Headed by George Hickton, the board was the forerunner to Tourism NZ and it did research in the target markets of Japan, the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
Criticism that the board had not sought enough feedback on the campaign exasperated him.
“I have never seen a campaign so extensively tested as this one.”
While it was greeted with mixed reviews from tourist operators interviewed, one said: “Who gives a toss about what we all think? It’s what people overseas think.”
And academics say its longevity has proved people still like it around the world.
“It’s been probably one of the most successful campaigns, and I think that a lot of countries have looked at us to see what we have done,” said Tracy Harkison, associate professor at Auckland University of Technology’s school of hospitality and tourism.
The campaign had enjoyed a long shelf life by modifying and adapting its message and was still a powerful way of pushing New Zealand’s brand internationally to get a share of the $2.5 trillion spent on leisure tourism a year.
“I think that everybody’s kind of watching everybody us as to what they’re doing. When they have so many issues in Europe with over tourism or mass tourism,” said Harkison.
“We are looked at as an aspirational country ...we’re very much now in the back on the bucket list of places of people of where people want to visit.”
Associate Professor of Tourism at the University of Otago Julia Albrecht said its adaptability has been one of the key success factors of the campaign, and that explains its “extraordinary” longevity and continuing relevance. Good graphic design and reliance on imagery rather than text are additional factors.
“The intention behind the 100% Pure campaign and its core message have frequently been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and even deliberately misconstrued,” she said.
“100% Pure was never intended to convey an environmental message or to suggest that New Zealand was a ‘clean and green’ country. Instead, the brand messages have always sought to evoke notions of authenticity and authentic visitor experiences. To illustrate, 100% Pure has not only been applied to nature-based tourism, but also to wine tourism, cultural tourism, movie tourism, and even to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.”
Tourism NZ chief executive René de Monchy said that since 1999, the campaign has been a consistent presence in key visitor markets.
The campaign came in for sharp criticism in 2012 when the poor state of New Zealand’s waterways was highlighted by academics. Environmental scientist Mike Joy said then that “rather than being 100% cent pure, natural, clean, or even green, the real truth is we are an environmental/biodiversity catastrophe”.
Terrible headlines overseas prompted then Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Sir John Key to emphasise it shouldn’t be taken literally.
“Overall, 100% Pure is a marketing campaign. It’s like ... McDonalds’ ‘I’m Lovin It!’ - I’m not sure every time someone’s eating McDonalds they’re lovin’ it.
“Maybe they are, but they’re probably not every single occasion. It’s the same thing with 100% Pure, it’s got to be taken with a pinch of salt,” Key said at the time.
Joy said this week he still believed the 100% Pure message was implying a clean country and by nearly every measure, New Zealand’s natural environment was in a worse state than when he sounded the alarm more than a decade ago.
De Monchy has a marketing background and the first aim was to get noticed around the world.
“It’s stood the test of time, but like any brand, there are moments of criticism, they’ve actually been probably more within New Zealand than on the international stage. The work that’s been positioned around the world is overwhelmingly positive in the eyes of international audiences and international visitors who of course are the primary audience.’'
Within six years of fbieng launched, the 100% Pure NZ brand was valued at $13.5b. He said it was possible the main message could last another 25 years.
‘‘I don’t know of any other destinations that have gone as long with a tagline,” said de Monchy. “But I do know there are plenty of examples of where there’s been tens of millions of dollars spent on trying to create something new and then doing that again a few years later.”
De Monchy said the 100% Pure New Zealand brand work built desire for “destination New Zealand”.
“It is helping to grow the number of people who are thinking of coming here for a holiday.”
The “If you seek” campaign has helped drive record-high preference for New Zealand as a visitor destination, he said.
“We know 46% of people who are seriously considering visiting New Zealand now have us as at the top of their bucket list. We’ve recently refreshed campaign content to highlight New Zealand’s incredible year-round experiences to support our focus on growing off-peak tourism.”
Tourism New Zealand’s new four-year strategy aims to grow international tourism by $5 billion to $13.2b by 2028, with 70% ($3.5b) of growth from off-peak visits.
Growing off-peak tourism supports the Government’s goal of doubling the value of exports over the next 10 years and helps alleviate seasonal challenges faced by New Zealand’s tourism industry.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
