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BrandAid focuses on Dunedin’s scenery and local characters to attract Kiwi tourists

Dunedin-based agency BrandAid and young production company ‘Two Bearded Men’ have created a new video for Enterprise Dunedin, and unlike many other videos about Dunedin, has steered well away from student life (and student revelry), focusing instead on the people and gems of the city.

The clip, by Two Bearded Men director Tim Pierce and producer Toby Crawford opens with some breathtaking sweeping shots of the city from a birds-eye view before we start hearing from a few Dunedin locals what they think about their city – with one of our favourites quips being “The usual Dunedinite is usually someone who’s reasonably humble.. but might talk too much about the weather.” We thought they’d be used to it by now.

The clip is a refreshing look at Dunedin, diverting away from the university which is often seen as the focal point of the city, and instead exploring Dunedin’s other gems – its eateries, art, wildlife, scenery and laid-back people.

Pierce says “We’ve always been inspired by Dunedin, for its incredibly diverse rugged landscapes, quirky nature, real, honest people and lots of great food! It’s a stone’s throw from our headquarters in Wanaka and we love shooting down there,” he says. “I direct a lot of work and love collaborating with a brand that is real and honest, the lads at Enterprise Dunedin do it well.”

Last year, before the company was formed Pierce created his first video for Enterprise Dunedin with the help of Crawford on old gun Dunedin personality and expert beer brewer Richard Emerson. The clip focuses on Emerson’s beginnings and his journey to creating the “holy grail of beer”.

BrandAid (which is in charge of developing the Dunedin brand) creative director Luke Johnston says instead of throwing the focus on students in the current video (initially joking it’s because “They’re not going to get up early enough”) it’s more about appealing to Kiwi tourists rather than the city as a study destination. “It’s bringing together a whole lot of stories from local points of view… The Dunedin brands are locally telling it as it is, a straight up “we are the way we are” type approach,” he says. “They are regular Dunedinites from different walks of life.”

He says the video is purely for online, but will be used in lots of different places “In the last 48 hours combining Facebook and Youtube, it must be well over 80,000 views.”

According to the Dunedin City Council website, Dunedin attracts about two million visitors annually, with New Zealanders making up the majority of the numbers “There is an average of 5500 visitors daily, many of whom have made the trip south to see Dunedin’s renowned wildlife and heritage for themselves. A growing part of this sector is the cruise ship industry, with 84 ship visits bringing 200,000 visitors during the 2011/12 season.”

Two Bearded Men has been around for just over a year and in celebration Pierce released his 2015 directors show reel with excerpts from 2014.

For those readers who do want to check out some student revelry, then this Metro article provides a pretty good written experience.

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