Norway seeks to ‘own’ the northern lights

The magical northern lights are the focal point of an international winter marketing campaign for Innovation Norway, the official Norwegian tourism and trade organisation.  The seven-market campaign has ‘ownership’ of the Aurora Borealis in its sights.

The new version My Northern Lights microsite visitnorway.co.uk/mynorthernlights , which allows users to create and share their own Aurora experience, is the focal point for the initiative. A national newspaper supplement, consumer and trade media advertising and cross track poster advertising on the London Underground also feature as part of the UK’s £300,000 investment.

Catherine Foster, Country Manager, Innovation Norway UK, explains: “It’s a pretty bold statement, but yes, we want to ‘own’ the northern lights! We believe Northern Norway is THE best place to experience the phenomena and we want Norway to be the first place any one thinks of when planning a trip to see the Aurora.

“Last year’s My Northern Lights microsite and social media campaign was an experiment for us, but the results were excellent and saw an increase in winter bookings. Our commitment to innovating in the digital space springs from that success story. We undertook a series of large-scale social media and online marketing initiatives throughout 2010 and we’re very proud of the long way that we have come in a relatively short space of time.” 

The Aurora themed My Northern Lights microsite, first launched last November, has undergone a series of enhancements to create a more powerful user experience.   The interactive northern light digital paintings, which users can share via email Facebook or Twitter, now include a series of three interchangeable backgrounds and evocative sound tracks as well as a competition element. The site navigation of day and night time Northern Norway winter experiences has also improved with offers and booking given greater visibility.

For more information, visit: visitnorway.co.uk/mynorthernlights