L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival appoints GPY&R Melb to handle creative, digital + media

Melbourne Fashion Festival Ltd. (MFF), the not-for-profit organisation that owns and delivers the ‘L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival’ annually, is delighted to confirm the appointment of Melbourne based George Patterson Y&R (GPY&R) to manage the creative, digital and media requirements for Australia’s largest consumer fashion, beauty, business and cultural event.

The Festival supports and connects the Australian fashion and creative industries, showcases and amplifies designers locally and globally while inspiring consumers and celebrating retailers.  In 2013 the Festival experienced its most successful year to date and achieved over $63 million dollars worth of audited media coverage.

Commencing in September this year, the newly appointed agency will use the Festival’s respected capabilities, international outreach and local activation to launch into exciting new territories that will further develop the Festival’s digital reach and consumer interaction. This appointment establishes a strong platform to develop retail tourism that will in turn provide economic success for Australia’s fashion and creative industries, retailers and the Festival’s invested stakeholders.

GPY&R will develop the Festival’s marketing creative development under the leadership of award winning chief creative officer for Australia and New Zealand, Ben Coulson as well as develop a range of new communication channels and an enhanced digital and social media framework utilising the vast all-of-agency resources.

Says Graeme Lewsey, Festival CEO: “Through a rigorous and widespread agency tender process to match our aspirations, we are excited to appoint GPY&R.  We are extremely impressed with the breadth and depth of talent at GPY&R, the agency’s immense creative credentials and its access to a global network. We’re looking forward to working with the team at GPY&R to fulfill our long-term future strategic vision. It is also important to note that we feel extremely privileged to have enjoyed a rewarding partnership with the incumbent agency Paper Stone Scissors and that agency has been instrumental in assisting the Festival brand grow to its current position.”

Says Steve Doherty, Y&R group managing director: “We’re very excited to work with such an innovative and dynamic client. The Festival’s prestigious positioning and long track record of outstanding results presents a fantastic challenge and offers inspiring, highly creative work that we will approach with a fully integrated approach. We are extremely honoured to have been selected and look forward to showcasing our work in the very near future”.

The Festival is a Victorian Major Event and it showcases Australia’s finest design talent, stimulates retail, facilitates industry investment, promotes tourism, creative culture and is a powerful advocate for the Australian fashion industry around the world.

The L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival will return for the month of March in 2014 with a style-packed program of cultural events and its core schedule of fashion, beauty and business events running from the 17 – 23 March.