"Tonga Time" campaign a new 21st century link with Holland [1]
Saturday, October 30, 2010 - 22:15. Updated on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 21:03.
A large civic clock on the front of the Tonga Post office in central Nuku'alofa was handed over to the Tongan community on Thursday, October 28 after it was unveiled and accepted by the Prime Minister of Tonga Hon Dr Feleti Sevele.
The 1.5-meter diameter 60kg clock that was air freighted from Amsterdam last week was donated by a Dutch Internet Service Provider XS4ALL as part of its new "Tonga Time" advertising campaign, which will run from November 3 until after New Year's Eve.
Tonga has been chosen as the location because it is where time begins and Netherlands is 12 hours behind.
The innovative advertising campaign that includes the clock and a Dutch billboard on the front of the Nuku'alofa Post Office can be seen by web-cameras connected to the internet that allows XS4ALL to have a live stream from Tonga to the other side of the world.
Dutch language
Visitng Tonga to deliver the clock and set up the campaign were Nigel Hassall from Ogilvy Amsterdam and Donar Alofs from XS4ALL Netherlands.
They said accompanying the clock on the Post Office front is a billboard in the Dutch language that says: "If it is the same time in the Netherlands as it is now here in Tonga you can already be online at XS4ALL. Internet in one day."
Images streamed from Tonga can be seen on the internet at the website from the first week of November 2010 until January 1, 2011.
Attention
In welcoming the visitors, Tonga's Ministry of Tourism CEO Sakopo Lolohea said this was a unique international advertising campaign placed on the front of the Nuku'alofa Post Office designed to capture a lot of attention in the Netherlands, in Europe, using the Internet.
He said the advertising is not aimed at Tonga but at the Dutch-speaking European market of around 17 million people. "Tonga is seen to be ahead in the future compared to all other countries. Through the internet they will be streaming images back to websites in the Netherlands to show that their brand is already in the future," he said.
Sakopo was pleased this campaign would also create a lot of attention for Tonga and free publicity for a period of two months.
"The Ministry of Tourism welcomes anything that will help to boost tourism in Tonga. The strong media presence for Tonga that will be generated by the campaign is exciting, and it comes at a time when air arrivals to Tonga are dropping." He said that visitors from Europe dropped by 20 per cent last year due to the global economic downturn. "So we hope this campaign will change that trend and we are ready to welcome many more European visitors to Tonga."
A Tonga Holiday Prize was offered to their customers in the Netherlands and the winners would be in Tonga to welcome the New Year 2011 on New Year's Eve and after that the campaign would be taken down.
Dutch
The Prime Minister of Tonga Hon Dr Feleti Sevele in the keynote address and acceptance of the clock noted that at the beginning of the 17th century the first Europeans to reach Tonga were the Dutchmen Willem Schouten and Jacob Lemaire, who in May 1616 sighted Tafahi, Niuatoputapu and Niuafo'ou although they never set foot on Tongan soil.
"There were no time zones then and on this occasion today we establish a 21st media link with the Dutch, it is interesting to note how Tonga became the land where time begins," he said.
Dr Sevele related how the late King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV as Crown Prince Tungi in the 1940s had preferred to ensure Tonga's title as the "land where time begins", and the Legislative Assembly had approved keeping Tonga 13 hours ahead of GMT.
Also present at the handing over were the Tonga Post Ltd. CEO Luseane 'Aho and the chairman of the board Chris Russell. Cultural entertainment was provided by the Tonga Visitor's Bureau dancers, and the Tupou High School Choir and band with conductor Savelio Mataele.