Why is this work relevant for PR?

Tourism New Zealand’s share of voice is just 0.3% of global tourism advertising spend. To be noticed in a cluttered world of competing tourism ‘noise’ our advertising must always generate massive PR amplification. It’s a mandatory starting point on every brief. ‘Good Morning World’ was an audacious idea designed to generate media interest – ‘They did what? Every day for a year?’ Every component was designed to maximise sharing, liking and spreading via social channels and word of mouth, in the end amassing 51million impressions across social channels and generating $7.3M in earned media.

Background

BRIEF Tourism New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure New Zealand’ brand platform has established NZ as the ultimate destination for natural landscapes for the past 20 years. Despite the long-term success of this campaign, many of our competitors were beginning to emulate our simple strategy of showing off New Zealand’s stunning scenery (and significantly outspend us while doing so). Our challenge became: how do we evolve and elevate ‘100% Pure’ in a new way to reclaim our uniqueness and grow NZ’s consideration as a holiday destination? OBJECTIVES Our objectives that would prove we’d done this were three-fold: - Grow affinity for New Zealand - Which grows the number of people actively considering a New Zealand holiday - While delivering an incremental lift in visitors ultimately returning a commercial payback to NZ

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Our big idea was to create an ambitious global gesture of welcome. So, we gave Kiwis the official role of greeting the entire world each new day with a ‘Good Morning.’ Given the ridiculous lengths Kiwis go to to welcome visitors, it wouldn’t be good enough to just say Good Morning World a few times a year in campaign bursts. Critical to our idea was going to ridiculous lengths to make the world feel welcome by saying it every single morning for an entire year.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Good Morning World is the story of how Tourism New Zealand used a big welcoming gesture to create fame for New Zealand. New Zealanders are a warm, welcoming bunch. They’ll go to ridiculous lengths to make you feel welcome. We wanted the world to feel the embrace of New Zealand’s welcome. So, as the first country to see the sunrise every day, we gave New Zealanders the official role of greeting the world each new day with a ‘Good Morning’ to the entire world. The content series starred 365 real Kiwis sharing the things and places they love, in completely unscripted, personal messages that were posted daily on the @GoodmorningWorldNZ Instagram channel. Celebrities such as Sam Neill and Russell Crowe retweeted the campaign to their followers, and Sam even filmed his own for us to use as part of the series. The campaign generated $7.3M in earned advertising value.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

As part of the Good Morning World series we engaged real Kiwi’s along with celebrities and influencers who jumped on topical days in our annual calendar. On Chinese New Year we celebrated the year of the pig and during the Rugby World Cup tournament a famous All Black starred in a Good Morning World. Celebrities such as Sam Neill and Russell Crowe retweeted the campaign to their followers, and Sam even filmed his own for us to use as part of the series. In our key markets we invited hosts of local Breakfast Shows such as Sunrise of 7News in Australia down to NZ to join the local Kiwis in the Good Morning World spots. Each day live media channels pushed out that day’s good morning message. The campaign generated $7.3M in earned advertising value.

List the results (30% of vote)

Good Morning World was charged to: - Create fame for New Zealand - That grows love for New Zealand - That grows the number of people considering a New Zealand holiday - To deliver a commercial payback to New Zealand On all measures, Good Morning World surpassed all expectations to become Tourism New Zealand’s most successful campaign ever. So… Did GMW create fame for New Zealand? Yes, it did. We don’t measure fame in each key market, but we do measure Australia. GMW drove a 26% uplift in ad recall — much higher than for previous campaigns (7% and 14% respectively). Meanwhile, celebrities Sam Neill and Russell Crowe retweeted the campaign to their followers, and Sam even went as far as filming his own for us to use of his own will. With this organic momentum, we amassed 51M earned worldwide impressions and generated $7.3M in Earned Advertising Value. Did GMW grow love for New Zealand? Yes, it did. When GMW went live, after three years of stasis, appeal for New Zealand grew in all markets — especially among Aussies, climbing to 66% (+6pts), smashing a three-year target. Did GMW grow the number of people considering a New Zealand holiday? Yes, it did. Tracking pre-lockdown showed consistent advances of consideration, increasing between +3pts to +9pts. Did GMW deliver a commercial payback to New Zealand? Yes, it did. Despite the effects of COVID-19 on international tourism, Good Morning World delivered an ROI of $9:16 for every dollar spent.