Hong Kong Tourism Board - Innovation in the Use of Celebrities or Public Figures
Name of Organization / Company: Hong Kong Tourism Board
Category: Award for Innovation in the Use of Celebrities or Public Figures
Entry Title: Hong Kong Shingo Art – Leveraging the J-POP Influence
Essay
Objectives
Today’s increasingly sophisticated travellers are no longer satisfied with simply visiting a succession of established tourist sites. Instead, they are keen to immerse themselves in the local culture. To address this trend and to make Hong Kong stand out from other destinations, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) works tirelessly to roll out new campaigns.
Leveraging the popularity of renowned J-POP celebrity, this campaign aimed to provide a new incentive for travelers to visit HK and burnish our reputation as a major art hub of Asia. We hope to further raise HK’s destination profile, sustain visitors’ interest in and drive more visitations to Old Town Central, an ongoing promotion launched in 2017 to transform the image of Central from a financial district to a hub for authentic local culture.
Strategies
• The campaign drew on the powerful influence of Japanese pop culture. Riding on the strong appeal of a celebrity to consumers and trade partners in Asian markets, PR mileage would be maximized.
• HKTB strategically dovetailed this campaign with Old Town Central promotion, as Central has already been well-known for its vibrant street art scene.
• Timing is critical and hence March is chosen to tie in with HK Arts Month to create better synergy.
• Extensive publicity on different media channels was planned to maximize awareness across regional markets.
• Worked with trade partners to convert awareness into travel bookings. Tactics
Shingo Katori, who has transformed himself from a boy band idol to an up-and-coming artist, was strategically chosen.
• HKTB identified an opportunity to host his first example of Street Art outside Japan, which would become a major draw to media and consumers.
• HKTB presented Shingo as more than a celebrity but as an Artist whose work would be crowning finale of HK Arts Month.
• The Street Art was strategically positioned at the famous Mid-Levels Escalator, a key attraction of Old Town Central.
• Measures were taken to keep entire process in strict confidence, has helped give extra substance to media’s reporting subsequently.
• HK and Japanese media were invited to cover the unveiling ceremony.
•‘Making Of’ video and photos were put on HKTB’s digital platforms and made available for partners to share.
• Shingo created social media posts about his Art and HK upon our invitation, creating high level of awareness due to its huge fan base.
• To achieve further viral effect, we created hashtags “#HKShingoArt” for consumers to spread the word.
• Overseas media and trade partners were arranged to view the Art to sustain publicity.
Evaluation
• Katori’s international star power combined with the uniqueness of the campaign and the effective media strategy saw the wall painting generate more than 500 online, TV, and newspaper stories in HK, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia in less than two months. A publicity value of HK$95 million has been generated.
• Unveiling ceremony produced 200 media stories in two days. Most of the articles mentioned Old Town Central and Arts in HK.
• About 2,800 Instagram posts with official hashtag. Live broadcast and 11 Instagram posts by Katori: over 1.2 million likes.
• Video on HKTB YouTube: 1.15 million views.
• 115,000 tweets: estimated audience of 13.8 million.
• The Art has since been included in package tours offered by travel agents in Japan and has enhanced awareness of HK as an art destination.
• Katori has had a second exhibition in the Louvre in France in July 2018, generating further attention for his first foreign foray in HK.
• The Art has become a tourist attraction in itself and a colourful expression of HK’s own star power as a destination with irresistible cultural appeal. Its impact has gone further to complement other HKTB’s promotions in Japan.
LINKS:
URL 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbA2uZjB2U4&feature=youtu.be
URL 2: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/jp/promotions/agaru/trend/vol17.html