VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, hoped to attract more Chinese visitors to the UK. The Chinese, however, preferred visiting the US and Europe, both of which outspend Britain and offer more attractions per entry visa. So we needed a new way to engage young affluent Chinese to get them to consider Britain.

Our insight was that British landmarks either didn't have Chinese names or were saddled with meaningless phonetic translations. With names being so important in shaping Chinese perception, our idea was to invite the Chinese to coin their own names for major British landmarks, to be immortalized on Google maps, Baidu and Wikipedia.

This was the first time in history that one country had openly invited the citizens of another to name its landmarks. And this ‘news’ in itself made headlines across both China and the UK.

In effect, we had given present-day Chinese tourists the same opportunity to make history that 15th century European circumnavigators enjoyed during the Great Age of Exploration.

The idea motivated the Chinese to discover more about British destinations so that they could coin better names for them. It also forged stronger emotional bonds with the UK.

As a result, hundreds of British landmarks were named, and visits from China increased by 27% during the campaign period. The rise in Chinese tourism over the whole year is on target to add 470 new jobs and 22 million GBP to the British economy.

The campaign kicked off with an invitation from the British Ambassador to China as well as a 90” video, and was launched online, on social channels and pre-rolls. This, along with promotional banners and other media units led people to the campaign hub, a website that featured 101 British attractions people could name and vote on. For other places, they had to personally visit the location and upload names to Weibo. Celebrities and social influencers supported the campaign during its three-month run. Interest was stimulated through a branded content online video following a Beijinger’s quest to name UK Beatles landmarks.

Nearly 30 million Chinese watched the campaign video. 2,245,874 people visited the campaign pages. 13,019 unique Chinese names were coined and the top names were accepted on Google maps, Baidu and Wikipedia. Over 80 KOLs (paid and earned) covered the campaign on social media, while 260 different news media reported on it (including 4 TV/radio stations, 156 mass print publications, 14 travel magazines, 95 assorted portals and video platforms), generating publicity valued at over ¥15.2 million. There was a 27% increase in visits to the UK from China during the campaign period (data from a major airline flying China-UK). For a campaign cost of just 1.6 million GBP (including media), the increase in Chinese tourism for the whole year is on target to add 470 new jobs and 22 million GBP to the British economy (based on forecasts, since measurement for the campaign is still underway).