Business Events are one of the biggest financial opportunities for Tourism New Zealand. Conferences bring in lots of visitors who spend a great deal in the local economies. The issue to address was how to stand out and differentiate ourselves at IMEX, the world’s largest expo for conference destinations. And with far less space and even less money than the competition.
We are known for our landscapes, but Tourism’s research showed that what really separates us from other countries are our people and culture. So how could we get potential visitors close to experience both, when they were physically on the other side of the world? We needed to give them a sense of who we are, in a way that would reflect Tourism New Zealand’s vision that “You arrive as a visitor, but leave as Whanau”.
We created an interactive cultural experience, ‘Korero and Kai’, to engage our audience and allow them to connect with our people and culture.
Korero and Kai was based around two ends of a huge, custom-carved table. One end was sent to IMEX in Frankfurt; the other remained here in New Zealand. When both ends were pushed up against a high definition screen, the distance vanished and suddenly people in Frankfurt were sitting down, sharing kai with people here in New Zealand.
Korero and Kai influenced the entire way people interacted with our stand. It became the focus of the stand and an impressive sales aid to sell the unique benefits of our country
On top of overseeing design and production of the tables, we produced three presentation films, brochures, LinkedIn ads, signage, and teaser advertising.
For the four days of IMEX Korero and Kai was booked out, with queues the length of the conference centre.
It dominated the event with much less money and space than larger countries.
“This is the cleverest use of creativity and technology I’ve ever seen.”
Stephen England-Hall, Tourism New Zealand CEO.
