Air New Zealand: Bring on Winter
Air New Zealand wanted to generate massive global attention and engagement for New Zealand as a unique winter tourism destination in 2019. The brand needed a highly creative, shareable campaign that would cut through the noise and capture broad public interest. The challenge was to create significant buzz and drive consideration for winter travel, leveraging a memorable and culturally relevant approach.
Creative Idea
Air New Zealand invited George R.R. Martin to finish his book in New Zealand.
Air New Zealand launched a personalized tourism campaign targeting George R.R. Martin, offering him a free trip to New Zealand to finish his long-awaited book "Winds of Winter." By creating a humorous, tailored marketing approach that played on his love for fantasy landscapes and his missed book deadlines, the airline generated massive global attention and engagement.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Air New Zealand leveraged its identity as the 'airline of Middle-earth' and its ability to provide secluded, inspiring environments. They utilized their brand voice—witty, hospitable, and slightly cheeky—to make an offer that felt like a genuine national invitation.
Category
Tourism marketing typically relies on broad, scenic vistas and generic 'come visit' messaging aimed at masses. This campaign broke norms by targeting a single individual with a hyper-specific, high-stakes creative mission that the whole world could watch.
Customer
Global fantasy fans were experiencing intense frustration with the Game of Thrones TV finale and the author's missed deadlines. They felt a collective desire to see the story finished and were eager to participate in any effort to motivate him.
Culture
The campaign tapped into the massive cultural zeitgeist surrounding the Game of Thrones series finale. It capitalized on the internet's 'nagging' culture toward George R.R. Martin, turning a global meme into a national PR event.
Company
Air New Zealand leveraged its identity as the 'airline of Middle-earth' and its ability to provide secluded, inspiring environments. They utilized their brand voice—witty, hospitable, and slightly cheeky—to make an offer that felt like a genuine national invitation.
Category
Tourism marketing typically relies on broad, scenic vistas and generic 'come visit' messaging aimed at masses. This campaign broke norms by targeting a single individual with a hyper-specific, high-stakes creative mission that the whole world could watch.
Strategy:
Weaponize global Game of Thrones fandom frustration to position New Zealand as the ultimate creative sanctuary for procrastinating icons.
Customer
Global fantasy fans were experiencing intense frustration with the Game of Thrones TV finale and the author's missed deadlines. They felt a collective desire to see the story finished and were eager to participate in any effort to motivate him.
Culture
The campaign tapped into the massive cultural zeitgeist surrounding the Game of Thrones series finale. It capitalized on the internet's 'nagging' culture toward George R.R. Martin, turning a global meme into a national PR event.
Strategy:
Weaponize global Game of Thrones fandom frustration to position New Zealand as the ultimate creative sanctuary for procrastinating icons.
Results
The campaign was shared by George R.R. Martin with millions of fans. George R.R. Martin also provided his personal endorsement of New Zealand and gave "formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island" if he doesn't bring "THE WINDS OF WINTER" in hand when he arrives in New Zealand for Worldcon by July 2020. This event effectively resulted in the world getting a release date for the book. The campaign generated "quite a bit of global attention," securing $2.3 million in earned media and 16 million media impressions. Air New Zealand received a review from "the most overqualified travel writer ever."
$2.3M
earned media
16M
media impressions
millions
fans reached by GRRM share
Strategy Technique
Use Hyper-Specificity
The campaign targeted George R.R. Martin specifically, knowing this hyper-specific appeal would paradoxically capture global attention. By focusing on one culturally relevant individual, Air New Zealand generated widespread public interest.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Prank
The campaign used a humorous, personalized offer to George R.R. Martin as a public stunt. This unexpected approach generated massive global attention before revealing the tourism message.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its highly targeted, culturally resonant, and humorous approach, leveraging a massive pop culture moment to generate significant earned media and a unique brand endorsement.
The bespoke website, the Valyrian tweet, and the targeted digital video for George R.R. Martin demonstrated an ingenious and tailored use of digital platforms to engage a specific, high-profile individual and a passionate global fandom.
The strategic timing and execution of this campaign capitalized on a major pop culture event, generating widespread global media coverage and substantial earned media value by turning a niche joke into a global conversation.
The witty, culturally informed messaging, particularly the Valyrian tweet and the website copy, was crucial in capturing attention and creating a humorous, engaging dialogue that resonated with the target audience and the author.
The campaign cleverly integrated Game of Thrones-inspired aesthetics with New Zealand's breathtaking landscapes, creating a visually compelling narrative that was both thematic and aspirational for tourism.
The magic of this campaign comes from the seamless synergy between highly strategic media planning, creative digital craft, and witty copywriting, all focused on a single, compelling narrative target.
