Archive for September, 2011
For Goodwill and Good Coverage
By Angela Moriarty
It wasn’t exactly a crisis, but when we read this news alleging poor treatment of Wallabies fans during RWC 2011, we figured it might be nice to try help put things right.
Of course, an opportunity to put things right is also an opportunity for positive coverage – be it in mainstream or social media. This is a bit of a double-edged PR sword as there can be an uncomfortable balance to strike between doing things for good and doing things for good coverage. Regardless of your intentions, journalists and the public are free to draw their own conclusions as to where your motivation lies.
When we decided to offer free coffee to embattled Wallabies fans in the lead up to their Rugby World Cup 2011 match 
against USA last week, it was with genuinely good intentions. Wellington prides itself as an absolutely positively welcoming destination, and this was an opportunity to reinforce our city’s position on such things not just to our visitors, but to the locals who embody that brand.
But, let’s be honest – we also wanted Wellington to look good and protect our largest international visitor market, which is going gangbusters at present. I’m a big fan of Cards on the Table Comms (as you may have concluded, that’s not an official term), so while some wondered if referencing Australians’ average per minute spend in our city ($617 if you’re wondering) was a tad overt, it was agreed it could stay. Respect your audience; don’t underestimate them.
So what was the return?
Disclaimer: I am no social media analysis expert. What is to follow is based on my own rudimentary calculations. One day, I shall explore the world that is this list of almost 200 social media measurement tools. But not today.
Facebook: NZ 100% Pure and Absolutely Positively Wellington have a combined reach of 448,188 ‘likers’. Their two posts were shared a further 37 times and attracted 181 likes and numerous positive comments, my favourite being the
following from one Michael Hancock: “Good old Wellington, showing the way with neighbourly sportsmenship (sic), take note the rest of N.Z, & parts of Oz too, there should be more of this in both nations.”
Twitter: The tweets we are aware of went to a potential audience following of more than 33,000, with @Wellington_NZ, @Wellingtonista, @WallabyNews, @yTravelBlog and @GotheWallabies being key influencers.
Media coverage: While being somewhat overt in why Australians are so important to us, we didn’t want to go so far as to distribute a glowing news release announcing our kind offer to our entire media database. Instead we opted for a few quick emails to key contacts, asking if they could help spread word. The story was picked up by Sydney Morning Herald, The Dominion Post & Radio Live. Sunday Star Times also ran a brief on the pick-up of the offer – which included reports of a Wallabies team official apparently going back five times.
Web visits: There were 1280 unique views of the story on WellingtonNZ.com over the two days – about 30% from Australians, 62% from New
Zealanders and 8% internationals from further afield than trans-Tasman bounds.
The average time spent on the page sat around five minutes due, one suspects, to clicking on various hyperlinks to other pages within the copy (opening in new windows).
What was the investment?
To calculate the worth of the return, we need to look at the cost. The great thing about offering free stuff is it only costs if the message spreads and works. And – as with the time we offered free lunches to visiting Australians – the money spent goes back into Wellington’s economy. Based on the 80 uptakes, the retail cost of the coffee was about $288. The other cost to consider is time. In this case we had none – basically a few hours in which to line up the logistics and spread word – so this wasn’t much of an expense.
Was it worth it?
$288 + a bit of time = potential audience of well over 500,000, media coverage & kudos for the coolest little capital in the world.
Seems like a pretty favourable equation, so we’re going to go with ‘yes’.
Got some great examples of PR measurement or balancing goodwill and good coverage? Please do share below!
Three for Two Ain’t Bad
Posted by Angela Moriarty
Wellington has yet again been named New Zealanders’ favourite destination in the latest Mood of the Traveller report, we’ve seen fantastic results over winter and things are pumping courtesy of Rugby World Cup 2011. So we can all take the summer off, right? Er, no. Positively Wellington Tourism’s job is not only to keep Wellington in good favour with, well, pretty much anyone – it’s also our job to ensure there are bodies in beds and cash in tills year-round to ensure economic sustainability for local businesses.
What is 3 for Two?
While December/January is peak period for many a New Zealand destination, it can be a pretty quiet time in Wellington
as public servants and corporates head off to the beach and to visit family and friends. There’s plenty on offer this summer – including a blockbuster exhibition at Te Papa – so we will be doing our darndest to make sure the tourism and downtown spending cogs keep turning. One thing we’ll be doing is bringing back winter’s successful 3 Nights for Two campaign, which saw record bookings and hotel nights in the city.
What Local Businesses Can Take Part?
Accommodation-wise we work with our hotel partners on all this, and this time round we are also extending the offer to hospitality, retail and tourism attraction businesses. The lead message will be ”Stay 3 Nights but only pay for 2. Plus take advantage of all these other great Wellington 3 for 2 offers”.
How will the offers work?
- From a restaurant point of view you could for example offer 3 courses for the price of 2 (e.g. pay for entrée + main and get the dessert for free) or for a retailer it could be 3 items for the price of 2 (e.g. 3 books for the price of 2). The options are endless really as long as they involve a ”3 for 2” element.
- The deals must be available to both locals and visitors and will be redeemed via a customised voucher that people can download from WellingtonNZ.com.
- The deals must be available from 12 December – 31 January. However you can specify close out periods (eg: not available on New Year’s Eve)
How will it be promoted?
We will be running a national TV and digital campaign that will launch on October 24th. The campaign will have a marketing budget in excess of $150,000. We’ll also be promoting the campaign and deals to our travel and lifestyle media contacts.
Get Involved
Email our lovely NZ Marketing Manager Jamie Crump by Friday September 23rd with your deal offer if you’d like to be involved – jamie.crump@WellingtonNZ.com.
Market Trip Report: Kiwi Link India 2011
By Sarah Meikle
New Zealand has been actively promoted in the Indian market for over ten years. The Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) Mumbai Office has been in operation since 2003 and has three consumer marketing and trade staff.
India’s economy is growing strongly, consumer confidence is high and wealthy Indians are willing to spend. Demand for outbound travel is high. New Zealand is growing in popularity, partly thanks to the country’s recent starring role in Bollywood blockbuster I Hate Luv Storys, but lack of airline seats is restraining growth.
Visitor Arrivals June 2011
| Year End Total | 29,332 | 8.2% |
| Month End Total | 1,700 | 28.0% |
| Year End Holiday | 13,892 | 7.0% |
| Month End Holiday | 720 | 43.8% |
Other Stats (YE March 2011)
| Average Length of Stay | 45 days |
| Average Length of Stay (Holiday Visitors) | 13 days |
| Average Expenditure per Visit | NZD3,434 |
| Total Expenditure per Annum | NZD66.0m |
Market Overview
India is New Zealand’s tenth largest tourism market in terms of visitor arrivals and has strong potential for future growth. High disposable incomes and a willingness to spend on luxury brands and big-ticket items like holidays, as well as a fast growing middle class and an increasingly global mindset, are driving outbound travel from this market. TNZ’s target market in India is the Active Considerer. Some recent product research findings about the Active Considerer in India can be found in Appendix 1.
New Zealand is a popular destination among honeymooners and those seeking self-drive itineraries. FIT travellers currently make up around 55% of New Zealand’s Indian visitors and this sector is increasing more rapidly than group travel.
Indians prefer to visit New Zealand during their summer – April to June – making this market an important source of visitors for New Zealand’s autumn shoulder season. Young couples travel to New Zealand throughout the year. Around 30% of Indian visitors are aged 25 to 34 years.
The Indian market has a strong VFR component (about 30% of total visitors), while holiday visitors account for almost 50% of arrivals. The vast majority of Indian holiday visitors will be visiting New Zealand for the first time. Just over half combine their trip to New Zealand with another destination; 30% visit Australia as well as New Zealand. (Source: International Visitor Survey, year ending March 2010).
Air capacity is the main factor limiting faster growth out of this market. There is currently no direct air service to New Zealand from India. Indian travellers must travel via Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Sydney.
Kiwi Link India 2011 – Background
Kiwi Link India 2011 was the largest Kiwi Link event to take place in the Indian market since activities began in the market.
The 2011 programme included two full days in both New Delhi and Mumbai, totalling four days of training. The intensive schedule included 30 appointments per day of 14-minutes each. “Team Wellington” (PWT, Te Papa and the InterIslander/TranzScenic) collaborated in order to promote a collective message around Wellington city and region’s key experiences and interests to potential Indian visitors.
TNZ identified the core objective of Kiwi Link India 2011 being to facilitate the development and enhancement of relationships between Indian and New Zealand Tourism Industry providers.
This was to be achieved by:
- Educating the outbound travel sellers about “Destination New Zealand” and providing them with the “tools” to sell the destination confidently
- By positioning and maintaining New Zealand in the “consideration set” of travel sellers when recommending holiday destinations
- By identifying the leading promoters and sellers of travel to New Zealand in the Indian marketplace and maintain communication with them
- By providing information and promotional collateral to travel sellers
In addition to these, PWT’s specific objectives were to:
- Train 350 travel agent representatives in India
- Represent the regional Wellington & Wairarapa International Marketing Alliance and CNZWT at Kiwi Link India
- Communicate the key message of “one night is not enough” in Wellington.
- Wellington’s tagline at Kiwi Link India 2011
Team Wellington leveraged the recent filming of a new Bollywood movie, The Players, to be released in India in December, as the common thread to our presentations. Significant chunks of the movie where filmed in Wellington earlier this year. Under the banner “I PLAYED IN WELLINGTON”, Kiwi Link attendees were introduced to the key messages of:
- Arts & Culture
- New Zealand’s City (urban experiences, events, nationhood, heritage – New Zealand’s stories)
- Food & Wine
- Urban Nature
A Wellington map was specifically designed highlighting key filming locations around Wellington city and the wider region, which also identified key attractions, activities and experiences.
