BrandBiz, June 2011, Issue 4

The launch of Tetsuda Wakuda’s Tasmanian-built wooden boat, Belle, at Franklin on the Huon River in June was a vivid illustration of the super chef’s star qualities. Brand Tasmania used the event to attract national and international journalists to Tasmania and millions of dollars of media exposure resulted. Stories about traditional Tasmanian boat-building skills and the beauty of Tasmanian timbers circled the globe. A Reuters journalist who previewed the event had her stories published in:

1. The global edition of the New York Times;
2. The International Herald-Tribune;
3. Edmonton Sun;
4. The Oman Observer;
5. 24 Hours Vancouver;
6. Toronto Sun;
7. London Free Press;
8. Yahoo World;
9. Reuters India;
10. Reuters UK;
11. Reuters Lifestyle News;
12. Yahoo! News UK & Ireland
13. Yahoo! India News

Thus, one well-chosen reporter was able to send Tasmania’s message to many millions of readers.

The Observer in London also carried a story.

Within Australia, all the major dailies and TV channels covered the event. Celebrated expatriate reporter and presenter, Ray Martin, contributed a segment of A Current Affair (and threw in a report on Brand member, Huon Aquaculture, while he was in the State). The ABC’s program, The Collectors, gave the launch substantial coverage.

In a short speech, the Premier, Lara Giddings, paid tribute to Tetsuya’s tireless advocacy for Tasmania over more than a decade. “As a Brand Ambassador he has spread the word about Tasmania’s fine produce around the world, creating priceless publicity for the State’s food industry and tourism as a whole.”

Tetsuya to deliver relief cheques

Tasmania’s Brand Ambassador, Tetsuya Wakuda, will deliver cheques to Japan’s three hardest-hit prefectures following a successful disaster relief fund-raiser in Hobart. The event on Monday, 2 May, was supported with generous sponsorship and donations from the private sector and was attended by 151 guests. Tickets were $500 a head, but one corporate sponsor preferred to pay $1,000 for himself and each of his nine guests. Auction items, which were all donated, raised around $75,000.

The event garnered a total of around $150,000 and Tetsuya is expected to take about $130,000 to Japan after GST has been paid. Local and national TV is expected to cover the presentation of cheques to community leaders in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, reinforcing the Tasmanian brand in one of our key markets.

To read more about the event, the donors and supporters see the item headed ‘Japan fund raiser to deliver $130,000’ at Newsletter, June 2011, Issue 117

YouTube passes 23,000 uploads

Brand Tasmania’s YouTube channel continues to be the State’s most popular, with uploads of its 38 short video clips passing 23,000 in June.

The channel is offering longer versions of many of the Brand Champion clips that have been run on Southern Cross TV in recent months. There are also cultural clips, including performances by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Hutchins String Quartet and gifted young violinist Astrid Sugden.”

Celebrity chef Tetsuya Wakuda continues to demonstrate his extraordinary drawing power with his cooking demonstration videos. One featuring wagyu beef has had more than 4,800 upload and ocean trout more than 3,700.

Following the successful YouTube initiative, Brand Tasmania introduced another website innovation; a live feed of breaking news items that is refreshed on a daily basis. The feed, a first for a Tasmanian website, has been well received.

Brand Tasmania’s Facebook attracts 2,000 users a month, with positive feedback from both national and international users.

National exposure for vegetable growers

The Tasmanian vegetable industry has achieved valuable interstate media exposure as a result of a Visiting Journalist Program exercise involving a five-day visit by five journalists. Reports on the Tasmanian food industry, with specific content on ocean trout, leatherwood honey and fresh and frozen vegetables, were carried by the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Country, the Australian Financial Review and other Fairfax newspapers. Magazines Mindfood, Country Style and Delicious all carried reports, as did the popular food blog Not Quite Nigella.

Brand Tasmania also supported an export market promotion of cherries by Reid Fruits in Japan and Korea. The highly successful mission enlisted two superstars in Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe and superchef Tetsuya Wakuda to maximise impact in the Japanese media.

Business law seminar is a sellout

Brand Tasmania members snapped up every seat at a seminar in March featuring Melbourne-based intellectual property law specialists Davies Collinson and Cave. More than 40 members, including a delegation from the north, attend the free seminar. Davies Collinson and Cave are among Australia’s most experienced practitioners in the field and also specialize in patent and trademark law.

As well as intellectual property issues, the seminar included a section on trade mark laws, including the protection of branding from competitors. An expert on patents also delivered a paper which was appreciated by attendees.

Value for money

Brand Tasmania has been involved in the delivery of business support services and media exposure with a value exceeding $4 million in 2010-11. The visiting journalist program has generated exposure valued at $3 million, while business support through Tetsuya Wakuda has been worth $800,000. There have been 882 Brand Champion spots televised with a value of $220,000. In addition, $130,000 was raised at the Japan disaster relief dinner.

During the same period Brand Tasmania received $235,000 in State Government funding.