The Tattoo Flyer
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Issue 37 | December 2015
Agency
Leo Burnett Group Thailand
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Sompat Trisadikun Executive Creative Director Paruj Daorai Creative Group Head Paroon Suthaveepramochanon Art Directors Paroon Suthaveepramochanon, Parthompong Lourngpan, Paruj Daorai, Sompat Trisadikun Copywriter Supachai Limvutivong
Production Team
Production Company Super Son’s Day Producer Somchai Sanchaichana Editor Thanakorn Leeramass Account Management Director Samira Thancharoenkit Account Executive Pimsorn Chanpa
Date
September 2015
Background
Each year, Tourism Authority of Thailand had to showcase the country at more than 20 trade shows around the world. At each event, the task was to compete with other countries to draw maximum footfall to the exhibition stand.
Flyers were still the most effective communication to give information about the country. So the task was to get Thailand's flyer to stand out from the crowd and be interesting enough for visitors to actually request one.
Idea
The format of the tourism flyer was changed from a print format to a tattoo. Different tattoos reflecting different aspects of 'Thai-ness' were designed. Thai food, Thai heritage, Thai creativity were all captured in images which could be transferred onto skin.
Then, using their mobile phones, visitors to the trade show could scan their tattoo and be taken to a video with content relating to the design they had chosen.
The idea was cool enough for people to want to keep the tattoos after they had left the show, to show friends. The message, now a form of entertainment, brought in even more viewers.
This did more than just save paper on flyers, it became a one-time investment that could be rolled out year after year.
Results
Thousands of tattoos were given out at the CITM Shanghai Expo, making the Tattoo Flyers a must-have item that drew large crowds to Thailand's booth.
Costing just $0.25 a piece, Tattoo Flyers was one of the drivers that contributed to a 100% increase in Chinese tourist arrivals, up from 1,036,938 to 2,033,595 visitors after the expo.
Our Thoughts
Matt: ‘Stick-on tattoos to attract interest? Interesting.
I’m convinced that one of the reasons QR codes haven’t caught on as much as they might have (yet) is because they have usually been pretty boring, as if the QR code itself was the big idea. Now, a tattoo as a QR code, that is interesting. It turns your mate’s arm/shoulder/back into a screen. More than that, it makes your mate the centre of attention for a while. And that’s something he/she will like and will share. Ultimately, then, a piece of communication that cost 25c ends up earning ten or twenty times the investment thanks to the power of an idea. Love it!