MIDDLE-EARTH PASSPORT STAMP

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleMIDDLE-EARTH PASSPORT STAMP
BrandTOURISM NEW ZEALAND
Product / Service100% MIDDLE-EARTH, 100% PURE NEW ZEALAND
CategoryA07. Point of Sale
EntrantWHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Entrant Company WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Advertising Agency WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Lynlee Smith Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Account Manager
Julia Mckee Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Senior Account Director
Michelle Hong Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Project Manager
Julie Maciver Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Planner
Ross Howard Dan Auckland Digital Creative Director
Natasja Barclay Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Group Head
Chris Lewis Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Designer
Cece Chu Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Art Director
Ryan Price/Lucy Morgan Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Copywriter
Andy Blood Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Executive Creative Director
Hristos Varouhas Whybin \ TBWA Sydney Strategist

Brief Explanation

The design brief for this particular piece-the passport stamp-was actually defined by its mandatories: ‘adhere to the strict specifications necessary in order to be DIA sanctioned passport stamp’. There were no more challenges than that. It made sure that we were as authentic as possible.

The Brief

The ‘Welcome to Middle-earth’ passport stamp was used at Immigration by actual, on-duty, immigration officials at Auckland Airport from Monday 26th November 2012. The campaign brief was to ‘earn as much media as we could, by using our association with all things Middle-earth’. So if you’re entering a country that really is Middle-earth, you’d get a stamp in your passport that said ‘Welcome to Middle-earth’ wouldn’t you?

How the final design was conceived

There are few things more personal, and more valuable than your own passport. And the stamps inside are souvenirs in their own right. Being able to stamp our campaign right inside one, makes it even more treasured than before: a priceless souvenir, and the reminder of the trip of a lifetime: to another world. And even though the passport stamp would live on for some time to come, we wanted them to have a social life now via sharing on Instagram, Facebook and twitter.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Shock…laughter…‘Share’: typical responses of people who got a stamp in their passport during premiere week as 70 000 travelers passed through customs when our ‘stamp’ was live. These included ‘influencers’ like Larry Curtis, Senior Contributor of ‘theonering.net’, who immediately photographed his passport stamp and broadcast it online via Instagram and Facebook to his hundreds of thousands of followers. Within an hour posting a photo of his own stamp, Larry received nearly 4,000 likes. Journalist Ann Curry posted a shot of hers to 1.45 million followers adding: ‘NZ has actually stamped my passport ‘welcome to middle-earth’. How wild is THAT’.