New Contiki campaign encourages travellers to see the bigger picture

In the first 12 days of being released, the video had 1.2 million views, 11,000 reactions, 3,000 shares, 1,000 comments – and that’s just via its Facebook page.

The bigger picture

Kelly Jackson, general manager for Contiki in South Africa, notes that the campaign is more than just telling people to go and travel; the campaign’s aim is to inspire its target market to look beyond the moment and see the bigger picture. “Millennials absolutely live in the now but they are seeking to add depth and identity – they want to feel connected to something bigger,” Jackson says.

So the campaign speaks directly to a generation which is very focused on the “now”, asking them what amazing things they are going to do this year that will change their life forever. It’s a big question that encourages a bold response. “It would be easy to do a campaign saying ‘go travel now’, but as a brand, we’re less interested in telling people to do that. We’re interested in being an inspiration to do amazing things and make bold choices,” adds Jackson.

As a result, a number of the memories featured in the new video are not at all travel-related, but still inspirational such as that of Andy Thomas, the first Australian astronaut and the only man to have been into space with a beard.

Of course, travel is an important part of making memories and being bold, and so Contiki, as a youth operator, is urging people to travel while still young. “Travel enhances your understanding, opens your eyes, you come back slightly more worldly, less short-sighted, a more tolerant human – it changes you. The impact of those travel experiences plus the memories you create will last a lifetime,” affirms Jackson.

South African influencers

Bringing the campaign a little closer to home, Contiki spoke to some South African influencers to find out which year they did something they’ll remember forever.

Theodora Lee, or Theo as we know her, is one of South Africa’s top YouTubers with a following of over 240,000 fans all over the world. She started creating videos at the age of 13 and nowadays, she has her own YouTube channel and a blog that's all about growing up and being happy. Lee has travelled with Contiki in the past and her most memorable year was definitely 2016. “Last year was pretty epic, purely because of the travel involved. Some were unexpected like Los Angeles for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards and London on the way back to spend time with my brother Caspar. And then there was Peru and walking to Machu Picchu. It doesn’t get much more *pinch me* than that,” says Lee.

South Africans were abuzz in 2016 with the Rio Olympics and none more so than one of our rising swimming stars, Calyvn Justus. Apart from achieving his dream of making it to the Olympics and representing our beautiful country, 2016 was huge for him as he travelled to countries and cities he’d always dreamed of visiting. Says Justus, “I spent most of 2016 out of South Africa and seeing all these places has had a huge impact on me. I’ve learned so much more about myself and that has helped me set my new goals and helped me see the type of life I want to live. Travelling has made me feel reborn, more inspired and motivated than ever before.”

“Memories are made from the experiences you have. Do you know how to pack your 2017 with epic experiences? Travel. Travel provides the opportunity for young people to have a multitude of new experiences in one hit. Where you go, what you do and who you do it with will all add up to create epic memories. The more out of your comfort zone, the more likely they’ll last a lifetime,” Jackson concludes.