Tamaimos interview me about No Winter Blues: Mission Iceland
Written by Karen BryanThere’s been quite a controversy raging in the Canary Islands about the Mission Iceland launch of the No Winter Blues marketing campaign which took place in Reykjavik between 19 – 22 October. I was in Iceland, as the UK member of the press group, reporting on the initiative.
The campaign aims to promote the Canary Islands as the preferred Winter Sun destination for Northern Europeans. One hundred Canarian Ambassadors were recruited to travel to Iceland to select one hundred Icelanders to enjoy an expenses paid trip to the Canaries. The selection of the fortunate 100 Icelanders kicked off at a Castings Party in Reykjavik Art Museum.
Tamaimos.com, a Canary Islands current affairs website, is critical of some aspects of the campaign in their post Operation No Winter Blues. Tamaimos asked for my opinion of the campaign as a European tourism expert and a first hand observer.
There’s also been some negativity about the campaign on the Icelandic marketing blog Transmit in their post Unorthodox Marketing! The Canary Islands invade Reykjavik which is mentioned in the interview.
I was interviewed over Skype by Iván Vega, co-writer of Tamaimos.com. The sound quality isn’t great especially at my end and I definitely need to work on my delivery. The interview was conducted in English, as I can’t speak Spanish and Iván speaks English very well. You can listen to the interview below (in two parts, as at one point the line went dead).
Part 1: Ivan Vega of Tamaimos interviews Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte
Part 2: Ivan Vega of Tamaimos interviews Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte
Ivan has orally translated the interview into Spanish so that the Spanish and English version can be simultaneously heard, the latter with the volume reduced. The interview was longer than expected, so Ivan has translated only part of it for inclusion in the Tamaimos podcast 45. Unfortunately there isn’t a transcript of the interview.
Much of Tamaimos’ criticism focuses on cost and execution of the campaign. However I’d ask them to give the No Winter Blues campaign some time to take effect before judging it. I understand that in these harsh economic times, with public spending cuts taking place, some may wonder why money is being spent on a big marketing campaign. The fact is the Canarian economy depends heavily on tourism and the Canaries have to fight for their share of the tourist market when potential visitors have so many possible destinations from which to choose. The No Winter Blues Campaign is using person to person marketing in addition to more traditional advertising.
The idea is that the 100 Icelanders who visit the Canaries will write about their trip on blogs, Facebook and Twitter which will then be passed onto all their contacts. As the Icelanders will be describing a real experience and can upload their own photos and videos, their experience will be more authentic to readers and potential visitors to the Canaries. This can start a snowball effect where the Icelanders’ experiences spread online way beyond their own personal contacts.
What’s your opinion of the Canary Islands Mission Iceland phase of the No Winter Blues initiative?
I listened to your interview and thought you did a sterling job in defending the Canaries campaign. I pretty much agreed with what you said that in social media campaigns like this which are new and innovative, it would take some time to see results.
If I was the Canaries tourist board I’d be rubbing my hands in glee at the controversy – Haven’t they heard that there’s no such thing as bad publicity (up to a point of course) especially in social media circles. If people are talking about the campaign and not saying anything bad about the Canaries that’s a great result and they haven’t even brought the Icelanders over to Canaries yet.
I hope you’ll be getting an invitation to the Canaries; I must admit after having heard the interview, suddenly I’m starting to put the Canaries to the top of my list as a winter destination. I fancy Lanzarote myself after finding all about Cesar Manrique
http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/cesar-manrique-and-the-volcanic-island-of-lanzarote/
Heather – So you managed to listen to the whole interview despite the poor sounds quality and my sometimes less than succinct replies?
As you mention the Icelanders haven’t even been to the Canaries yet so that should certainly create plenty of buzz in social media circles.
Sounds like the No Winter Blues Campaign has been successful in the ascent of the Canaries to the top of your Winter Sun list. Have you been to the Canaries previously?
Hey Karen, I replied to this message on some other website but i noticed this was the site you reply to when i was checking to see if there were any pictures from the party :P So here is a copy+paste of what I wrote:
Well as a lucky winner of the all expenses paid trip to the Canary Islands I would like to officially thank the ambassadors and the Canary Islands tourism board for this great opportunity. I visited the link and read the other blog and I must say I both agree and disagree. True, I think it may have been executed a bit better although since I didnt take part in the mission here I of course dont know the full extent of it so I cant be a judge or jury. If there wasnt any promoting going on in Kringlan and Smaralind, the countries biggest malls then I believe that would have been a mistake but other than that I see nothing to complain about.
I was in school at the university when I was first pitched the offer and I thought it was great, the ambassadors were nice and open and I realized this was definitely something I would tryout for, I then attended the party on wednesday and had a brilliant time. The DJ was upbeat even though things were rather quiet to start with but as time went on and alcohol went down then things livened up a bit. I managed to talk to alot of representatives and gained a few friendly acquaintances who I had a good time with.
It was then on thursday that I arrived for the interviews, I did have to wait 90-120 minutes and I think it would have been nice if I had been advised to go home for an hour but alas, I am a patient person and also with the prospect of such a generous gift I waited patiently. When it came my turn I put on my smile and had the same conversation in different variations though about 15 times and then had 5 different talks and one very unusual one. But of course the interviewees wanted to know why we wanted to go, what made us special, whether we were fun/outgoing etc. etc. so I answered as best I could.
So now I am waiting excitedly for 2 more weeks before my trip, I am looking forward to seeing what the schedule/programme for the trip will be and I definitely can’t wait :D So I would like to at least thank the tourism board in C. Islands and the ambassadors and I will definitely try to enjoy every moment of my trip.
regards, Jon Petursson
Jon – Congratulations on being one of the fortunate 100 Icelanders to go on an expenses paid trip to the Canary Islands. Have a great time.
Thank you for pasting your thoughts of Mission Iceland on to the Europe a la Carte Blog.