By Jessica Hopkins of RNZ

Auckland Council’s cultural and economic agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, has defended the cost of a campaign aimed at getting people to feel more positive about the city.

Figures obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act showed Tātaki spent a total of $737,208.58 to address what it said was a decline in perceptions of Auckland among locals and the rest of the country.

The ‘Happy Guide’ campaign followed ‘Eerik’, a ‘Finnish tourist’ enjoying activities around the city, including a dip at Mission Bay, a beer at The Occidental in the CBD, and a kebab on Dominion Road.

The mayor is set to put forward a proposal by the end of the year to potentially disestablish Tātaki.

But it is unclear if the campaign made the city seem more appealing.

By the council’s own admission, less than half of those who saw the campaign felt more optimistic about Auckland as a result.

The agency said the campaign was designed to turn sentiment towards Auckland around.

“Globally, city brand experts point to negative-trending sentiment leading to people spending less time and money in a place, thereby unfavourably impacting economic outcomes.

A campaign aimed to create positive feelings about Auckland. Photo / Natalie Slade

“Through the eyes of a visitor from Finland, which the World Happiness Report 2024 found to be the ‘happiest’ place on the planet, the campaign highlighted those Auckland things - large and small - that can make people happy and encouraged locals and New Zealanders to spend time and money enjoying the city.

“Running for 12 weeks over June-August 2024 across Meta, TikTok, digital video, broadcast TV, cinema, radio partnership, and outdoor media, the campaign promoted Auckland as a place to spend leisure time and money.”

It said two million people across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Northland, Bay of Plenty, and Waikato were exposed to the campaign.

Forty-eight per cent of those who saw the campaign “felt more positive towards Auckland”, the agency said.

Post-campaign research by the Research Agency showed the campaign lifted sentiment towards the city, it said, and 60% “took action such as considering spending money to enjoy Auckland and/or considering a trip to Auckland”.

“Eighty-seven per cent took away key messages such as ‘there is a lot to enjoy in Auckland’ and ‘Auckland is an ideal destination for a short holiday’.

“Campaign likeability and uniqueness both outperformed a benchmark group of 146 ads from established brands.”

It said those who saw the campaign were more likely to agree with the statements: “Auckland is for people like me”, “Auckland is really on the way up”, and “I often hear people talking about Auckland in a positive way”.

Of the campaign’s costs, $300,000 was funded by Auckland Council’s city centre targeted rate, a special rate paid by commercial and residential property owners within the city centre. The remainder was funded from Tātaki’s operating budgets.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has previously criticised the campaign.

The mayor told RNZ it was a waste of money.

“I am very dubious about the merits of this particular campaign,” he said.

“Spending over $730,000 of ratepayers’ money on some bloke from Finland having a sauna and eating a kebab while telling us Auckland makes him happy doesn’t sound like value to me.”

He criticised Tātaki’s evaluation of the campaign as a success.

“When you boil it all down, the survey only sampled 163 people who actually saw the campaign.

“Even taking Tātaki’s figures at face value, only 30% of people surveyed saw the campaign and only 48% of them felt better about Auckland. Therefore, it only worked on around 14% of people.”

The mayor is set to put forward a proposal by the end of the year to potentially disestablish Tātaki.

“The only way to stop this is to bring the so-called council-controlled organisations back under the true control of council.”

He said the council needed to show the government it was capable of “fiscal restraint”.

“We need to be demonstrating that we can drive strong value for money and I don’t think Tātaki has done anyone any favours here.”

- RNZ