Google’s Chrome experiments are generally cause for nerdish celebration as they push the browser to strange and creative places. And now, as The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies gets sets for launch, it’s updated the interactive map of Middle-Earth it launched around one year ago with a host of new tricks.
The three-year epic journey of collaboration that Air New Zealand and The Hobbit series have undertaken is finally being concluded with a blockbuster of a safety video filmed by Taika Waititi that features cameos from Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Dean O’Gorman (Fili the Dwarf), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast) and Sir Peter Jackson. PLUS: how the campaign has impacted visitor arrivals.
Last year, as part of a promotional push for its ‘Airline of Middle-earth’ sponsorship activation, Air New Zealand flew three fans to Los Angeles to watch the premiere of The Hobbit: the desolation of Smaug. And now, in anticipation of the release of the final instalment of the trilogy, the airline has upped the promotional ante by flying 150 fans to New Zealand for a week to tour some of the filming locations and to attend a private screening of the film in the company of Peter Jackson.
While many Kiwis might be suffering from Middle-earth fatigue, Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand certainly aren’t, because, due to the rise in visitor numbers on the back of their recent marketing partnership—and in particular, the activity around The Hobbit movies—the pair have announced a $20 million extension to the deal. Plus: the airline also locks in a deal with New Zealand Winegrowers.
Whybin\TBWA’s Digital Arts Network and Assembly have brought Middle Earth to life online for Tourism New Zealand. The tourism organisation is making the most of content developed for the Book of New Zealand, a digital installation in Los Angeles that promotes four locations used in the filming of The Hobbit sequel The Desolation of Smaug.
Airlines and tourism marketing entities go together like raspberry and Coke, and following some successful recent partnerships, Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have upped the stakes, agreeing to a one-year, more than $20 million deal to promote travel to New Zealand, an increase of around 80 percent on the previous year. PLUS: Air New Zealand drops the blue in new livery.
Coat-tailing on the success of The Hobbit trilogy is paying off for Tourism New Zealand and it says it’s a strategy that will feature heavily in the organisation’s three-year plan for marketing the country to the rest of the world.
Haven’t had your daily dose of The Hobbit? Then head on over to newzealand.com and take a look at New Zealand redrawn in the spirit of Tolkien thanks to WHYBIN\TBWA and Weta Workshops.
Amid the controversy that seems to have attached itself to the release of the first Hobbit film, Wellingtonians in particular will be hard-pressed to forget the premiere is taking place in their city, not least thanks to the two-storey Middle Earth wrap that’s been attached to the side of Clemenger BBDO’s Wellington office. That’s one more Hobbit-themed gesture to add to a growing list that also includes DraftFCB’s baggage carousel at Wellington airport, Air New Zealand’s Hobbit aircraft and, of course, Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Middle-earth.