Hugh Hefner and my holiday in NZ

What do Hugh Hefner and I have in common? Apart from publishing wildly popular monthly periodicals and liking comfy dressing gowns, not very much. Until now. It seems that in March 1955 Playboy magazine didn’t appear. The publishers just didn’t get around to publishing. Sorry, try next month.

So too with the AdNotes January 2012 issue. Sorry. Just didn’t happen.

My only excuse is that my wife and I were having a very nice driving holiday in New Zealand. Our two teenagers in the back seat were having a very boring driving holiday around New Zealand.

I’m always on the lookout for ideas for AdNotes (the missing January issue notwithstanding). And what struck me the most about the NZ holiday experience was this: with the marketing of New Zealand, you get what’s written on the tin.

To tourists, New Zealand is all about nature, scenery, the great outdoors. That’s why people go there. So that’s what is marketed. ‘New Zealand 100% pure’ is a great single minded marketing idea. It’s not clever. It’s correct. It supports what consumers already know and want.

The kiwis wisely let all the other generic vacation stuff be discovered when tourists arrive. Why? Because by listing everything, your country starts sounding like Belgium.

http://www.newzealand.com/

Contrast this with Australian marketing efforts. Yes, there are beaches, the outback and the reef BUT there’s also culture, sport, food, wine, formula one racing, events, history, tennis,  autumn leaves, shopping, bus trips, films, books, balooning, medium sized cities, skiing ... The longer the list, the more the tourist feels like staying at home, because home has just been described.

http://www.australia.com/

Sorry. These are things we might be proud of but they’re not what visitors fly round the world to see.

If the kiwis marketed what they liked, the message would be about the All Blacks, Rachel Hunter - a kiwi model who married Rod Stewart in 1990 and ... the All Blacks . I’m not kidding.

So, New Zealand has reminded me that marketing communication (in any channel) is still as  simple as:

- Don’t talk about your own interests and expectations – because people are self-interested.

- Do talk about your consumer’s interests and expectations - because people are self-interested.

- Do be single minded - otherwise consumers will confuse you with a competitor.

Also, if someone offers to sell you a rare vintage copy of Playboy dated March 1955 don’t buy it, it’s a fake.

TIPS FOR MARKETERS
Talk about what your consumers know and like about your brand already. Reminding is much more successful than re-educating.