Harvest Newrybar.
Reinventing prestigious restaurant with new messaging.
The Brief.
In 2016, Harvest Newrybar restaurant, bakery and deli were keen to build their profile as a serious food offering in Byron Shire. They wanted to attract local, national and international food enthusiasts and place Australia’s media spotlight on the humble village of Newrybar. Harvest were looking for heavy-hitting national media coverage, localized community awareness, social media and overall public relations strategy. The locally sourced menu with native, foraged ingredients, and an all Australian wine-list were the key points we wanted to highlight.
The Tactics.
To secure media coverage and maximize impressions, we targeted local and national outlets in print, online and social media. We worked to secure stories, interviews and social media giveaways, as well as private media nights and influencer attendance at important events.
We created a Wild Harvest Guest Chefs series which generated a buzz within key food circles (chefs and media). The team also created a weekly social media campaign with regular photoshoots to tell the story of the community and portray Harvest as an enticing lifestyle brand.
The Results.
The Wild Harvest Chefs Series built momentum over 4 years, attracting 22 of the very best chefs in the country, including celebrated chef Ben Shewry from Attica, Collin Fassnidge and Anthony Puharich (Chef and the Butcher) and Monty Koludrovic (then Icebergs). The media coverage was outstanding and each month the series featured in renowned local, national and international titles, including regular appearances in Australia’s delicious, SMH Good Food, Gourmet Traveller, and Business Insider, among many others.
The chef series, alongside media stories on the chef and the forager, highlighted the abundance of food the Northern Rivers has to offer and assisted in raising the profile of Harvest, while attracting other media (food, drink, lifestyle, fashion) visiting the area. Results include a hat in the Good Food Guide, Delicious magazine NSW Top 100 restaurants #21, Gourmet Traveller Wine’s best small wine list for two consecutive years, and Young Gun of Wine WINESLINGER People’s Choice award.
The organic social media campaign (no ads) included regular photoshoots (models, food, styling, collaborating with local fashion brands), influencer outreach, give-aways, knowledgeable gardening tips, recipes, chef tips, profiling of chef, baker and forager, meet the community posts, event promotion, and saw the Instagram following increase by 55k (15k to 70k) over 4 years.
Other highlights included lunch at Harvest with my favourite OBE Raymond Blanc and features in Roads and Kingdoms (late Anthony Bourdain website), Forbes, ABC News, airline magazines for Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, London Evening Standard, Vacations magazine, Outback, 8-page recipe spreads in delicious. magazine (annually) and many more.
Marketing initiatives included monthly newsletters, building relationships with local accommodation concierge, updating website, ensuring restaurant is featured in all online listings with correct content, developing brand identify, seeking partnerships, arranging for chefs to demo at local and national food events (e.g. Noosa Food & Wine, Sample Food festival), and provide offers, content, and events based on monthly observances (e.g. Valentines Day, Australia Day).
Chef Series Line-Up.
1. Clayton Donovan (Jaaning Tree)
2. Darren Robertson & Mark LaBrooy (The Three Blue Ducks)
3. Phil Marchant & Cormac Bradfield (Gauge, Brisbane)
4. Mike McEnearney (No.1 Bent St & Kitchen By Mike, Sydney)
5. Ben Willis (Aubergine, Canberra)
6. Bruno Loubet (celebrity chef)
7. Martin Boetz (Cooks Co-op)
8. Collin Fassnidge and Anthony Puharich (Chef and the Butcher)
9. Justin James (Vue de Monde)
10. Scott Pickett (Estelle)
11. Duncan Welgemoed (Africola)
12. Zeb Gilbert (Wasabi)
13. Matt Crabbe (ECN Hospitality in Japan)
14. Jerry May (Annam)
15. Ben Shewry (Attica)
16. Artist Kirsha Kaechele and Chef Vince Trim (MONA)
17. Monty Koludrovic (Icebergs)
18. Joel Bickford (Aria)
19. Mitch Orr (ACME)
20. Hamish Ingham (Banksii)
21. Mitch Beswick and Troy Rhoades-Brown (Muse Dining)
22. Matt Golinski (celebrity chef)
