February 22, 2012

Reality-TV Show Transforms Nicaragua into Desirable Destination Location in Murphy O'Brien PR Campaign

By Jim Bucci

Numerous challenges existed when Murphy O'Brien Public Relations began working with the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR) in 2008. The second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Nicaragua had a history of revolution and civil war, a president known for anti-American sentiments and very little or any visibility among North America as a tourist destination. The government also had a tiny marketing budget for tourism development.

After digging into the country's attributes, the PR team quickly learned that Nicaragua presented much of the ecotourism opportunities of its neighbor and popular travel destination locale Costa Rica — and even more unspoiled natural beauty. The country featured a host of top beaches and eco-resorts at half the price of those in Costa Rica as well.

"We were trying to get the word out about Nicaragua as a destination location," explains Murphy O'Brien Public Relations account supervisor Sharon Boorstin. "A lot of fear existed from tourists about the country, that it was unsafe due to its political history. We wanted to convey to tourists that Nicaragua was safe and actually one of the safest countries in South America along with Costa Rica."

To dispel such misperceptions about Nicaragua as dangerous and unstable, Murphy O'Brien needed to entice top travel journalists to write about the country's beautiful scenery, warm hospitality, accommodations and rich culture.

The Strategy: Disprove the travel notions of Nicaragua as an unsafe and undesirable tourist destination. Nicaragua was not even a blip on the radar of tourists or travel reporters as a possible vacation spot. Murphy O'Brien needed an attention-grabber—something big enough to reach all those doubting reporters and travelers.

No campaign succeeds without a touch of fortuity. Murphy O'Brien received its dash of luck when they learned in 2009 that CBS's "Survivor" was on the hunt for host countries for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

"We knew we needed something huge to change people's minds about Nicaragua," says Boorstin. "Being based in Los Angeles, we knew some of the television producers and ended up pitching 'Survivor,' who had no idea that Nicaragua could be a possible location for the show."

Murphy O'Brien moved quickly to drive home Nicaragua as the perfect exotic location for Survivor's upcoming season. They accompanied the show's producers on a scouting trip to Nicaragua, coordinated visits to target hotels and meetings with important officials and persuaded government officials to provide a helicopter for scouting remote beaches.

"We had to convince producers the country had what they would need for the show," she explains. "That the area could support and have room for 200 or so people for six months and remote beaches 30 minutes away."

The stakes had increased. Landing "Survivor" would be Nicaragua's big break. By exposing Nicaragua on U.S. television and enticing TV shows such as "Survivor" to film there, the country would become a household name in the U.S.

The efforts paid off in a huge way, as the producers of "Survivor" decided to shoot not one, but two seasons of "Survivor-Nicaragua" filmed back-to-back.

The Challenge: Attract reporters at top travel pubs to visit Nicaragua. While "Survivor-Nicaragua" would do much to highlight the country's picturesque and enticing beaches and surrounding areas, Murphy O'Brien still needed to drum up interest from travel reporters and editors—piquing enough curiosity for a visit.

"Most people did not know anything about the country or where it was," offers Boorstin. "They were afraid to visit, but the country had a democratic government now and the civil war was long over."

Along with the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, Murphy O'Brien conducted press trips to Nicaragua, setting up reporters in San Juan del Sur, a costal town on the Pacific Ocean in the south-west portion of the country. Reporters visited the area's resorts and hotels so they could see for themselves that the country had become safe as well as a prime tourist location.

"The safety of Nicaragua was really mind-blowing for reporters to see," Boorstin adds.

With press trips often out of the question for many reporters these days, the PR teams knew they would have to bring Nicaragua to the media—meeting their targets in-person. Officials from the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism hit New York City on their media tour during the same week "Survivor-Nicaragua" debuted, meeting with top editors from premiere publications such as Fortune, Travel & Leisure, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, who could then attach a face to the country.

"They had to see Nicaragua for themselves and in doing so, it really built up the excitement that this would be the next hot city," says Boorstin.

The Results: News of "Survivor-Nicaragua" sparks print, online and broadcast coverage at top-tier outlets. Once CBS announced the news of "Survivor-Nicaragua," the PR team leveraged the news with group and individual press trips that resulted in destination stories in various outlets, including The Washington Post, Financial Times, Men's Journal, Travel Weekly, Travel+Leisure.com, LATimes.com and HuffingtonPost.com. During filming of the show, dozens of articles turned up in print, broadcast and online outlets such as CBS, CBS.com, People.com, Us.com and TVGuide.com. Both The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times included Nicaragua in articles about the impact on host countries when filming U.S. reality shows.

On September 15, 2010, the premiere episode of "Survivor-Nicaragua" was the highest-rated show of the evening and seen by an estimated 13 million viewers.

"We took a poor country that was otherwise in obscurity and turned it into one now blossoming economically and with its tourism," says Boorstin. "A country that now enjoys an increase in tourists per year, receiving over a million visitors during the past year."

Secrets of Success: Read on as Boorstin offers more tips and explains why this campaign won Bronze in "Best Travel, Hospitality & Destinations Campaign" at the 2011 Bulldog Awards for Excellence in Media Relations & Publicity.

• Bring your campaign to the desks of editors. "The media tour allowed editors to see Nicaragua for themselves," she says. "We presented editors and reporters with all the info they needed, such as where to stay and what to do, so when available, they could take a trip down there. We also included pictures, and without those, they would have to be convinced to go."
• When opportunity strikes, be ready to display your wares. When CBS brought a collection of journalists to Nicaragua to interview the first group of "Survivor-Nicaragua" contestants before filming began, Murphy O'Brien capitalized on the moment by hosting a day of sightseeing, eco-adventure activities and cultural events to introduce them to the tourism opportunities in Nicaragua.
• Forge a strong agency-client bond. "We worked very closely with the Nicaragua Institute of Tourism," she says. "They were a great partner and made a lot of the campaign happen." During the negotiations with "Survivor" producers, Murphy O'Brien leaned on the Nicaragua Institute of Tourism, as the organization assisted with procuring a helicopter through the country's government for scouting remote beaches. Nicaraguan tourism officials played an important part of the New York media tour, which included Laureano Ortega, son of the President of Nicaragua.

Winner's Profile: Based in Los Angeles, Murphy O'Brien serves clients in the luxury hospitality, real estate and lifestyle arenas. For the second year in a row, Murphy O'Brien ranked among the top 10 best places to work in Los Angeles among medium sized companies and one of the top independent public relations agencies in the country.