The National Australia Bank (NAB) celebrated the success stories of some of their agribusiness clients at their annual calendar launch on Wednesday night.
The theme of the launch was business branding, which all 13 clients who feature in this year’s calendar have worked incredibly hard to build.
NAB agribusiness general manager Khan Horne said brand awareness is a crucial part of achieving business success.
“It’s all about branding,” Mr Horne said.
“You’ve got to build up a reputation and awareness of your business.”
He said logos and storytelling are great ways to go about this.
Mr Horne interviewed six of the clients who feature in this year’s calendar, and got them to explain how they had built up their brands to date.
Grant Ryan, Cape Grim Beef, TAS, said despite beef being in his family for six generations, he’s worked really hard to be known by name.
“We’ve worked really hard, particularly in the last 10 years, to be able to offer a top quality product that people would ask for by name,” Mr Fleming said.
Tim Rudge, Yumbah, Narrawong, is the general manager of the largest producer of abalone in the southern hemisphere.
Mr Rudge, who is this year’s calendar’s cover star, said his major focus is “the growing of things”.
“Branding is something that we’re embarking on more and more, but it’s all about being able to offer a quality product,” he said.
“We’re focused on quality and supply.”
John O’Hara, Sunny Queen Eggs, Carole Park, QLD, markets and distributes over one billion eggs a year.
Mr O’Hara said he had to work out how to best differentiate his brand from the rest of the market.
“We decided we’d put smiley faces on all of our eggs, so when you opened up a carton, you’d have 12 eggs smiling back at you,” he said.
“Our key value is happiness.”
Similarly to Mr O’Hara, Marie Piccone, Manbulloo Mangoes, QLD, said her company’s objective is to make millions of happy summers for Australians.
“Our brand is all about summer, and mangoes are the taste of summer,” Ms Piccone said.
“We’ve worked really hard to build our brand, and I believe we have the best mango team in Australia, and maybe even the world.”
Peter Barry, Jim Barry Wines, Clare Valley, SA, said he was lucky enough to be born into the wine industry.
“We love making wine, it brings pleasure to so many people,” Mr Barry said.
He said building a brand is all about relationships.
“It’s about having fun, over delivering, and looking after customers,” he said.
Michael Hope, Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW, is also in the wine business.
Unlike Mr Barry, Mr Hope said he didn’t have the benefits of family history.
“We had to figure out how we would stand out in an industry that already had so many established contributors,” Mr Hope said.
“So we decided we’d build an amphitheatre.”
Mr Hope has hosted numerous big acts, and has since put a brewery into his operation too.
“The industry is bloody hard, but I’m doing what I love,” he said.
The six guests were asked to describe their brand in a few, short words.
Mr Ryan from Cape Grim Beef said “quality”.
Mr Rudge from Yumbah said “guarantee, supply and sustainability”.
Mr O’Hara from Sunny Queen Eggs said “happiness”.
Ms Piccone from Manbulloo Mangoes said “taste of an Australian summer”.
Mr Barry from Jim Barry Wines said “consistency”.
And Mr Hope from Hope Estate said “unique experiences”.
