The Brief:

Barking Owl Communications was retained to co-ordinate the launch events for the new Wineglass Bay Sail Walk on behalf of the Tasmanian Walking Company (TWC). The objectives were to create awareness and excitement for the new experience.
 

The Approach:

We staged two events – one in Sydney for key media and one in Hobart – as a community relations initiative for key industry stakeholders.  We engaged a creative agency to plan, style and design all the elements of both events, which were aptly held at waterfront locations in both cities. Every aspect of the event planning and delivery process followed the nature theme and TWC branding; from the invitation design, name tags, props, gift bags, floral arrangements made up of maritime articles and earthy elements, through to the menu choice which reflected the light, healthy style of the walk menus. A professional photographer was hired to capture both events and the agency prepared an extensive media kit which was distributed to the media on USB sticks.
 

The Results:

• Media coverage resulting from the event launches included the following consumer titles; Australian Gourmet Traveller, Fairfax Media, House & Garden, 2GB radio, Mercedes Benz magazine, Qantas The Australian Way, Australian Traveller, Luxury Travel e-newsletter, Virgin Australia’s Voyeur, Women’s Fitness, Australian Geographic, Hobart Mercury.

• We also gained coverage in industry trade titles; Travel Talk, Karry On, Travel Today and Travel Daily.

• Our successful event management was the catalyst for developing a consistent stream of media visits to experience the sail walk, delivering a continuous stream of media coverage and leading to a sell-out opening season.