I see that Tourism NZ have uploaded the new "100% Middle-earth" promo videos to its YouTube page this week (the extended version is below).
Tourism NZ has invested around $10 million on producing the new campaign to ride on the potential success of movie audiences admiring attractive landscapes that provide majestic backdrops to on-screen Hobbit-action. Some may be unnerved by Tourism NZ banking on an influx of visitors based upon the appeal of fictional middle-earth dwelling dwarfs.
I must admit that I've lacked the patience to sit through an entire Lord of the Rings movie, however I will be attempting to endure Peter Jackson's latest mystical fantasy movie when it is released in order to fully appreciate the gush of media commentary that will ensue.
A good chunk of the Tourism NZ campaign would appear to be social media based and it will be interesting to see if environmental zealots will use the interactive platforms to hijack New Zealand's 100% Pure branding. I suspect that any attempt to knock the 100% Middle-earth campaign in order to elevate an alarmist environmental agenda will be quickly shouted down by Tolkien fan-boys and patriotic Kiwis.
The imagery of New Zealand looks fantastic and there is a continuation of the 100% Pure You campaign that puts the focus on real people (young and good-looking) interacting with landscapes.
It's difficult to completely capture a realistic tourism experience that New Zealand can offer in a 2-minute promo. While potential guests may enjoy imagining themselves in a New Zealand natural setting for a portion of their holiday, they may be left wondering what first-world hotel, shopping, restaurant and night-life experiences may also be on offer?
While accommodation providers may not be impressed with a leeching, graffiti emblazoned camper-van as the only accommodation option on display, the campaign is aspirational and may trigger potential quality visitors to investigate further what the real deal is about this quirky little remote country at the bottom of the Pacific.
Tomahawk
