18 March 2010 - 0 Comments

MTV and Tourism New Zealand are working together to create an on-air and online initiative aimed specifically at 16-24 year old Australians.

Entitled ‘MTV’s Guide to New Zealand’, the campaign captures the personal, undiscovered New Zealand of Kiwi-born music talent including internationally renowned rapper Scribe, punk-rockers The Mint Chicks, and Liam Finn, son of Crowded House singer-songwriter, Neil Finn.

‘MTV’s Guide to New Zealand’ launched on MTV Australia and mtv.com.au on Saturday 13 March 2010.  It takes the form of a series of documentary-style features designed to put New Zealand ‘front of mind’ for young travellers.   The guide captures the intimate New Zealand of Scribe, the Mint Chicks and Liam Finn; a side of New Zealand that wouldn’t be uncovered by tour-guides or handbooks.

The campaign, which begins with Scribe’s New Zealand, unearths a variety of favourite and inspirational locations, including music venues, untouched beaches, restaurants, bars and festivals.  The campaign travels the length and breadth of New Zealand from Piha and K’Road in Auckland, Wanaka, Central Christchurch to Queenstown.

‘MTV’s Guide to New Zealand’ sees Scribe taking MTV to his favourite restaurant in Christchurch before paua diving up the coast in Kaikoura and cooking for the crew. The Mint Chicks, who are currently on tour, arrive back to their home country and go straight into a typically wild performance at New Zealand’s Rippon Festival in Wanaka, followed by a road trip around the South Island and Liam Finn takes MTV to his Dad’s Roundhead Studio, highlights of Piha and favourite Auckland eateries.

MTV’s Guide To New Zealand has been designed to complement Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Which NZ are you this time?’ campaign which is currently running in Australia. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said the campaign’s primary aim was to encourage first time travel to New Zealand, where youth were a key segment.

“Australia is New Zealand’s largest tourism market and we’ve seen strong growth in visitor numbers over the past year. We know Australians like to come back once they’ve visited, so we’re looking at ways to increase the number of first-time visitors and younger travellers offer an opportunity in this space.

“By working with Kiwi musicians who are well known in Australia, we’ve been able to create a campaign with MTV that highlights the diversity of experiences on offer in New Zealand in a way that will appeal to younger travellers,” Mr Bowler said.

Added Colin Blake, Director, Brand Solutions, MTV Networks Australia: “Word of mouth is powerful recommendation for MTV’s audience when it comes to travel and, by working with artists such as Scribe, the Mint Chicks and Liam Finn, who all have credibility in Australia, we are able to creatively take this one step further.

“MTV’s Guide to New Zealand is about real stories from the lives of real artists and the place they call home. An intimate portrayal of musicians that also delivers against Tourism New Zealand’s marketing objectives.”

The whole campaign will run for three months, showing twice-daily between programs on MTV Australia.

Thanks to www.mtv.co.nz for this story.

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