A MasterChef Australia episode featuring New Zealand chefs and
food stories was seen by approximately 1.2 million Australian
viewers and drove a 60 per cent increase in Australian traffic to
newzealand.com, compared
to the same time the previous week, peaking during the first hour
of screening.
The 71 minutes of television coverage from this episode of
Australia's most successful television show in history represented
an equivalent advertising value of NZ$5.6 million.
Tourism New Zealand General Manager Brand & International PR
Catherine Bates says the organisation used the existing 100% Pure
You campaign with a well targeted fully integrated marketing and PR
campaign.
"Now over a million more Australians know what fantastic food
stories we have in New Zealand. Our research has showed that many
of those who viewed the episode have a higher preference to visit
New Zealand on their next holiday."
The Tourism New Zealand campaign ran from June-August and included
social media, PR, digital and traditional media. Over 7,300
new Australian Facebook Likes were specifically attributed to
MasterChef activity and PR activity around the episode that reached
at readership of 1.8 million.
NZ chef Fleur Sullivan appeared in the show and estimated that for
the four weeks following the episode airing in Australia she
received an average of 15 calls a day from Australia. NZ chef
Martin Bosley was "stunned by the reaction and especially so soon
after it aired".
MasterChef contestants and crew were hosted at some of
Wellington's most popular eateries, along with sessions with
celebrity chefs Al Brown and Martin Bosley.
Positively Wellington Tourism Chief Executive David Perks
described it as a 'real coup' for Tourism New Zealand and the host
regions involved. "Wellington's epicurean merits are proving
very popular with Australians so MasterChef was right on message
for us."
Australia is New Zealand's largest inbound tourism market,
accounting for almost half of all visitors.