For the first time ever, key PR initiatives for the Margaret River Gourmet Escape were funded by several partners, including IMG, Tourism WA, Audi Australia, as well as Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association and Australia’s South West, an agreement secured by our public relations partnership with Sydney-based PR agency, St Creative.
The outcomes of this aligned PR approach were truly impressive.
Media Coverage Milestones
Coverage achieved in Australia, Singapore and online includes:
- Total Clips – print, online, TV, radio: 1,247
- Total Circulation – print, online, broadcast, social reach: 114,694,825
IMG, Tourism WA and Margaret River tourism worked in collaboration to provide 50 Food, Wine & Lifestyle media with a gift box of wine to celebrate the 2nd round event announcement (Sept 2017) and the 50th Anniversary of the Margaret River Wine region.
As a result of the outreach, coverage was achieved in Fairfax (Life & Leisure and WA Today) and news.com.au; as well as positive feedback from influencers including Lisa Wilkinson, Natalie Barr, Kate Ritchie and Today Show production.
Televised Appearances
Instead of engaging with one media outlet for Domestic Broadcast we took the approach to ‘own’ a crew on the ground.
Positive outcomes from this approach include:
- 12 x Weekend Sunrise weather crosses on location, valued at $1.5 million to an audience of between 100,000 & 530,000 (depending on the time of the cross).
- 6 x Sunrise WA News stories & 2 x GWN regional news stories to an audience of 371,000 people in Western Australia
- 6 x Facebook Live streams (utilisingsatellite technology to facilitate clear broadcast from remote locations).
- All parties have access to broadcast quality raw footage for PR and social use.
At Event Social Activity
Given the satellite technology we had access to, we were able to Facebook Live stream from event locations with limited mobile/wifi reception
Over the weekend, 6 ‘events’ were broadcast:
- Curtis Stone Community Event
- Audi Beach BBQ with Curtis Stone
- Audi Beach BBQ with Rick Stein
- Gourmet Escape Chef ‘Speed Date’ with Matt Okine
- James Tobin & Lincoln Lewis at ‘Giniversity’ (Village on Saturday)
- Jancis Robinson from the Lilydale Mainstage (Village on Sunday)
Other social activity at the event included famil support for high-profile Travel Blogger @youngadventuress; influential food critic @johnleathlean; Instragram stories on @Australia; Garry Norris, Jewelszee and social exposure through chef and talent channels.
