AUSTRALIAN Wool Innovation has released a new campaign promoting Merino wool to Australians on television, radio and social media.

The grower levy-funded research, development and marketing company said the campaign wanted to remind Australians the world’s best Merino wool is produced right here.

AWI chief executive officer John Roberts said the campaign has two aims.

“We want to shine the light not only on the world’s best fibre, but the tens of thousands of men and women who grow it.

“Many remote, rural and regional communities continue to be supported by Australian wool growing, with more than 60,000 Australian wool growers and many tens of thousands more working in the industry,” he said.

“These are the people who grow your clothes, who grow the best wool in the world.

“We also want to remind Australians to go out and support their industry by choosing Australian Merino wool products,” he said.

“The Aussie wool grower is the unsung hero of the sustainable fashion and sports movement, and we are seeing an increase in demand for Australian Merino wool as brands transition towards more sustainable and circular products.

“Wool used to dominate the performance sector in the 1950s, but was replaced by cheaper, synthetic alternatives in the 1960s,” Mr Roberts said.

“Yet no other fibre – natural or man-made – can mimic all of Merino wool’s innate performance abilities including breathability, thermoregulation and moisture wicking properties.

The 30-sec advertisement will be rolled out across free-to-air and digital TV as well as a robust social media campaign to remind the tens of thousands of wool growers that their passion and livelihood is an integral part of Australia’s economy.”

The campaign will include a 30-second video – view the video here, three 15-second digital TV ads, two 6-second social cut downs, a selection of stills, a radio campaign on the Sports Entertainment Network, a social media component – Instagram and Facebook, and a digital and free-to-air TV campaign the Channel 10 and Channel 9 rural networks.

AWI can’t disclose ‘modest’ campaign budget

Mr Roberts said the domestic campaign is something the board as well as the Woolgrower Industry Consultation Panel, the Woolgrower Consultation Group and wool growers more generally have spoken about for some time.

He said AWI works towards more wool being sold all over the world.

“99 percent of Australian wool is exported.

“A small amount of that comes back into Australia as items sold here as well,” he said.

“But the biggest volume of Australian wool is sold in China, Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom,” Mr Roberts said.

“Of course, we want more wool purchases here in Australia but compared to our major markets Australia is small.”

When asked if AWI expected to get any international value out of the campaign, Mr Roberts said: “This is a domestic campaign only.”

“If the video or stills are shared internationally via social media that is an added bonus.”

Mr Roberts said the campaign ad is the first of this kind in more than 25 years.

“While we cannot disclose the budget it is very modest.”

AWI said through droughts, fires and floods Australia’s wool growers continue to produce a natural fibre perfect for the demands of modern living and support tens of thousands of Australians through its global demand.

“A fibre like no other, Merino wool is super soft yet strong, natural yet high-performing, and its range of inherent eco-credentials such as renewability and biodegradability affirm its position as a technically advanced environmentally friendly fibre of choice.”

Australia is the world’s largest supplier of Merino wool, producing 90pc of all wool used for fine apparel. The campaign is presented by AWI’s marketing arm The Woolmark Company.

WooProducers Australia chief executive officer Jo Hall said AWI has spoken about the domestic campaign for a while and the peak grower body was aware of it.

“WoolProducers are supportive of this approach emphasising some of the benefits of wool to an Australian market.

“We look forward to seeing the monitoring and evaluation after a certain timeframe to objectively assess the success or otherwise of this campaign.”

Source – AWI.