BEIJING – National tourism agency, VisitBritain, along with the Home Office, is asking the people of China to give new Chinese names to hundreds of tourist attractions and places of interest scattered across Britain.
In a marketing first for a national tourist board, the contest will invite people in China to come up with the most fitting, amusing, and memorable Chinese names from a pre-defined list of British places, events and things. The campaign, “GREAT Names for GREAT Britain,” is an opportunity for people to make their mark in history, explore the whole of Britain in new ways and win great prizes.
Potential tourists will engage with the campaign through a specially developed microsite and on social media. Names for 101 suggested points of interest can be submitted on the campaign microsite, where those with the most “loves” win prizes and the chance to have their names recognized in Britain. The idea is that travelers will then come to Britain and post photos of themselves experiencing a point of interest, along with their suggested Chinese name on VisitBritain’s Chinese social media channels (WeChat and Weibo).
Joss Croft, Marketing Director of VisitBritain, said, “Chinese consumers are at the very heart of this campaign, so it was important to give them the opportunity to create history and build an affinity with Britain they’ve never had before. We made sure the campaign was fully integrated around a strong social idea that will connect the Chinese with Britain and get the whole country talking.”
A series of online videos will be released featuring members of the public attempting to name some of the British points of interest. A VisitBritain GREAT campaign branded print and OOH campaign will also run, introducing points of interest with no Chinese name and inviting the consumer to become the namer of the place of that British attraction.
“The names of places, people, and events get people talking in China more so than in many other cultures. And at the same time we noticed that many British points of interest are let down by lack of a decent Chinese name. So, we thought, why not invite Chinese people to give them a Chinese name?” said Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer, Greater China.
“Potential tourists, in thinking up names for these attractions, will develop a deep understanding of Britain as a destination and develop a strong affinity to its points of interest. This is the power of a truly social idea,” added Fink.
The campaign will run through to April 2015.
View the campaign microsite here.

CREDITS
Project title: GREAT Chinese Names for GREAT Britain
Client: VisitBritain
Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Beijing (Social@Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyOne, RedWorks)
Chief Creative Officer: Graham Fink
Executive Creative Directors: Juggi Ramakrishnan, Doug Schiff
Creative Directors: Juggi Ramakrishnan, Doug Schiff, Jeremy Webb, Bob Wang, Ayur Wu
PR & Event: Tina Huang, Ayur Wu, Yanan Xin
Social Media: Yanan Xin, Ben Xu, Ayur Wu, Kevin Wang, Ashley Ma, Tammie Tan
Website Account/Project Management: Victoria Cook, Zheng Jun, Ayur Wu, Yanan Xin, Kevin Wang Web Design: Zheng Jun, Xiaodong Chen, Lu Zhang, May Yue, Boya Lin
Art Director: Fei Wang
Advertising Account Service: Joe Jin, Liping Wu, Yuca Jiang, Bob Wang, Xinyu Wang, Dora Yin
Design: Lera Zhang, Dora Yin
Copywriters: Bob Wang, Bozhan Zhang, Ben Xu
Agency Video Producer: Charlie Macpherson
Account Management: Jeremy Webb, Ayur Wu, Tina Huang, Victoria Cook, Bob Wang, Yanan Xin, Kevin Wang
Planning: Simon Webb, Ayur Wu, Bob Wang, Jeremy Webb
Media Agency: MediaCom
Production House: Black & Cameron
Website Development: Brand42
Exposure: microsite, online video, social media, print, offline event, cinema advertising
