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Home » News » Taika Waititi shares the love in latest Tourism New Zealand campaign

Taika Waititi shares the love in latest Tourism New Zealand campaign

Taika Waititi, well known Kiwi filmmaker and actor behind Jojo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok, is helping promote tourism in new content created by Tourism New Zealand and Augusto.

While in New Zealand filming the second series of the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death, Taika spared some time to support New Zealand tourism.

Directed by Jackie van Beek, ‘No Place Like It On Earth’ showcases a range of sights and experiences travellers can find in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Tourism is an important contributor to New Zealand, it’s one of our top export earners and is supporting sector and country recovery. Competition for visitors is fierce and New Zealand needs to work hard to encourage visitation and stand out. We partnered with well-known director and actor Taika Waititi to create a piece of content that promotes Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy.

The content, in typical comedic Taika style, showcases a range of New Zealand locations and experiences including whitewater rafting in Rotorua, a scenic flight over Mount Tarawera, dolphin watching in Kaikōura and wine tasting in Auckland. It will be used across Tourism New Zealand and HBO Max channels.

“We are working hard to attract high quality visitors who will positively contribute to New Zealand’s culture, society, nature and economy and this content will target those audiences in key markets to get them thinking about destination New Zealand,” de Monchy said.

Waititi added: “I always tell people you can go surfing in the morning and then drive a couple of hours and be skiing in the evening [in New Zealand]. I don’t think there’s anywhere else on earth where you can do that. It has everything.”

Adam Thompson, executive creative director at Augusto, said: “This was a wonderfully dizzying experience, getting to collaborate with so many amazing people, from Tourism New Zealand to Taika and Jackie, on a campaign that shows off the wonders of New Zealand in a fun and silly way.”

Jackie van Beek, the film’s director and writer who also appears in the content, says, “I had a ball on this Tourism New Zealand campaign. There’s nothing I enjoy more than pretending to be myself bickering with Taika over what makes a good director.”

• Client – Tourism New Zealand
• Agency – Augusto
• Writer and Director – Jackie van Beek
• Stills – Graeme Murray
• Post Production – Augusto
• Sound – Bespoke Post

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Taika waititi definitely (maybe) stars in new zealand travel ad, the oscar-winning actor-writer-director-producer hypes his native country in meta short film.

Inspiration meets innovation at Brandweek , the ultimate marketing experience. Join industry luminaries, rising talent and strategic experts in Phoenix, Arizona this September 23–26 to assess challenges, develop solutions and create new pathways for growth. Register early to save .

Filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi’s schedule is overflowing these days, with highlights that include walking in his first New York Fashion Week show for Hermès, popping into the MTV Video Music Awards and stumping for his soccer-themed flick Next Goal Wins on the film festival circuit. 

The long-gestating Star Wars film he’s supposed to write? That might still be happening. In the meantime, he’s become the chief creative officer for a namesake line of adaptogen-based beverages.

In short, Waititi is a very busy man. So if an ad shoot slips his mind, he can be forgiven. Or can he?

Waititi, clearly burning the candle at both ends, begs off his spokesman duties and sends his stunt double as a replacement to star in a travel campaign for his native New Zealand. The director, Jackie van Beek, is none too pleased.

Viewers, on the other hand, are in for a meta-infused treat—the setup has spawned a delightful long-form commercial for Tourism New Zealand , with a timely Blackbeard cameo and self-referential lines like these:

“I just can’t help right now,” Waititi says during an urgent phone call from van Beek. “I’m shooting season two of the hit show ‘Our Flag Means Death,’ and I just can’t let the fans down.”

Post-pandemic push

“No Place Like It On Earth,” “definitely starring Taika Waititi” per the cheeky credits, drops as the country tries to rebound from Covid-era declines in its international tourism.

Prior to 2020’s lockdown and New Zealand’s border closings, international tourism accounted for about 5.5% of gross domestic product, per BBC News. Overseas guests topped 528,000 in 2019, a number that fell to 178,426 in June 2023, according to Statista.

“Competition for visitors is fierce, and New Zealand needs to work hard to encourage visitation and stand out,” said René de Monchy, chief executive of the tourism board.

“No Place Like It On Earth,” from agency Augusto, shows off a range of the country’s locations and experiences, including whitewater rafting in Rotorua, a scenic flight over Mount Tarawera, dolphin watching in Kaikōra and wine tasting in Auckland.

‘New Zealand needs you ‘

The 3 1/2-minute film also features Waititi’s enthusiastic narration and pre-planned flubs in the production, like unusable shots of stand-in Jade Daniels’ face. “This was a horrible idea,” van Beek says in the video. She eventually lures Waititi into the commercial with the plea: “I need you—New Zealand needs you.”

When he does appear in the ad, Waititi gives van Beek unsolicited tips on how to direct.

“There’s nothing I enjoy more than pretending to be myself bickering with Taika over what makes a good director,” van Beek said in a statement.

Emotional Airline Ad Follows an Iguana’s Skyward Journey

In the cleverly contrived scenario and elsewhere, Waititi continues as a tireless supporter of the home country where he filmed Our Flag Means Death and other projects. 

“I always tell people you can go surfing in the morning and then drive a couple of hours and be skiing in the evening,” Waititi said in a statement. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else on earth where you can do that—it has everything.”

“No Place Like It On Earth” will get distribution on HBO’s Max streaming platform and social channels in the U.S., Australia, Germany, the U.K. and parts of Asia.

CREDITS:   

Client – Tourism New Zealand  Agency – Augusto  Writer and Director – Jackie van Beek  Stills – Graeme Murray  Post Production – Augusto  Sound – Bespoke Post

T.L. Stanley

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T.L. Stanley is a senior editor at Adweek, where she specializes in consumer trends, cannabis marketing, plant-based food products, pop culture and creativity.

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Its Borders Shut, New Zealand Prods Local Tourists to ‘Do Something New’

A viral ad campaign urges New Zealanders to find new ways to look at their own backyard — and to stop posting hot-tub vacation photos.

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By Natasha Frost

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — In the world envisioned by a recent Tourism New Zealand advertisement, a khaki-clad employee of the fictional Social Observation Squad rescues wayward travelers from the clichés of Kiwi tourism.

“Lower those arms nice and slow,” the officer, played by the comedian Tom Sainsbury, bellows through a megaphone to a pair of travelers committing a “summit spread-eagle” photo opportunity at Coromandel Peak, which overlooks the South Island’s Lake Wanaka. He pulls them away from the precipice and dispatches them instead on a bicycle winery tour.

This lighthearted ad, intended for a domestic audience, went viral internationally last week for its tongue-in-cheek call to action: Stop posting unimaginative photos on social media, please — enough with the hot-tub shots and images of glossy beachside legs.

But behind the irreverent slogan, “Please don’t travel under the social influence,” is a serious intent. Though the country has seen its pandemic-hit economy come surging back, regions that depend on foreign tourism remain devastated .

The New Zealand tourism board is, therefore, asking New Zealanders to do something quite difficult. Its “Do Something New ” campaign — the Social Observation Squad video is the latest installment — encourages locals to find new ways to look at what is right in front of their noses.

Before New Zealand closed its borders to international visitors, tourism constituted a significant part of its economy, employing nearly 230,000 people and contributing 41.9 billion New Zealand dollars ($30.2 billion) to economic output, according to the tourism board. About 3.8 million foreign tourists visited New Zealand between 2018 and 2019, with the majority coming from Australia.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, the domestic market simply can’t make up the losses. International tourists spend about three times as much per person as their domestic peers.

International tourists are also more likely to seek out and learn about local culture, like that of the Maori, New Zealand’s Indigenous people. So Maori cultural tourism has been hit particularly hard by the sharp drop in visitors from abroad, and some operators have had to adapt.

Nadine Toe Toe and her family run Kohutapu Lodge and Tribal Tours in Murupara, a northeastern village of about 2,000 people, of whom about 90 percent are Maori. Before the pandemic, about 98 percent of the company’s customers came from overseas.

“We wanted to create a really truthful, real, cultural experience that shows our history, but also our reality,” Ms. Toe Toe, 43, said. “When Covid struck and we lost all our business overnight, we were suddenly faced with the reality that the domestic market does not do ‘cultural products’ — it’s not on the priority list.”

To draw local visitors, the business had to rebrand, she said. That meant moving away from delivering an immersive experience of contemporary Maori culture, which many New Zealanders may already believe they know well.

“Before Covid, it was always our culture that was at the forefront — that we can proudly stand there and tell the world who we are, where we’re from, why it’s important to be Maori,” she said. “We are no longer a cultural tourism experience. We are now a lakeside accommodation.”

Larger businesses are also struggling. “We’re suffering, there’s no doubt about that,” said Sir John Davies, 79, a businessman who owns multiple ski fields, the guided walks at the Routeburn and Milford tracks and the Hermitage Hotel in Mount Cook National Park.

Recently, he said, the Hermitage had 20 guests, down from about 600 in a typical year. He has had to cut staff at the hotel from 230 to fewer than 50. “It turned over $18,000 yesterday — the lowest I’ve ever seen in 25 years,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to get domestic tourists. I mean, we always have.”

Tourist spots around the world, from New York to the Himalayas , have struggled without sightseer dollars. In Bali, the Indonesian vacation spot, some hospitality workers have returned to farming . Some places, like Istanbul , have tried to soldier on. Others, like Hawaii , are reopening nervously.

“We cannot fill the hole that is left by a lack of international visitors,” said René de Monchy, the interim chief executive of New Zealand’s tourism board.

New Zealand’s own solution, via the “Do Something New” campaign, is to encourage New Zealanders to get out and experience “their own country as a visitor,” Mr. de Monchy said.

Since the borders closed, putting Bali and Bondi Beach in Australia off limits, New Zealanders have taken on the challenge of taking vacation in their home country with a certain patriotic zeal. Domestic tourism spending rose 12 percent year-over-year between June and October, according to the New Zealand-based economics consultancy Infometrics.

But while some have tackled “bucket list” activities or tours, many have continued to frequent the same old spots they always loved, flocking to the beaches of sunny Northland or the Coromandel peninsula over the summer months of December and January. In the meantime, tourist towns like Queenstown and Rotorua have floundered, as New Zealanders look past the destinations or experiences favored by international visitors.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that until most New Zealanders are vaccinated — an effort that could stretch well into the second half of the year — noncitizens will not be able to enter the country. For tourism business owners in New Zealand, that means there is no way to plan for the months ahead.

The hope is that foreign tourists will eventually return in droves. Though intended for folks at home, the “Do Something New” video is laying the groundwork abroad, too: It has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and shared on social media around the world.

In the meantime, tourism operators like Ms. Toe Toe are left surveying the damage.

“We’ve shed so many tears, I don’t think I’ve cried so much my entire life,” she said. “People do not understand what we go through, what we’ve lost, and how we can’t even plan, because we don’t know. There’s no time frame. How long can you hold on for?”

Natasha Frost is a newsletter writer on the Europe Edition of the Morning Briefing. More about Natasha Frost

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Tourism NZ launches 'wildest dreams' campaign to attract Australian tourists back

Watch the 'New Zealand, within your wildest dreams' ad. Credits: Tourism New Zealand

The same day the Government announced an earlier-than-expected phased border reopening for tourists, ads have been launched hoping to quickly get Australians across the Tasman Sea for a holiday.

Tourism New Zealand launched a 'New Zealand, within your wildest dreams' campaign which is said to "highlight some of the most popular experiences sought out by Australian visitors".

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday announced that as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes and Omicron surges in the New Zealand community, vaccinated Australian tourists will be allowed in from April 13 without the need to self-isolate.

More from Newshub

In a release to media, Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said New Zealand has "missed our Aussie visitors... we cannot wait to have our mates back."

Tourism NZ certainly couldn't wait to invite them back and launched the campaign immediately.

"Are you dreaming of having a glass of wine with a friendly local, a jet boat ride over a glacial lake, admiring a glowworm cave or soaking in a hot tub under the stars?" a caption for the ad says.

"Well, it sounds like you're dreaming of New Zealand. A beautiful place filled with wonderful people and best of all, it's not that far away."

Nash says the ad campaign "seeks to persuade Australians that our unique landscapes, hospitality and the friendliness of Kiwis are now 'within your wildest dreams'."

"With borders now re-opening Tourism NZ's activity becomes focussed on converting holiday dreams into actual bookings," said Nash.

"Australian travellers are the immediate focus given the ease of travel on the short-haul route. Their school holidays and Easter-ANZAC break in April are popular times to make the short hop across the Tasman."

Following the welcoming back of Australian tourists, vaccinated travellers from other visa-waiver countries can return from May 2.

Is New Zealand’s New Tourism Ad Brilliant or Tone Deaf?

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift

February 10th, 2021 at 2:30 AM EST

New Zealand's latest "traveling under the social influence" campaign could have been brilliant, if it weren't so ill-timed. It's a privilege to be the first to beat Covid, but it can also be a blind spot.

Since Covid, marketers have tackled the enormous challenge of adapting to new messaging while remaining sensitive to the global pandemic’s ongoing toll on human lives and on the travel industry. Some have hit the right tone , while others have come off as confusing .

Pure New Zealand ’s campaigns usually land in the former category, boasting unconventional and witty takes that appeal to travelers’ emotions.

But its recent “Traveling under the social influence” marketing videos — part of the “Do Something New, New Zealand” domestic campaign, aimed at discouraging influencer-inspired tourist photos at popular sights — evokes more mixed feelings than praise. It’s a fine line between genius and insensitivity in the current global tourism context.

“We noticed that people were posting similar photos and time again, and we wanted to leverage and use Kiwi humour to encourage people to try new experiences across our country,” Bjoern Spreitzer, general manager domestic at Tourism New Zealand, said in a statement.

“There’s more exciting things to sit on than a rock!,” says comedian Tom Sainsbury in the ad, playing the part of a ranger on “the Social Observation Squad (S.O.S)” who patrols and stops local tourists from taking photos they’ve seen replicated online.

Sainsbury then critiques “middle of the road” and typical Instagram shots, such as a traveler “musing” on a rock, “hot dog legs” or the “Summit Spreadeagle.” New Zealand is clamping down this summer on those who replicate social media shots, the actor adds.

The storytelling is part tongue in cheek, but it begs the question: are we really to believe overtourism is a huge problem caused by locals in New Zealand? Or that overcrowding is an issue at a time when few are able to travel, not least to New Zealand, while most destinations face an indefinite future of undertourism?

“Recommendations from friends and family are highly influential when it comes to travel decisions, by encouraging New Zealanders to share new activities or experiences we are inspiring broader audiences to do something new themselves,” Spreitzer said.

A second video targets the “girl in the road” trend that influencers also made famous, calling it the “run me over risk shot,” while asking “where’s she going without a car?” One of the few viewer comments on YouTube reads: “To a far more rewarding way of seeing & experiencing things. Walk, or bike & feel the difference.”

A third ad in the series addresses Kiwis again but not Aussies, even though New Zealand reopened its bubble with Australia last week. “No contemplative shots,” the actor says in the clip, as he spots a tourist taking a selfie in a popular sight, while jokingly recommending staying indoors to watch a certain comedy act.

After months of lockdown, does it make sense to lecture travelers to not immerse in breathtaking panoramic landscapes when the very nature of being able to travel and being outdoors amid Covid will feel novel?

“The target audience for this campaign was primarily New Zealanders, however we are delighted that the humour and truth behind the video resonated with people around the world, as both our domestic and global audiences have been engaging with the campaign,” Spreitzer said, noting that “[n]ew” means different things to different people and for some it will be visiting somewhere new entirely. “We look forward to welcoming back visitors when the time is right.”

At its core, the intent is to get travelers to rethink influencer type travel shots that keep driving crowds to particular sites in New Zealand, as the country was under threat from rising visitor numbers in 2019 . While an important and admirable message for a post-Covid world, it feels way too soon to base an entire campaign on overtourism at this time, even if meant to be humorous, when only domestic travelers and Australians can explore New Zealand. It’s particularly puzzling as well, as New Zealand’s popular outdoor tourist destinations such as Queenstown have suffered from the lack of visitors.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Gold Coast just released a new campaign focusing on Kiwi families and friends reuniting after so many months apart. It feels more on point and sensitive to what all travelers need at this stage, as Covid rages on for most of the world: a sense of optimism and hope that we will all reconnect one day and see new places.

Marketing is hard under the best of times, harder during a pandemic that has decimated tourism across the world. New Zealand has reminded us that it’s even trickier to remain sensitive when you’re marketing a destination that has managed to squash Covid, while affording to remain closed to tourism for almost a year now.

It’s a privilege most destinations, including in the most tourism-dependent, don’t have and won’t enjoy for a long time. Prioritizing social media influenced visits to popular sights over safety and health protocol messaging feels out of context and way too soon, even for New Zealand.

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Tags: coronavirus recovery , destination marketing , tourism , tourism new zealand

Photo credit: New Zealand's latest campaign doesn't want tourists to visit the same places and take social media influenced shots. Miles Holden / Pure New Zealand

Tourism New Zealand is responsible for promoting New Zealand as a visitor destination in key markets.

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Off the map: New Zealand tourism ad takes on 'conspiracy' – video

In a new ad from New Zealand Tourism, comic Rhys Darby calls on New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern for help solving the 'next great conspiracy' – why the country keeps getting left off world maps 

Source: Tourism New Zealand

Wed 2 May 2018 01.25 EDT Last modified on Wed 2 May 2018 05.07 EDT

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Description

Tourism New Zealand is inviting the world to PLAY NZ, emulating an open world-style gaming experience, developed by TBWA\Sydney, that lets people explore some of New Zealand’s greatest attractions in a completely new way. PLAY NZ effectively brings to life New Zealand as a game. As Australians are spending more time indoors engaging in online or virtual experiences, game usage has skyrocketed with a 75% increase since March. Designed to engage the growing online gaming audience, PLAY NZ shows off New Zealand as the ultimate place to come PLAY by gamifying the experience of visiting New Zealand.

This professional campaign titled 'Play NZ' was published in Australia in July, 2020. It was created for the brand: Tourism New Zealand, by ad agency: TBWA. This Digital medium campaign is related to the Hospitality, Tourism industry and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted over 3 years ago.

Advertising Agency: TBWA\Sydney, Australia

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Tourism New Zealand social media influencer spend for 2023 released

Sarah Pollok

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TNZ said it typically uses influencers to target the independent professional segment aged 25-54 years. Photo / 123rf

Tourism New Zealand spent almost a quarter of a million dollars on social media influencers in 2023, an Official Information Request has revealed.

The final cost of $248,837 covered travel costs (air and ground), production costs, agency fees, events, other inmarket costs and influencer fees, stated the organisation, which is responsible for promoting travel to New Zealand.

Most influencers had their travel costs covered but were not paid to visit and produce content apart from one group of three Singaporean influencers.

These three social media personalities were paid an additional amount to create and post content about New Zealand to their social media followers.

This group, who were taken around the South Island between September and October, included Munah Bagharib, Aiken Chia and Nicole Liel, who appeared to be taken around Christchurch and Kaikoura together.

Munah Bagharib (AKA the ‘wizard’)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Munah Bagharib (@munahbagharib)

A former YouTube star, Munah Bagharib currently works as an actress, social media influencer and (according to her Instagram bio) Wizard. Disappointingly, it appears the latter title is more of a joke rather than a sign she’s in the running to be Christchurch’s next Wizard.

Nonetheless, she does appear to have a magical ability to gain an audience, with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

While TNZ would not disclose the influencers’ content obligations, Bagharib shared several posts about New Zealand, including a video of the 9-hour bus ride from Christchurch to Queenstown and her trek with a llama in Kaikoura as well as a carousel post of her posing at a farm. Bagharib also included a “highlights” reel from her New Zealand trip.

“The land of never ending experiences! If there’s one trip you need to make, it’s this one!” she wrote in the caption, before listing four favourite experiences including He Puna Teimoana Hot Pools, Greytown Honey and Star Safari.

In terms of production value, Bagharib’s content isn’t that different to the videos or posts a traveller would make for fun. However, her value lies largely in her audience, with her New Zealand videos gaining between 11,500 and 138,000 views on Instagram.

Aiken Chia, however, is a highly talented video producer, who created several high-quality reels of his activities in New Zealand to his 145,000 followers.

Promising “top-tier recommendations from all around the world” in his Instagram bio, the 34-year-old regularly posts videos of places to visit, eat or stay in countries around the world.

A series of saved stories showed Aiken, with Bagharib in Christchurch where they went on an Amiki Cultural Food Tour, visited the hotpools at He Puna Taimoana, and rode a charter helicopter to Waipara Springs.

In Wellington, Aiken stayed at Naumi Hotels, rode the Wellington cable car and visited Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.

A reel, posted after the trip, also reviewed the group’s activities in Kaikoura, such as trekking with llamas, riding a private helicopter and landing on Mt Fyffe and dining at Hapuku Kitchen.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by AIKEN CHIA (@aikenchia)

Chia also posted two videos reviewing his stay at a PurePod, which he had arranged independently.

Nicole Liel

The third member, Nicole Liel, is in her mid-20s but already has 192,000 TikTok followers and 1.6M “likes” on the platform, where she regularly posts life updates.

During one TikTok video, Liel shows viewers what she did during her first day in New Zealand.

“We went over to this place where they spent 10 million dollars to rebuild the agriculture and everything,” she said, showing footage of the Avon River.

After this, they went to a bar where the food was “mega slay” and after that, they went to Kmart because Liel realised “we were going to the mountain” and she didn’t have any winter clothes.

@lielnicole #travel #singapore #travelsg #newzealand ♬ original sound - nicole liel 🤪🤪 - nicole liel 🤩

Why did Tourism NZ use influencers?

The short answer is that, well, it works.

“In some markets, where there is low knowledge of New Zealand, they can be used to help gain wider reach and top of mind awareness with a large number of people,” said Tourism New Zealand in a statement.

“In more mature markets, they can be used as a credible source of information to support authentic storytelling.”

According to TNZ, the organisation worked with an agency to research top-performing influencers. They then selected those best positioned to influence key target markets provided they were genuinely willing to partner with TNZ.

Did the influencer activity work?

TNZ stated there was “strong evidence” to suggest influencers were an effective advertising channel, something it has seen in post-campaign analysis.

“Following the use of social media advocates Tourism New Zealand contracts independent research to conduct PR evaluation research to help measure the success of the partnership,” it stated.

The evaluation measures campaign recognition, and the content’s ability to build positive perceptions of New Zealand and generate interest to visit.

In 2023, TNZ spent $248,837 on influencer activity. The Equivalent Advertising Value (EAV), which represents the cost of buying media coverage with a similar impact was $42,673,581, TNZ stated.

The organisation also expects to see further results from the activity in the coming months.

As for the paid influencers, TNZ invested $28,096 and the content produced had an EAV of $1.5m. TNZ would not disclose how much each influencer was paid or what they were contracted to create on the grounds it was commercially sensitive.

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