Was that volcano the best ad campaign ever?

So I’m miffed that I didn’t get to speak at the London Book Fair thanks to that bloody volcano, known in South Africa as Ekkisvokkengatvol. But there’s a silver lining to this particular ash cloud, at least for a cold, windblown piece of rock in the middle of nowhere.

In fact, I’m wondering if this might not be the most brilliant ad campaign ever.

Think about it. Everybody is talking about Iceland. Everybody knows Iceland has at least one active volcano, and pretty much everyone has seen amazing footage of the eruption. In just one week, this obscure island, populated by descendants of the sort of people featured in How to Train Your Dragon, has achieved top of mind awareness and a clear positioning — and all without their tourism people having to spend a cent. Even if Mother Nature wrote the copy and took care of the art direction, that’s great advertising.

This eruption is also very useful because it offers a magnificent distraction from that awkward Icesave debacle. Before, a lot of people in Europe would have associated Iceland with collapsed banks and frozen assets, but now everyone associates it with, well, a massive cloud of volcanic ash. “Iceland heard it wrong: they were meant to send cash not ash” is a common tweet, but a lot of potential visitors outside of Europe won’t have a clue about Iceland’s involvement in the global financial meltdown and the worst recession since the Great Depression.

They’ll just think it’s like totally amazing man.

Top of mind awareness matters a lot in marketing, and small, obscure countries like Iceland battle to market themselves as tourist destinations. How do you go up against France or Italy when you’re a cold, windblown rock in the middle of nowhere? Talk about your unique cuisine, based on sheep and whale meat? Your pleasant climate, averaging highs of 13 degrees in summer? Your landscape devoid of trees? Iceland’s best chance of attracting visitors is to appeal to the kind of traveller who is looking for adventure — and nothing says adventure like “active volcano”.

The official tourism website informs us that “Iceland is far closer than you think and far different than you imagined”. In addition to whales and rock formations, it also offers sheep, puffins and very pale, red-haired children as reasons to visit. So I really do hope that the marketing brains in Iceland recognise this opportunity for what it is. Remind the thrill-seekers of this world that they have a whole lot of really cool volcanoes, perfect for the new extreme sport of volcano boarding.

There are those who disagree, and say that overall, perceptions of Iceland will be more negative as a result of the travel chaos and frustration. “The Ash Crisis” as Sky News has breathlessly branded it. But I’m not sure that Iceland should get the blame for a natural event that was completely beyond anyone’s control.

Besides, as disasters go, this one was remarkably benevolent. Yes, it caused massive inconvenience. All told it will cost businesses ranging from airlines to cut flowers and salmon billions. The South Africa programme at the London Book Fair was a disaster because most of us couldn’t get there.

But nobody died. Osama Bin Laden was not involved, as far as anyone can tell. And there’s nothing anyone can do when nature reminds us of its power. So, while many thousands have been tearing their hair out waiting, many millions are sending each other YouTube links and tweeting about how amazing the footage is. Amazing: that’s the word that comes up most often when people talk about that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland. Not a bad word to be associated with.

The final test of the campaign will be whether visitor numbers increase. Used wisely, this unexpected PR bonus could position Iceland as a must-visit adventure and extreme sport destination. I’m not sure that I’ll rush off to book online just yet — I’m still counting the cost of the ticket to London — but all of this coverage has prompted me to do a whole lot of research into a country that meant little to me until now.

Not too many people thought about Iceland before. Now, nobody will ever think of Iceland in quite the same way again.

That’s great advertising.