Middle-earth is set to be a top seller. Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand advertisement has reached more than 500,000 on-line views to date, despite much of the core campaign work still to launch in off-shore markets.

The advertisement was launched on newzealand.com on 23 August with the first television campaign work taking place in Australia on 26 August.

New Zealand Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key yesterday launched the Japan market version of the advertisement at a special tourism function at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo.

The campaign includes a Japanese voice-over of the original advertisement, and translated campaign pages on newzealand.com/jp.

Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says the number of plays of the advertisement is a fantastic start, given that campaign work will continue to roll out across markets through to the first week of October promoting even more viewership.

“The full strength of our 100% Middle-earth marketing will not be felt until the end of November when the campaign has rolled out across all our markets and we build up toward the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington.”

“Our objective across all our marketing work is to compel people already interested in a New Zealand holiday, to make the decision to go.”

“The advertisement illustrates that much of what people see in the Hobbit films is actually a real place just waiting to be explored. Not only that but you can have some amazing adventures and experiences within our movie-like landscapes.”

For in-market campaigns, the advertisement will also be translated into German and Chinese.