Government names $20m Building Brand Australia shortlist
STW Group, M&C Saatchi, Sapient Nitro and George Patterson Y&R, in partnership with Landor, have been shortlisted for the Federal Government’s $20m Building Brand Australia initiative.
The shortlist was selected from an initial list of more than 60 “interested” agencies, and the agencies will now go head-to-head in pitching for the business which aims to reposition Australia’s international image. The four-year creative contract, worth an estimated $4m, aims to improve the country’s global trade relations as well as encourage investment and education opportunities in Australia, and will complement any advertising activity from Tourism Australia, currently handled by DDB, which is focussed solely on attracting holidaymakers.
Theresa Fairman, program manager of the Building Brand Australia program, said the agency’s proposals will include “ideas on ensuring that Australia is globally recognised as the strong, fair, future focused and unique nation that it is.” She added the newly formed Building Brand Australia Business Advisory Board, including Woolworths CEO Michael Luscombe and Lion Nathan CEO Rob Murray has been consulted on the short list and supports the evaluation panel’s recommendations.
The pitch panel, chaired by Austrade, includes senior representatives from Tourism Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Advisory Broad will again be consulted following the agency presentations.
The successful agency is set to be announced in February next year, with the international launch of the new brand timed for the Shanghai Expo in May 2010.
