26 April 2018 at 9:00 am
Prime Minister makes a cameo appearance in Lifeswap episode
ENZ was able to involve Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford in education events during their recent visit to Europe.
ENZ had commissioned episode 10 in the Lifeswap animated series, which sheds light on the lives of (German) Jörg and (Kiwi) Duncan and offers a playful look at the cultural misunderstandings that can crop up when they live and study in each other’s country.
Steffen explaining the many Jacinda mouths he had to animate
The episode has a special cameo from Ms Ardern who voiced a line for the episode. ENZ timed the launch of the episode with her visit to Berlin and nabbed the perfect guest for the launch – none other than Clarke Gayford.
Clarke Gayford chatting to William Connor and Steffen Kreft (slightly hidden) at the Lifeswap launch
To a cinema full of education agents, alumni and German students, Clarke shared anecdotes about studying overseas, Lifeswap creators and filmmakers Steffen Kreft and William Connor discussed their experience of studying in both countries, and ENZ’s Education Marketing Manager Europe, Olga Elli, spoke about the episode’s genesis.
A capacity crowd awaiting the episode to play
Covered in the Tagesspiegel and promoted on Study in New Zealand’s Facebook page (with more than 125,000 views as at 26 April), the animation is striking a chord.
To give the campaign further legs, the episode will be shown in over 70 university cinemas around Germany over the next two months, screening as a trailer before feature films.
Ms Ardern also visited the ENZ offices at the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin and agreed to be photographed with a kiwi soft toy (that lived in Olga’s office) to promote ENZ’s “Follow the Kiwi” scholarship aimed at German, French and Italian high school students.
Ms Ardern gifted this little kiwi to Chancellor Merkel when they met later in the day.
