EXPORT CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY

March 6, 2008

In November the Campaign signed a new agreement with the federal Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research to “build export sales, by both existing and new exporters, using the (Australian Made, Australian Grown) logo”.

This is an exciting project for the Campaign and Australian exporters because it is all about further strengthening the impact of the symbol that for 21 years has helped build the presence of Australian goods in international markets.

The project will involve a series of promotional activities in selected overseas markets and also the domestic Australian market. Its success will be measured by the increase in sales of products using the logo in those markets. Embedding the logo into the export strategy of exporters and trade promoters such as Government and associations/grower groups, is the broader objective – establishing it as the de facto country of origin product symbol for Australia.

The project will run for three years and the initial countries identified in the grant deed include the USA, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. With funding and in-kind support from the Government, the Campaign and exporters, the project will total in the order of $5.4M over the 3 years.

Consideration will be given to alternative markets if opportunities are identified by the strategic partners the Australian Made, Australian Grown Campaign will be working with - subject to approval by the Department.

One such partner is Austrade and a range of retail promotions in high-end specialty food chains across the USA, to be supported by PR generated by another of the Campaign’s USA partners, Crocmedia, is already on the drawing boards. Information will be sent to all licensees as soon as the schedule is finalised.

The detail of the three year campaign is being developed now and information will be sent to licensees advising them of opportunities as they emerge. The Strategic plan can be downloaded by clicking here.

An early deliverable in the project is to accurately identify the export activities of Campaign licensees. A telephone survey to gather this information is being undertaken in late February.

LICENSEE EXPORT SURVEY

Licensees will shortly be contacted by telephone to take part in a survey about their export activities or intentions.

The survey is part of our export promotion project and will provide us with valuable information to better assist licensees market their products overseas. We are required to do this survey each year as part of our funding agreement with the federal Government.

The survey will only take about 5 minutes to complete. Companies participating in the survey will be placed in a draw to win an Australian made gourmet food hamper.

For more information, please call Lisa Crowe on 1800 350 520.