Tourism Australia: Restaurant Australia

Credits & Description:

Client: TOURISM AUSTRALIA
Product: TOURISM AUSTRALIA
Product/Service: TOURISM AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency: CLEMENGER BBDO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency 2 :: TOURISM AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production Company: ZOOM FILM & TELEVISION Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Executive Creative Director: Paul Nagy (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Creative Director: Luke Hawkins (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Art Director: Dan White (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Copywriter: Rees Steel, Simon Gibson (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Agency Producer: Lisa Brown (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Producer: Steve Tindall (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Head of Account Management: Emily Perrett (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Senior Account Director: Aleks Allen (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Snr Account Manager: Melanie Spence (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Executive Planning Director: Al Crawford (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Snr Planning Director: Rob Dougan (Clemenger BBDO Sydney)
Director: Mark Toia (Zoom Film and Television)
Producer: Keri Grant (Zoom Film and Television)
Producers: James Whitehill & Matt Chee
Photographer: Adrian Brown
PR Agency: Mango Australia
Managing Director, Melbourne: Elly Hewitt (Mango Australia)
Group Business Director- Head of Tourism, Melbourne: Louise Laing (Mango Australia)
Senior Account Manager, Melbourne: Samantha Vassos (Mango Australia)
Managing Director, Sydney: Claire Salvetti (Mango Australia)
Account Director, Sydney: Melanie Jack (Mango Australia)
Account Manager, Sydney: Julian Rosenberg (Mango Australia)
Experiential Production Agency: Mango Australia
Head of Experiential, Melbourne: Ben Barrett-Boyes (Mango Australia)
Executive Producer, Melbourne: Gemma Lahney (Mango Australia)
Senior Producer, Melbourne: Holly O'Connell (Mango Australia)
Head of Experiential, Sydney: Brooke Pilton (Mango Australia)
Production Director, Sydney: Michael Ozard (Mango Australia)
Chief Marketing Officer: Nick Baker (Tourism Australia)
General Manager, Consumer Marketing: Matt McInnes (Tourism Australia)
Global Marketing Communications Manager: Emily Hill (Tourism Australia)
Restaurant Australia Project Manager: Monica Armesto (Tourism Australia)
Describe the campaign/entry:
In early 2014, Australia was not famous for great food and wine. The world knew if they visited they could expect amazing scenery and wildlife but had no idea what would be on the menu. And to put it bluntly, they didn’t expect much.
With “food and wine” as the third biggest driver of choice for international tourism destinations (source: Tourism Australia Consumer Demand Project, 2013), it was hugely important that we educated people on what they were missing out on.
The “Restaurant Australia’ campaign reframed Australia as a the biggest and best restaurant on earth. It showcased our incredible culinary offerings with an enormous global campaign spanning film, print, digital social media, and most crucially, a hugely successful PR event, “Invite the world to dinner” at Hobart’s MONA.
“Invite the world to dinner” saw 86 international influencers attend a spectacular event at one of Australia’s most stunning and talked about tourist attractions, reaching 1.36bn global foodies with the raft of content, programs and articles written about the event and the country’s now famous food and wine.
Describe the brief from the client:
Our task for the entire Restaurant Australia campaign was to close the gap between perception and reality of Australian food and wine and in doing so:
1. Add $200m to food, wine and beverage expenditure
2. Drive growth in visitation to Australia for food and wine experiences from 2% annual growth over the last 3 years to 5% annual growth by 2020
We knew that “Invite the world to dinner” event was critical to borrow credibility and reach from the biggest names in the global food and wine scene.
Results:
Our 86 international guests have reached 1.36bn global food lovers with a raft of content, programs and articles written about the event and the Australia’s incredible cuisine.
Media clippings exceeded 1,600 with a reach of over 66million.
#RestaurantAustralia was used over 55,000 times.
Since the broader campaign launched, food and wine spending has increased $434m to $4.6bn, we’ve seen a 21% lift in consideration of Australia as a holiday with great local cuisine among those who saw the advertising, and a 22% lift in consideration of Australia for a holiday in the next two years.

The most invaluable result was the genuine advocacy that can’t truly be measured.
One-man mega-brand, Heston Blumenthal said “I’ve never seen a food explosion happening in any country in the world like it happened here”
Simply put, we’re well on the way to dispelling the myth that all we cook is shrimp on the barbie.
Execution:
On arrival to Australia influencers embarked on individual ‘famil’ tours around the country, taking in food and wine experiences across every state and territory. Working with Australia’s most talented chefs, winemakers and producers, guests enjoyed a bespoke journey sharing their stories with over 400million along the way.
The famil journey intersected on a grand finale which saw influencers gather in Hobart for a spectacular gala event. Hosted by Restaurant Australia’s Head Chefs, Peter Gilmore, Neil Perry AM and Ben Shewry, the progressive dinner culminated at MONA, fusing the best Australian produce and culinary talent with a breathtaking landscape, incredible architecture and a perfect storm of culinary influence.
The Situation:
Australian food and wine is constantly underestimated. This is a significant opportunity as “ good food and wine” is the third biggest driver biggest driver of choice for international tourism destinations (source: Tourism Australia Consumer Demand Project, 2013),
Among those who haven’t visited, only 26% of people believe we have a “good food and wine offering”. Among those who have, we rank between culinary giants France (1st) and Italy (3rd), with 60% associating the destination with food and wine. Our task was to close the gap between perception and reality.
The Strategy:
We invited the right people to take a seat at the table. In a world driven by influence and opinion, guests needed to be able to inspire and inform. We recruited 86 global food and wine influencers from all over, including Alice Waters, Heston Blumenthal, Sanjeev Kapoor, A.A.Gill, Chef Wan and Eric Ripert. Each was chosen for their extensive reach and credible influence in their respective fields and geographic regions.
The influence these food Gods wield goes well beyond just ‘foodies’ but across almost all global audiences. Jamie Oliver was the second most popular author in the world in 2012 behind JK Rowling for example. Our ‘Global Experience Seekers’ especially admire these passionate industry experts.
This earned advocacy would deliver Australia credibility in a way no advertising spend could. And in a way any new restaurant would – by inviting people in. In an experience like never before, we would Invite The World To Dinner.