Hong Kong Tourism Board partners with Facebook to crack video challenge | M&M Global

Hong Kong Tourism Board partners with Facebook to crack video challenge

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has turned to Facebook to help it crack the challenge of online video, as it looks to redefine global attitudes towards the territory.

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New campaign featuring three-star Michelin chef Umberto Bombana

Earlier this month, the government-funded body launched a campaign to redefine the perception of the city as the ultimate urban, shopping-driven destination.

The global push, entitled ‘Best of all, it’s in Hong Kong’, draws attention to the diversity of dining, fashion, entertainment and family experiences available to visitors.

A series of four TV ads feature local celebrities, including three-star Michelin chef Umberto Bombana and movie star Sean Lau, and those ambassadors also appear in additional ‘brand stories’ which have been posted on social media and the board’s new digital campaign hub.

Commercials will run on regional broadcast partners Discovery, National Geographic, CNN and the BBC, as well as the most popular TV channels in key APAC markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Japan and China. Long-haul markets will be served with online content, some paid-for digital media and display ads, as well as PR activation.

The campaign was created by Grey Hong Kong, with media planning and buying by Mindshare.

Speaking to M&M Global, the tourism board’s general manager, marketing, Tina Chao (pictured below) said the aim of the on-going campaign is to show what is “unique” about Hong Kong, and to communicate with as broad an audience as possible.

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Tina Chao, general manager, marketing, Hong Kong Tourism Board

‘Mass’ above-the-line media has been employed to drive “reach and buzz”, while other consumers – in particular social media-obsessed Millennials – need to be served content that is relevant to them. “It’s not just transferring what we have on traditional media to social media,” added Chao.

She said that HKTB has looked to build on its “very good relationship” with Facebook to get to the bottom of how social media users consume video content – something the social network is looking to improve on itself, with the creation of a ‘Measurement Council’. 

Last year, HKTB became the first Asian national tourism organisation to launch advertising on Instagram. On this occasion, it has focused on Facebook video, experimenting with content length and format to derive the optimal viewing metrics. According to Facebook, HKTB is one of the first advertisers to collaborate with it in this way.

The campaign will continue throughout the coming months, with flash-points around key dates such as the countdown to New Year, the board’s own dining festival and the Chinese New Year parade.

“We want to drive more people to come to Hong Kong, so ultimately the test is whether we have an impact. From a brand perspective, we want to change the perception people have of Hong Kong,” said Chao.

“It is not just about shopping, we want to showcase that Hong Kong stands for a much more diverse group of experiences. We will create more brand stories, to dig deeper into these stories.”

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