As part of my Bachelor of Graphic Design degree we have to sit a paper called Creative Process. Although this paper frustrates me almost all the time (it’s a very open to anything class; about unleashing and cultivating your creativity and I prefer having more definite restrictions and rules) I do see the need; especially for someone like me. A good example of why this is, is our current assignment.

Perception of Auckland
We are meant to communicate or change a perception of Auckland. I would have liked a more specific brief than “Design a real world solution to solve the problem; perception of Auckland”, specifically one that includes information such as target audience (is this for outsiders, local, tourists?), an aim (what message am I trying to communicate) etc. However we don’t get any of that. My initial reaction was to design an advertising campaign comprising of various billboards, tv ads and posters however, after a couple of weeks of brainstorming and exploring variations I’ve come up with two finals ideas.

Trend on Twitter
The first idea is actually my newest idea that was sparked off by another idea that I was pursuing. The basic idea is that we try and get Auckland to trend on twitter. Seeing as media has just seemed to pick up the existence of twitter and are trying to get as much out of it as they can I thought I could cash in on this too. If Auckland trended on twitter, then NZ media would care; right? And maybe other types of media would care also. I think twitter possibly would, possibly international media and probably the more geekier section of the blogosphere.


So simply; over a certain period, say a particular day or over a couple of days. We invite everyone to post a tweet about their perception of Auckland, tagging the tweet with a common tag (I would suggest something short but unique to this “campaign” such as #myauckland) and then try and trend on twitter. The tag wouldn’t be solely available to NZers either because in this case; the target audience is everyone on twitter really. Yes, even Britney Spears. What is the global perception of Auckland.


The tag is important because I know that my network is pretty limited and although a tag like #perc-auck is simple to spread via textual communication (such as twitter itself, or email or IM) it is a lot harder to share verbally; say at the water cooler, or on the radio. Yes, I said radio. If I choose this idea I need to try and get as many people as possible getting involved and I figure a morning radio show could be helpful! Say, Polly from ZM who also really likes twitter right now.


On the day I would be collecting and organising the tweets via a script and create a collection of them on a website. Organising? Well, there’s an idea to have people rate their perception as either positive (#+) or negative (#-) and then we can create comparisons between the numbers of positive and negative opinions.


The second idea?

Travelling Landmark

A second way I thought I could promote Auckland, and try to change a perception about Auckland is by sending an Auckland landmark around the world. People think that Auckland has no history, landmarks, culture etc especially when compared to Paris, Rome etc however that is simply not true. Although Auckland is much newer and therefore may lack hundreds of years of history, it doesn’t mean we don’t have any of it. And although we may be business orientated, it doesn’t mean we lack culture. And we certainly have our share of landmarks, even though they aren’t World Icons.


So, I for this idea, I plan to send an Auckland landmark around the world. Since the Skytower is our most recognised landmark I thought I would choose it, especially since it all has a character based on him. I would purchase a number of these (5-20) and give them to tourists on Auckland airport (I would prefer a much more controlled method of giving it to family or friends who would be more dedicated to carrying out the instructions) and would ask them to take the Skytower and pose with it in front of another landmark, say the Eiffel tower, around the world. These images would then be sent to an email address that would automagically post them to a blog.


In order to get enough people who are going to different places I thought once more that I might be able to entice a radio station to help me out, ask for callers who are leaving to go sightseeing or who could take this photo to ring in and give their details. i could then post the packs to them before they left.


Once they have taken a photo with a landmark, the idea is to hand it to someone else on an airport who is travelling to a different country. In this way, we have a few Skytower replicas travelling around the world, allowing the character of the Skytower to travel around the world and go sight seeing.


I hope that this would also attract media attention and bring the spotlight on Auckland, its culture, heritage & history and landmarks.

What do you think?

Do you think they are doable? I may point out that this project is due 8 June.