MUMBAI: AXN original production, Hong Kong Movie Odyssey won the 'Best Travel and Tourism Campaign Award' at this year's Casbaa (Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia) Pay-TV Advertising Awards hosted on 28 October.
Hong Kong Movie Odyssey is a two-part series conceptualised jointly by AXN and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
The Best Travel and Tourism Campaign Award, one of the awards under the 'Most Effective Targeting Categories,' was presented in recognition of its innovative concept of positioning Hong Kong as the 'Hollywood of the East' and communicating this via a TV production as part of HKTB’s travel and tourism campaign.
HKTB regional director – South and South East Asia David Leung said, "As competition heats up among destinations to pull in visitors, it is no longer sufficient for us to simply use classroom theories of marketing and traditional platform to reach out to our target audience. Instead of the usual travel feature program that shows popular sites of Hong Kong, we wanted to showcase Hong Kong in a creative way capitalizing on its entertainment culture and its long-standing positioning of 'Hollywood of the East' That marked the birth of the Hong Kong Movie Odyssey concept that we brainstormed together with AXN."
Hong Kong Movie Odyssey, produced by AXN, took viewers to various Hong Kong film locations of blockbuster movies such as Infernal Affairs, One Night in Mongkok, He’s a Woman She’s a Man, Heroic Duo and Golden Chicken. Showcasing landmarks such as the Giant Buddha, Victoria Peak, Tsing Ma Bridge and popular districts like Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui, the program presented Hong Kong in a refreshing manner.
Apart from the colourful and scenic locations, viewers were also presented with an opportunity to learn more about their favourite movie stars. Local movie expert and program host, Paul Fonoroff interviewed movie stars such as Stephen Chow, Ekin Cheng and Karen Mok to gather their intimate thoughts and feelings about the places featured in the movies and what they love about Hong Kong.
"We selected AXN as our main media platform because it is well-known to be innovative in its productions, and is also one of the most-watched channels in Asia among working executives and business travelers. Through the program, we aimed to reach out to these people, to not only look at Hong Kong as a place for business, but also a place where they can bring their families and loved ones on a leisurely trip," added Leung.
SPE Networks – Asia vice president advertising sales Gregory Ho said, "We are very grateful for all the support HKTB gave us on this project. Hong Kong is a vibrant city with many unique offerings, but we wanted to find one aspect of Hong Kong that everyone, and especially our viewers, can identify with – Hong Kong has long been regarded as a pioneer in the production of movies in Asia, with action heroes like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan having become household names since the 70s and 80s. Hong Kong Movie Odyssey strengthens Hong Kong’s positioning as the ‘Hollywood of the East’ and allowed us to creatively showcase the destination in a different light while doing so in a highly entertaining and engaging manner for our viewers."
"It’s a 360° integrated approach to marketing and brand building. We truly believe in developing innovative campaign our advertisers that help them cut through the clutter while fulfilling their marketing objectives and is appealing for our viewers, which ultimately is the end objective," Ho added.
