Tourism New Zealand

The Objective

With international travel halted by restrictions in 2020, Tourism New Zealand, the organization responsible for marketing the country as a tourist destination under the brand 100% Pure New Zealand, needed to think outside the box to stay front of mind for neighbouring Australians to visit once borders opened. Creative agency TBWA\Sydney developed PLAY NZ, an online gameplay walkthrough of the country for would-be travelers to experience the best of New Zealand in the style of a video game, and in collaboration with Mindshare and Tourism New Zealand, turned to TikTok to attract gaming fans to come and play. 

The Solution

When it came to amplifying the campaign and driving participation, TikTok was a natural choice thanks to its potential for engagement. "The power of using TikTok for 100% Pure New Zealand is that it allows us not only to tell our story but actively involve our audience in a conversation," explained Andrew Waddel, General Manager Australia, Tourism New Zealand. 

Tourism New Zealand partnered with popular a local Creator, William Waiirua (@w_cribb), to create a tongue-in-cheek In-Feed Ad mimicking the style of a character selection screen in a video game, set against an original soundtrack by Otis Studios. Using the signature text overlays and offbeat humour of the TikTok community made the video fit seamlessly among organic content in the For You feed, while the Brand Premium placement ensured that it would be among the first videos shown when users opened the app. 

The Results

The ad was very effective, driving a large number of engaged users to the website. It garnered 2.7 million impressions among the target audience, while the playful and fun TikTok-style ad creative drove a 3.73% engagement rate and 2.64% view-through rate. Andrew Waddel noted that the TikTok placement not only enabled Tourism New Zealand to bring the campaign to life in a playful and creative way but also drove tangible results.