Title | WEATHER IN ELVISH |
Brand | TOURISM NEW ZEALAND |
Product / Service | 100% MIDDLE-EARTH, 100% PURE NEW ZEALAND |
Category | A03. Best Brand or Product Integration into a Feature Film, Existing TV Show and/or Series |
Entrant | WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
Entrant Company | WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
Contributing Company | WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
Production Company | CURIOUS FILM Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Sam Kwan/Patrick Li | Dan Auckland | Developer |
Andrew Zen/Nigel Mchardy | Dan Auckland | Production Specialist |
Jonathon Mead | Dan Auckland | Senior Designer |
Louise Leitch | Dan Auckland | Project Manager |
Stephanie Creasey | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Account Director |
Natasja Barclay | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Group Head |
Andy Mauger | Curious | Producer |
Jim Mauger | Curious | Editor |
Darryl Ward | Curious | Director |
Matt Noonan | Curious | Executive Producer |
Curious | Curious | Production Company |
Mandy Eckford | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Account Director |
Hristos Varouhas | Whybin \ Tbwa Sydney | Strategist |
Julie Maciver | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Planner |
Chris Lewis | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Designer |
Ross Howard | Dan Auckland | Digital Creative Director |
Cece Chu/Craig Brooks/Andy Blood | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Art Director |
Ryan Price/Andy Blood/Tammy Keegan/Lucy Morgan | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland | Copywriter |
Mark Zeman | Dan Auckland | Creative Director |
Andy Blood/Matty Burton/Dave Bowman | Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland/Whybin \ Tbwa Sydney | Executive Creative Director |
Branded content (from brands themselves) exists predominantly in the form of longer form content (short film festivals, short films, documentaries, reportage of live events, etc) that live online. The two main terrestrial tv channels TVNZ and Media Works have been much stricter in recent years in vetoing 3rd party content designed to earn media (that in actual fact had a commercial sensibility at heart), rather than pay for media as part of a paid media schedule. Meanwhile, the two corporations attempts at their own branded content is along the lines of cheaply produced sponsored ‘reality tv’ which is nothing more than thinly-disguised, heavy-handed, product placement and demonstration by the sponsor. Which is only a second cousin to infomercial and advertorial.
NZ has a tiny population, and a budget to match. But its ambitions are global. And it was presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the country a must-visit destination off the back of the global spotlight that would turn it’s way thanks to the launch of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. To a Tolkien fan, one place is synonymous with Middle earth, and that’s New Zealand. New Zealand is middle-earth, on earth. Where Gandalf strides, Hobbit’s walk, and Gollum creeps. Where fantasy and reality are one and the same thing. So we aimed to earn as much media as we could by using our association with all things Middle-earth. And if you’re in a country that really is Middle-earth, you’d have a Middle-earth weather forecast wouldn’t you? Partnering with the state broadcaster TVONE, we found one of the World’s only ‘Elvish’ coaches, and for a week trained one of their presenters in the language. Then, come the day of The Hobbit’s Premiere, and without any notice, we broadcast the nation’s weather forecast entirely in Elvish. Viewable afterwards on TVNZ OnDemand. The Premiere was also timed to reach western markets in LA for maximum coverage. The footage was made available to broadcast partners and was also commented upon and shared by overseas media figures in NZ for the Premiere.
Regular viewers of TVNZ’s primetime breakfast show ‘Breakfast’ stay tuned, or tune-in specifically for, the morning weather report and would’ve been given the shock of their lives to find their morning weather forecast being presented entirely in Elvish, and including the weather ‘outlook’ for ‘Hobbiton’. Regular presenter Tamati Coffey had been schooled in the language and dialect for two weeks and was note perfect. A special ‘Influencer’ strategy for the week of the Premiere seeded stories like this to a specially invited group of foreign journalists flown into NZ for the purpose of reporting back to overseas broadcasting companies.
This was reported far and wide by the BBC and the Daily Mail. Hundreds of thousands of Elvish nerds also spread the word online. (And commented how good our Elvish grammar & pronunciation was.) The footage was later available for repeat viewing on TVNZ ‘OnDemand’, youtube, and the Pure New Zealand Facebook page. Hundreds of thousands of Elvish nerds also spread the word online. (And commented how good our Elvish grammar & pronunciation was.) In effect, the whole stunt was a 2 ½ minute branded content piece that hi-jacked the news and made a ‘mecca’ out of Matamata-the actual site of the film-set of Bag End and Hobbiton, putting it on the global traveller’s map. And thenceforth, on Trip Advisor.