Brief Explanation

On February 22, 2011, a 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch (ChCh), it was classified a disaster zone. Australia represents Christchurch's largest tourism market but by mid 2012, Australian tourism numbers were down 32%. Aussies felt sorry for CHCH and were staying away. Our challenge was to turn this sympathy into visits and reverse a 32% drop in Aussie tourism arrivals to earthquake ravaged Christchurch. Our strategy was to re-position Christchurch (ChCh) from a city characterised by destruction to an ever-evolving city full of creative Kiwi ingenuity, experiencing rejuvenation from the ruins. We would use the power of social media to our advantage to reframe what was happening in ChCh in real time. Our strategy was built around 3 pillars 1. Repositioning Christchurch as a culturally thriving destination. From quaint English experience to kiwi ingenuity. 2. Using the social psychology theory of reciprocity, or rewarding kind actions. So, rather than just asking them to come back to ChCh, could we ask them to do something for us that would reduce their perceived risk of coming to ChCh. 3. Turning the problem of 24/7 social media coverage into our solution we had to shift from static tourism imagery to real time demonstrations of the city in action, through real people. Our creative idea was CHRISTCHURCH REIMAGINED. We decided to ignite the banter between Aussies and Kiwis, asking the people of Australia for a favour. Using the public face of the disaster, Mayor Bob Parker he asked to borrow some of their iconic 'BIG THINGS' to help get Aussies back. We created 3 online videos titled 'Bob thinks Big' generating mass PR awareness and intrigue. We drove people to the Christchurch Discovery Stream, an online broadcast of the ChCh tourism experience in real time, aggregating people’s experiences of the city from images from travellers and locals posted to social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. With an ROI of 540%, our Christchurch Reimagined campaign not only increased Aussie arrivals by 12.6% we importantly stimulated expenditure in the city centre by 112%, injecting $AUD2.7m into the Christchurch economy in 3 months. Digitally, we created a new online view of Christchurch as a holiday destination, with over 30,000 images uploaded to the Discovery Stream by locals and travellers to show REAL holiday experiences. We increased online visitation to ChCh digital platforms by 246% helping them create a vibrant community of future travellers.