Tourism New Zealand: MIDDLE-EARTH PASSPORT STAMP

Credits & Description:

Client TOURISM NEW ZEALAND
Product 100% MIDDLE-EARTH, 100% PURE NEW ZEALAND
Entrant WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Type of Entry Media: Use of Media
Category Best Use of Ambient Media: Small Scale
Title MIDDLE-EARTH PASSPORT STAMP
Product/Service 100% MIDDLE-EARTH, 100% PURE NEW ZEALAND
Entrant Company : WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Advertising Agency : WHYBIN\TBWA AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Lynlee Smith Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Account Manager
Julia Mckee Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Senior Account Director
Michelle Hong Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Production Manager
Julie Maciver Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Planner
Ross Howard Dan Auckland Digital Creative Director
Natasja Barclay Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Group Head
Chris Lewis Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Designer
Cece Chu Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Art Director
Ryan Price/Lucy Morgan Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Copywriter
Andy Blood Whybin \ Tbwa Auckland Executive Creative Director
RESULTS AND EFFECTIVENESS:
Shock…laughter…‘Share’: typical responses of people who got a stamp in their passport during premiere week as 70 000 travelers passed through customs when our ‘stamp’ was live. These included ‘influencers’ like Larry Curtis, Senior Contributor of ‘theonering.net’, who immediately photographed his passport stamp and broadcast it online via Instagram and Facebook to his hundreds of thousands of followers. Within an hour posting a photo of his own stamp, Larry received nearly 4,000 likes. Journalist Ann Curry posted a shot of hers to 1.45 million followers adding: ‘NZ has actually stamped my passport ‘welcome to middle-earth’. How wild is THAT’.
CREATIVE EXECUTION:
A Department of Internal Affairs approved ‘Welcome to Middle-earth’ passport stamp, wielded at Immigration by DIA employees. There are few things more personal, and more valuable than your own passport. And the stamps inside are souvenirs in their own right. Being able to stamp our campaign right inside it, makes it even more treasured than before: a priceless souvenir, and the reminder of the trip of a lifetime: to another world. That you just have to share on Instagram, Facebook and twitter.
INSIGHTS, STRATEGY AND THE IDEA:
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. And if you’re entering a country that really is Middle-earth, you’d get a stamp in your passport that said ‘Welcome to Middle-earth’ wouldn’t you? And the next thing you’d do is tell your friends all about it too because you’re a potent and primed media channel in your own right. And ‘you’ have huge influence