all the natural experiences New Zealand is known for the world over. This will include hiking, glacier climbs, rafting and kayaking with dolphins.

The third and final phase of Stories Beat Stuff is currently being prepared and will be launched to the in August.

To follow the winners during their time in New Zealand visit the Stories Beat Stuff campaign page, and find out Tourism New Zealand's Youth Market strategy here.