MVA reviewing Saipanda campaign

The Marianas Visitors Authority is now reviewing its Saipanda campaign following the results of the survey conducted that only a small percentage of the Japanese respondents were aware of the existence of the Saipanda campaign.

According to Dave M. Sablan, Chair of the MVA Board, the tourism agency will make a decision soon on the direction of its marketing campaign based on the comments made by respondents in the survey.

Tokyo-based marketing firm K.K. Creative Assist was hired by MVA to evaluate the CNMI’s market share in Japan as well as determine the effectiveness of its advertising campaign after over one year of using Saipanda character.

The survey revealed that only 32.2 percent of the 1,000 Japanese surveyed are aware of the existence of Saipanda campaign in promoting the Northern Marianas to Japan.

Of this, 65.8 percent learned about it through television commercial, 34.2 percent through newspapers and magazines and 16.1 percent through flyers/travel pamphlets.

Japanese firm Dentsu 10 created the Saipanda mascot, a character which resemble a panda bear with a rhinoceros horn nose, symbolizing the male Japanese traveler who is a repeat visitor and crazy about Saipan.

In a move to reach a wider group of audience, the study covered 1,000 respondents in a street survey conducted in Tokyo and Osaka were between ages 18 to 64 years old. In addition, 10 groups of respondents were chosen for focus group interviews — those who have traveled to Saipan and those who have not been to Saipan but have traveled to other destinations.

Only 49.2 percent of the respondents who were interviewed in Narita Airport and about to leave for Saipan were aware of the Saipanda character.

Those who were interviewed at Saipan International Airport showed that 76 percent of the respondents know the Saipanda character. While respondents’ awareness of the Saipanda character increase by 26.8 percent on average during their visit, 24 percent of the visitors were still unaware of the existence of the mascot.

Forty-four percent of the respondents agreed that Saipanda has a strong impact but only 14.4 percent agreed that the Saipanda character matched with Saipan’s image.

The respondents added that the CNMI government should make sure that Saipan is a safe place for Japanese tourists, especially the women, family group tours and senior citizens who visit the island, according to a survey conducted by a Tokyo-based marketing firm. (LFR)