Australian Wool Innovation chair defends marketing millions ahead of meetings with industry groups this week

Australian Wool Innovation chair Jock Laurie has defended the organisation’s multi-million-dollar marketing budget ahead of strategic planning meetings with industry groups this week after recent research showed it had little impact on farmers’ wool prices. The woolgrower-funded organisation is kicking off meetings with about nine different industry groups in Sydney this week as it works to create its next five-year strategic plan before the 2022-2025 version becomes outdated later this year. Among those being consulted this week is WoolProducers Australia, which last month released a report it had commissioned casting doubt over the impact of AWI’s marketing campaigns on growers’ wool prices. Mr Laurie acknowledged the difficult conditions affecting woolgrowers across the country — including the low wool price and rising cost of shearing — saying the market was “simply not allowing wool growers to make a profit”. However, he doubled down on the importance of continuing to invest in marketing wool as a superior fibre worldwide. “I feel the pain that every other woolgrower feels right now,” Mr Laurie said. “As the AWI chair, I feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that everyone in the supply chain can be in a profitable position. “We have had to spend a lot of money defending the right to grow wool, to educate people in the parliaments, to educate people in the communities, which is the reason we put the campaigns together.” Mr Laurie claims AWI has spent $369 million on marketing during the past 10 years, while WoolProducers believes the sum spent is $500m. In releasing the report, compiled by Episode 3, WoolProducers president Steve Harrison said farmers were being “squeezed” by ongoing depressed wool prices and increasing production costs — with many choosing to sell their Merino flocks as a result. Mr Laurie plans to meet with more than 44 grower representatives from the Woolgrowing Consultation Group and the Wool Industry Consultation panel, giving members the chance to “discuss their views on the company’s priorities”. Organisations represented on the panel include the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders, Australian Superfine Wool Growers Association, Australian Wool Growers Association, and WoolProducers, among others. The meetings come as a dramatic drop in Australia’s forecast wool production and shorn sheep numbers this year is expected to put pressure on AWI’s new strategy and levy spending plans in 2024-2025. The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee has forecast the country will produce 279.4 million kilograms of wool and shear 63.2 million sheep in 2024-25 — the lowest figure since 1903, when the national flock was 54 million. Mr Laurie said AWI’s marketing budget was divided three ways: into a “defensive campaign”, “awareness style campaign”, and bolstering “supply and demand”. “The campaign is about defending growers’ reputation, clearly putting facts out there into the environment to make sure that people are properly educated,” he said. “We also can clearly demonstrate investment in marketing in China is driving more sales.” Mr Laurie pointed to AWI’s Wear Wool, Not Waste campaign which clocked up more than 68 million views worldwide, as an example of effective marketing. “We believe in the product, we believe in the industry, and we know there’s a bright future ahead,” he said.