Promote Iceland’s ‘Ask Guomundur’ service goes mobile
Promote Iceland has dubbed tourism ambassador Guðmundur Magnus Kristjansson the world’s first human search engine off the back of his travels to London and Paris this week to answer questions on his beloved country in a bid heighten interest in the volcanic-forged landscape.
The 59 year-old port master and former fisherman set up his ‘Ask Guðmundur’ desk in the heart of Paris and London where he offered curious passersby his insider knowledge on all things Iceland.
Creative agencies The Brooklyn Brothers and Islenska were behind the campaign which promotes Guðmundur as the “human search engine”. It was created for Promote Iceland, a public-private initiative designed to improve the competitiveness of Icelandic companies in foreign markets and to stimulate economic growth through increased export.
It is the latest installment within its Icelandic tourism campaign which kicked off earlier this year with online videos of Guðmundur answering questions about Iceland that were submitted through #AskGudmundur.
This one's for you @Justinbieber. #AskGudmundur #IllShowYou #Iceland
A video posted by Inspired by Iceland (@inspiredbyiceland) on
While in London, Guðmundur set up his human search engine table at Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge, giving potential tourists insider recommendations and tips.
Inga Hlín Pálsdóttir, director of tourism and creative industries at Promote Iceland, said it was “overwhelmed with the response from people all over the world” for the ‘Ask Guðmundur’ campaign when it launched in the spring.
Pálsdóttir added when Promote Iceland was creating its winter campaign idea “it made complete sense to extend the Guðmundur campaign into mobile for more people to interact and enjoy”.
The campaign has resulted in over 1,000 questions being answered in the form of videos, tweets or images and the campaign video has received over 2.4 million views.