‘Cheap and tacky’: advertising experts say ‘Hello Hong Kong’ tourism campaign fails to highlight city’s uniqueness
- ‘If you have the opportunity to feature the chief executive in your video, you need to think of a world-class approach that does justice to his presence,’ veteran advertising expert says
- Hong Kong’s all-out promotional drive to attract travellers with 700,000 airline tickets features videos with city leader John Lee and local stars Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng
Hong Kong’s all-out global promotional drive to entice visitors with free air tickets has been lauded by the travel industry as a strong boost for tourism, but advertising experts have said the campaign was poorly executed and fails to highlight the city’s uniqueness.
Launched by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Thursday, the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign – which will cost about HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) in its first phase – involves spending vouchers, special events and plans to give away 700,000 airline tickets.
Those in the travel and catering industries were quick to praise the campaign, saying they hoped the return of visitors would trigger a multiplier effect in the city battered by tough Covid-19 curbs over the past three years.
Chris Kyme, co-founder and creative director of local creative agency Kymechow, whose clients include Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Link Reit, said he very much agreed with the objectives of the campaign as he believed the city had a lot to offer and its stories should be told to the world.
Despite being “a believer in Hong Kong”, the veteran advertising expert said he thought the campaign, which the city needed badly, lacked a proper strategy.
“‘Hello Hong Kong’ is not an idea. It’s just a welcome, which is very expected,” he said. “In order to get the right strategy, we would need to look at how the outside world perceives Hong Kong right now, and think of a strategy to address that.”
Kyme said the world has had a negative perception of Hong Kong in recent years, with media reports saying the city was losing its status and facing an emigration wave. Such concerns should be addressed with a good strategy that would truly attract visitors to the city, he added.
Among the features of the mega campaign are separate videos with city leader Lee, representatives from several chambers of commerce and three local celebrities introducing the city in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.