When Covid-19 hit, the world closed its borders. International tourism was abruptly halted in its tracks.

In New Zealand, where tourism makes up 20% of our GDP and employs 479,000 people, this was a major problem.

The nation was faced with a sudden and massive hole in the tourism industry, and the New Zealand economy as a whole.

In response, Tourism New Zealand’s mandate was changed.

Instead of attracting visitors from other countries, we needed to get New Zealanders to dramatically increase the amount they spend on tourism domestically. We needed Kiwis to explore New Zealand the same way tourists do.

The objective? To inspire everyday kiwis to fill the void left by international tourism, rebooting an entire industry and helping the New Zealand economy recover.

We developed ‘Do Something New, New Zealand’. An inspiring idea (and campaign line) that encourages kiwis to not just go on any holiday, but a NEW one.

All we needed to do now was launch it. With a bang.

We needed the nation on-side, and quickly. So we decided to launch in a quintessentially Kiwi way: cheeky, positive and down-to-earth.

As a nation we love a singalong. Which made the solution obvious. We’d launch Do Something New, New Zealand through the power of song.

Something uplifting. Catchy. And preferably fronted by a couple of national treasures.

Aaaaand that’s where Madeleine Sami and Jackie Van Beek came in.

The star comedy duo performed Do Something New, New Zealand, a single released on Spotify, vinyl and all media channels.

Giving the nation a much-needed smile, the song told Kiwis exactly what they needed to do – and helped reboot our tourism industry.

We needed Kiwis to get out and explore Aotearoa – spending more in the process.

Problem was, Kiwi holidays were steeped in routine.

We needed to shake people out of their holiday habits. Get them to try new activities and places and change their mindset about what a holiday at home could be.

We needed to drive behaviour change and provide inspiration.

To drive behaviour change, we had to signpost what we wanted Kiwis to do. And because 100% Pure NZ is usually international-facing, there needed to be no doubt that we were talking to New Zealanders. The new domestic mandate required a new creative platform - one that speaks Kiwi.

Enter: Do Something New, New Zealand. Not only does it tell people exactly we want them to do, it’s also equal parts inspiration, challenge and invitation. We’re not just telling people to do new things… we’re showing them how.

For maximum impact, the song launch was choreographed to coincide with a buoyant national mood. Springtime, post-election and following a second successful lockdown, Kiwis were looking forward to summer.

After the news, at 6:57PM on a Tuesday 27th October, an all-channel roadblock launched the song to the nation. This was immediately followed by interviews with Madeleine on Seven Sharp and The Project, and subsequent interviews on breakfast television and radio.

The television and Spotify launch was supported by a vinyl press (by the aptly named Holiday Records), and a nationwide OOH, digital and social campaign. Regional tourism operators joined in, using a toolkit that made it easy to add Do Something New to their own messaging. Air New Zealand even dedicated an entire issue of Kia Ora to ‘New’.

Across subsequent seasonal and regional campaigns, the song has been our consistent hero, reminding us to Do Something New, New Zealand.

The Song campaign has achieved outstanding recognition.

In the first 48 hours, the song saw over a 250,000 You Tube views, with over 12,000 engagements, 85% of which were positive.

Since then, eight out of ten New Zealanders recall seeing the video or other campaign elements (and three-quarters of them liked it or loved it).

But for this campaign, we needed action more than recognition. And we got it.

Over half of New Zealanders have already been motivated to act by the campaign.

From launch until the end of 2020, domestic tourism spend was $7.6 billion – an increase of more than $1.5 billion dollars incrementally on 2019.

Across the regions, the year-on-year domestic spend increased across the board, ranging from a solid 13% increase in Rotorua, to a whopping 109% increase in Fiordland.

All because we asked Kiwis to Do Something New.