BANGKOK – In a concerted effort to rehabilitate the kingdom’s image as an attractive tourist destination in light of ongoing political unrest, the Tourism Authority of Thailand today announced a major new international PR campaign, headed by a new slogan.
“Amazing Thailand, Always Amazes You, Totally Amazeballs” was unveiled via a massive ten-meter wide banner this morning at a press conference at the TAT head office presented by new TAT governor Thawatchai Arunyik.
“We wanted to rejuvenate Thailand’s image as a more hip and youthful destination, but without losing the brand equity that we’ve built up over the last decade,” explained Thawatchai.
Through its partner agency, New York-based marketing firm Global Advertising Strategies, the TAT conducted extensive research on variations and adjuncts of “Amazing Thailand,” which has been the nation’s tourism slogan for over a decade.
“The agency recommended that we move in an entirely new direction, but we felt that since they were foreigners, they didn’t really understand the amazingness of Thailand at a sufficiently deep level,” explained Thawatchai.
“We believe that Amazing Thailand has strong recognition, which is why we added ‘Always Amazes You’ as a sub-line in 2008,” he explained. “It naturally made sense that we should just keep adding more phrases with ‘amazing’ in it.”
Following the TAT’s very concise brief, Global Advertising Strategies surveyed over 1200 people who intended to travel internationally within the next year, and asked them to respond to various “amazing” phrases in terms of recognition, inspiration, and recollection.
“Amazeballs was by far the most universally high-scoring term, so that was our recommendation,” said Anna Abelson, Head of Travel & Tourism Practice at the agency. “We didn’t think they would actually use it, but, um, I guess they’re happy with it.”
Starting immediately, the Tourism Authority will use the “Amazeballs” slogan on all TV, print, and online communications, as well as in prominent positions in its trade events, while “Totally Amazeballs Thailand” will be printed on collaterals such as umbrellas, calendars, and T-shirts as part of a THB300 million campaign that aims to bring back tourist numbers to at least 2012’s record levels.
Additionally, US-based professional gossip and celebrity parasite Perez Hilton will be hired as the global spokesperson for the Kingdom of Thailand, due to her infamy as an early promoter of the term now listed in the Dictionary of the Most Annoying Words in the English Language.
The campaign is not without controversy, however, as rumors have circulated that residents in Nong Khai province have objected to the TAT’s plans to rename the annual Mekong fireballs that mysteriously rise from the river at night to “Naga Amazeballs.”
Thawatchai nevertheless expressed confidence that everyone would eventually come around and support the campaign without qualification.
“Amazing Thailand, Always Amazes You, Totally Amazeballs!” he repeated to assembled reporters. “I think the words speak for themselves what kind of country we are.”
