| Title | TE ARAROA-THE LONG PATHWAY |
| Brand | TOURISM NEW ZEALAND |
| Product / Service | TOURISM NEW ZEALAND |
| Category | B03. Consumer Services |
| Entrant | WHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company: | WHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| DM/Advertising Agency: | WHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Matty Burton | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Executive Creative Director |
| Dave Bowman | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Executive Creative Director |
| Gavin Mcleod | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Creative Director |
| Dave Brady | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Creative Group Head |
| Asheen Naidu | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Creative Group Head |
| Richard Shaw | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Copywriter |
| Cindy Cato | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Copywriter |
| Dave Brady | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Art Director |
| Chris Mawson | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Design/Typography |
| Nick Mueller | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Design/Typography |
| Anna Hunt | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Account Group Head |
| Kate Massey | Whybin\tbwa Sydney | Account Director |
| Tony Saunders | Tourism New Zealand | Regional Communications Manager |
| Stephanie Mckenzie | Tourism New Zealand | Campaign Manager |
Te Araroa is a walking trail that spans the entire length of New Zealand. The objective was to excite people about Te Araroa and encourage people to book walking holidays in New Zealand. To begin, we strategically picked a media channel that reached over 2.6 million potential holidaymakers, the travel section of the weekend newspaper. Then, armed with the knowledge that people searching for holidays wanted in-depth detail on the destination, we wrote a long copy story taking readers on a journey along the trail – enticing people with the idea of a walking holiday and driving them online to book.
Tourism New Zealand wanted people to book walking holidays in New Zealand. To do this, we created a long copy press ad that took readers on a journey along Te Araroa, a walking trail that spans the length of the country. We then used a unique media buy to own the entire travel section of a weekend newspaper. The advert began on the front cover and ran across every single page through continuous small space placements. The newspaper then chose to dedicate the entire travel section to Te Araroa, turning our small media buy into 8 pages of dedicated content.
To encourage people to book a walking holiday in New Zealand, we created a long copy press ad that took readers on a journey along Te Araroa, a walking trail that spans the length of the country. We then used a unique media buy to own the entire travel section of a national weekend newspaper, reaching over 2.6 million potential holidaymakers and driving them online to book. The newspaper then chose to dedicate the entire travel section to Te Araroa, creating editorial content that corresponded to our ad – turning our small media buy into 8 pages of dedicated content.
In one weekend and with just a AU$160,000 media buy, Tourism New Zealand and Te Araroa got a dedicated 8-page travel section in a weekend newspaper, with bonus editorial content worth over AU$375,000 in equivalent advertising value. This gave us a return on investment (ROI) of 235% in media coverage. The advert reached over 2.6 million potential holidaymakers, which led to a 691% increase in visits to the website from the previous 37 days. From the website alone, booking referrals increased 201% with people wanting to take a trip along Te Araroa.