Tourism New Zealand's new global campaign encourages tourists to "find their 100% Pure New Zealand".
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Tourism New Zealand is encouraging international visitors to “find their 100% Pure New Zealand” as it launches a $5.5 million revamped global marketing campaign designed to boost tourism.
The 100% Pure New Zealand brand has been used for 25 years, but Tourism New Zealand chief executive Rene de Monchy believesthe new push will bring it to the front and centre of our international tourism strategy.
“This is our call for people around the world to be totally connected, present, inspired and fulfilled in one of the world’s most breathtaking destinations,” de Monchy said.
“This is a rejuvenation for the 100% Pure New Zealand brand, and for travellers considering a trip here. We’re inviting the world to discover that New Zealand isn’t just a place you visit, it’s a place which fosters deep connection with the locals, with those you’re travelling with, leaving you totally fulfilled.”
Rene de Monchy, chief executive of Tourism NZ, says the new campaign is all about the first rule of marketing – getting noticed.
The new strategy replaces the If You Seek campaign, which has been running since 2022 and was developed, de Monchy said, when the world was in a very different place, just emerging from Covid.
The 100% Pure New Zealand tagline has been in use for more than 25 years and has been criticised in the past for being dishonest, given this country’s not-so-pure environmental record.
But de Monchy said it was never intended to be an environmental claim.
“It’s always [been] about your 100% Pure New Zealand experience, and that’s quite literally what we have done with this campaign.
“I think it will actually reinvigorate that, but again, the line is really well liked, well noticed, in our international markets, which is where our target audience lives.”
The new campaign launches today across global social media channels and paid media in the United States, and will roll out across New Zealand’s key visitor source markets, using digital, social, trade and industry activity.
According to de Monchy, the full development of the campaign cost $5.5m and has been worked on for the past six months.
It will be the brand platform of storytelling for the foreseeable future for the next few years.
Tourism NZ worked with iwi, regional tourism operators and the wider industry to create the campaign, and intends to take a collaborative approach on campaign-related activity over the coming months.
De Monchy said the aim was to encourage the 155 million people actively considering a New Zealand holiday to make their booking now, with the campaign set to operate in all 15 international markets where it operates.
The plan is also to use the material for Tourism NZ’s business events and its conference attraction programme.
As part of the campaign, Tourism NZ is rolling out toolkits for tourism operators.
“We’ve got some social media templates that tourism operators can use, so they can actually become part of the campaign. That was really important for us.
“We can’t shoot every fantastic experience that we’ve got in New Zealand, but we’ve managed to create a mechanism that tourism operators can also be part of the campaign.”
Tourism NZ is also launching a new experience planner to help travellers and travel agents create itineraries.
Users can select a series of images that represent the kind of holiday they would like to go on, and it will generate tourism opportunities “for your 100% Pure New Zealand experience”.
De Monchy said he was excited to finally have the campaign out after so long working on it.
“Ninety per cent excited, 10% nervous, but look, really excited. I think 100% Pure New Zealand has got a great legacy. But I’m really excited that we now get this refreshed work out into the market and ... looking forward to seeing some strong results off the back of it.”
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
