NZ SAYS '39'

TitleNZ SAYS '39'
BrandTOURISM NEW ZEALAND
Product / ServiceNEW ZEALAND TOURISM
CategoryG03. Single-market Campaign
EntrantSPECIAL GROUP Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation SPECIAL GROUP Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation 2 SPECIAL GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement DENTSU PUBLIC RELATIONS INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
PR DENTSU PUBLIC RELATIONS INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Production AUGUSTO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 2 DARKHORSE Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 3 HAUMI Gisborne, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company TOURISM NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 2 NEW ZEALAND RUGBY UNION Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 3 AIR NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 4 PEOPLE OF NGāTI HIKAIRO Kawhia, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 5 NEW ZEALAND MAORI ARTS AND CRAFTS INSTITUTE Rotorua, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Stephen England-Hall Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Officer
Lauren Vosper Tourism New Zealand Global Manager, Public Relations and Major Events
Brodie Reid Tourism New Zealand Director Marketing
Greg Wafelbaker Tourism New Zealand General Manager Asia
Setsuko Yajima Tourism New Zealand Japan Marketing Manager
Joanna Gourley Tourism New Zealand Japan PR Manager
Takahide Nakazawa Tourism New Zealand Japan Social Media & Content Manager
Yuka Gray Taguchi Tourism New Zealand Project Co-ordinator
Danelle Mouat Tourism New Zealand Project Manager
Tony Bradbourne Special Group New Zealand CEO/CCO
Michael Redwood Special Group New Zealand Managing Partner
Rory Gallery Special Group New Zealand Head of Strategy
Heath Lowe Special Group New Zealand Executive Design Director
Arnya Karaitiana Special Group New Zealand Creative Director
Stu Mallarkey Special Group New Zealand Executive Creative Director
Jack Nunn Special Group Australia Creative Director
Nils Eberhardt Special Group Australia Creative Director
Storm Day Special Group New Zealand Head of Client Service
Sandra Daniel Special Group New Zealand Group Business Director
Sam Hall Special Group New Zealand Account Director
Amelia Daly Special Group New Zealand Senior Business Director
Rachael Williams Special Group New Zealand Account Management
Heath Davy Augusto Executive Creator Opportunities
Rich Robson Augusto Creative Director
Matt Sellars Augusto Creative Director
Yukihiro Oguchi Dentsu PR
Aya Yamamoto Dentsu PR
Eiichi Kitajima Dentsu PR
HIdeyuki Matsumoto Dentsu PR
Yuma Mikumo Dentsu PR
Liam Taylor DARKHORSE Co-Founder
Graeme Heald DARKHORSE Head of Production
Karl Johnstone Haumi Director
Nick Dwyer Goodmood Director

Why is this work relevant for Media?

NZ Says ‘39’ is a demonstration of the power of a strong and focused channel strategy which enables a brand to achieve ambition outweighing it’s resource. In the case of ‘39,’ Tourism New Zealand’s ambition was to be seen and to be talked about at the Japan Rugby World Cup, despite not being an official sponsor of the tournament. By taking the most visible representatives of NZ at the RWC — the All Blacks national rugby team — and activating them in a culturally relevant way outside of it, we transformed them from a team into a powerful media

Background

The Rugby World Cup, 2019. TNZ sought to evoke an emotional connection and demonstrate a ‘closeness’ with Japan at the 2019 RWC. The event was seen as a unique opportunity to strengthen diplomatic relations, in hopes that this would reflect positively for trade and tourism. We set aside three objectives to pursue: • Generate $20m earned media for Tourism New Zealand during the Rugby World Cup. • Create positive traction for Tourism New Zealand’s digital channels in Japan. • Create an event that leaves people with a more popular opinion of New Zealand and New Zealanders.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

The brief became: Pay our respects to the Japanese by creating a gesture of thanks for their generous hospitality towards New Zealanders during the RWC In Japan, numbers are used as shortcuts to specific things, this would help with the language barrier. 39 or ‘San Kyu’ is a way of saying ‘thank-you’. We created a cultural showcase called “NZ says ‘39’ (thank-you) for being our hosts.” The All Blacks arrived in Kashiwa for a launch event with global media, wearing jerseys with 39 on their backs, introducing the idea. PM Jacinda Ardern made an appearance at one of the events Air NZ changed their Tokyo flight number to NZ39. The All Blacks took ‘39’ to the field, bowing to pay their respects to their hosts at the end of every game. ‘39’ was the symbol of NZ’s experience throughout the tournament – the Japanese felt the cultural bridge and respect.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our cultural insight uncovered that; great hospitality and treating people with respect are cornerstones of both Japanese and NZ cultures. This informed our strategic breakthrough: We decided not to make a campaign about New Zealand, but instead make a campaign thanking the Japanese for their amazing hospitality (demonstrating the values between both countries). Our strategy was therefore: Pay our respects to the people of Japan by creating a gesture of thanks for their generous hospitality towards New Zealanders during the Rugby World Cup.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

In Japan, numbers are used as shortcuts to specific things, this would help with the language barrier. 39 or ‘San Kyu’ is a way of saying ‘thank-you’. So we created a cultural showcase called “NZ says ‘39’ (thank-you) for being our hosts.”

List the results (30% of vote)

1. Generate $20m earned media for Tourism New Zealand during the Rugby World Cup ‘NZ Says 39’ was launched to over 50 Japanese, global and NZ media outlets. The estimated advertising value was $41.1 million NZD. This equates to a media ROI of $9.25 for every marketing dollar spent. 2. Create positive traction for Tourism New Zealand’s digital channels in Japan Social media followers increased to >50k (>200%). Average engagement rate: 5.7% >14m views. 1,078,179 visits to the Japanese newzealand.com, (top among all countries). 51,123 visits media website visits. 3. Create an event that leaves people with a more popular opinion of New Zealand and New Zealanders >7,000 attended the cultural events. 79% had a better opinion of New Zealand, and felt New Zealanders were friendly, welcoming and respectful. 53% were more likely to visit New Zealand. Brand appeal increased to 40% in Japan (highest in 3 years).

Please tell us how the work was designed / adapted for a single country / region / market

We believed that if Japanese people saw a bit of their culture reflected in ours, they’d find New Zealand more appealing. The heart of our strategy was to pay our respects to the people of Japan by creating a gesture of thanks for their generous hospitality towards Kiwis during the Rugby World Cup. But rather than simply saying “thank you” in our own language, we wanted to say it in a way that would carry weight among our gracious hosts. We realised that in Japan, numbers are commonly used as linguistic shortcuts for all sorts of things — “39” is used to say ‘thank you.’ Phonetically, “San (3) Kyu (9)” sounds close to English’s “Thank You.” This formed the basis of our creative idea, and so ‘39’ was a culturally relevant message of thanks the All Blacks took to the field every match, to pay their respects to their