The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

A mass of vignettes that try and cram in every possible activity/sight in a desperate bid to appeal to literally everyone … while failing to understand they inspire no one because they’re the same as every other bloody nation, regardless of climate, geography or economy.

Of course, there are the odd exceptions … but apart from the original NZ Tourism ‘100% Pure’ campaign [which was the only nation tourism work that had a real, long-term, sustainable idea in it – rather than a good one-off execution – and even that has now been diluted to boardroom acceptable cliché and contrived blandom] it’s all pretty uninspiring, cookie-cutter stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how hard these campaigns must be given the amount of ‘committee pleasing and politics’ that must go on, but it still amazes me how much an economically important category ends up being treated like some superficial toy by governments who don’t have enough understanding of their own people, let alone the people of other nations they wish to attract.

Which is all my way of saying I found this idea by Mauritius interesting.

And I mean the idea of it rather than the execution – which is, to be honest, pants.

It’s like a cross between a tourism campaign, a wealth sovereign fund campaign, a timeshare campaign, a retirement campaign and a nomad visa campaign. And while that might sound like a mass of messy audiences … they’re very clear on who they are targeting, why they are targeting them and the benefit this audience – and the nation – will get from doing it.

And while the idea of ‘a place to relax, enjoy life and not work’ is possibly the most cliched holiday destination proposition you could get, when it’s offered as a life – as opposed to a holiday destination – it becomes so much more. Because for 50+ year olds, with a bit of cash who are thinking/starting to retire … this isn’t just about having a chance to escape where they are, but a chance to escape who they are – the gift for easy reinvention and exploration – and as invitations go, that’s far more compelling than ‘spend 2 weeks somewhere you haven’t.

Creatively smart.
Culturally smart.
Economically smart.

And from a government. Who knew …

Have a look at it here:

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