CHOICE HOTELS TRAVELGRAMMER COMPETITION UNEARTHS PICTURESQUE NZ
Undertow Media and Choice Hotels hand-picked ten social media creatives to collaborate and share content in the name of Kiwi travel and tourism.
The Choice Hotels 2017 TravelGrammer campaign successfully launched in March 2017, with ten of the country’s brightest social media creatives embarking on an exciting quest to showcase the ‘best of the best’ places, faces and spaces that New Zealand has to offer.
All of which culminated in one lucky ‘grammer winning the coveted title of ‘Choice Hotels NZ TravelGrammer 2017’ (as well as a trip for two to Australia to continue their quest for the perfect travel shot!).
Each Instagrammer was sent to a different NZ location on the weekend of 1-2 April, where they were tasked with capturing and sharing their assigned region’s most exhilarating experiences, stunning landscapes and ‘Insta-worthy’ gastronomic escapades with their social media followers, in order to build a unique content series that encourages other Kiwis to explore the land of the long white cloud.
From creative influencer Jenny Gao to young photographer Jordan McInally, the final ten Instagrammers, with a combined audience of more than 160,000 followers, came from all walks of life. To add further credibility and hype to the campaign, Undertow Media engaged Instagram guru Liz Carlson ((the mastermind behind Young Adventuress with over 170K Instagram followers and credentials ranging from TEDx speaker to contributing writer for BBC Travel, Huffington Post, Forbes, Buzzfeed and CNN) as campaign host and ambassador.
In order to increase traction on the Choice Hotels NZ Instagram page, participants encouraged their own followers to enter the ‘Followers Competition’ (with every new follower on the Choice Hotels NZ Instagram page automatically entered in the draw to win their own trip for two to a Choice property within NZ). The result? 757 new and highly engaged followers on the Choice Hotels NZ Instagram page over the duration of the one month campaign.
Local travel influencer, Dunedin-based Tamsin Gorman, the face behind @amongmountainsandlakes, headed north during the campaign to stay at Quality Hotel Elms in Christchurch where she made her way around the Garden City. Tamsin’s commitment to the campaign saw stunning content created and shared, and finally saw her crowned overall winner and take home the official title of ‘Choice Hotels NZ TravelGrammer 2017’.
In the lead up to (and following) the TravelGrammer weekend, Undertow Media secured multiple TV, radio, print and online media opportunities for the campaign at both a national and regional level. Highlights include: (over a one month period)
173 posts generated on social media featuring #ChoiceTravelGrammer2017
88% social share of voice across key NZ competitors throughout the TravelGrammer weekend
757 new followers on Choice Hotels NZ Instagram page
Cumulative reach of 7 million across social and traditional media coverage
97,072 total social engagements
Image courtesy of Zemira of @hlovesc_com as part of the Choice Hotels 2017 TravelGrammer campaign