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Wool marketing stuck in 1995, industry warned

The wool sector is "marketing wool as it was 1995", according to comments written in the latest WoolProducers annual report. In his president's report, Steve Harrison wrote of the turbulent year wool had experienced, and made reference to the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress held in Lille, France this year. "There were pointed comments regarding the lack of certified wool compared to other countries, thus our wool wasn't the first option of purpose by China, and also that we are marketing wool as if it were 1995," he wrote. Reports that delegates at the IWTO Congress heard of a growing preference for South African wool from some Chinese buyers for reasons to do with certification schemes have already caused significant industry debate this year. Elaborating on his comments to ACM Agri, Mr Harrison said the need for wool marketing to modernise was highlighted in a Young Professionals presentation, which called for the industry to do more social media marketing on platforms such as TikTok. "There's a raft of platforms in China where the potential reach is 78 million people," he said. "In Australia, it could be four to six million for instance. "That was a real eye-opener for myself and others in the room, that we were marketing wool as if it was 1995. "It wasn't a direct shot at Australian Wool Innovation, but just at wool globally." Mr Harrison said he believed having more young people in wool marketing would be beneficial to tap into a younger consumer base. Wool Industries Australia chair David Michell, who was also present at the IWTO Congress, said selling evolves from generation to generation and wool was evolving too. "You can't stay and do what you always do, otherwise you get bypassed," he said. "There are many ways to sell, you can sell direct to the brands but if you're going to do that you have to be tech savvy, you have to be young, you have to be focused and it's more product-focused than fibre-focused. "The challenge with China as a major buyer is they are less brand-focused today, but that will change because they will be forced to. "My company, Michell, we talk direct to the brands and pull the fibre through, rather than try to push it through a spinning, weaving traditional way of doing it." Mr Michell said the Young Professionals presentation came as a "bolt from the blue from a young generation, saying 'hey, guys, you've got to get with it'". "I can't quite see how you would sell wool on TikTok, but maybe it's possible," he said. "It's just stretching the mind, that's all. "Is it an industry focus topic today? "Well, not really. Will it be? Probably, we have to work out how we sell things smarter." AWI's marketing arm Woolmark is already using social media platforms including TikTok to appeal to younger consumers, creating videos that have wracked up hundreds of thousands of views. A video associated with the Wear Wool Not Waste campaign of 2024 has been viewed 3.6 million times on TikTok.

Victoria Nugent •
Wool marketing stuck in 1995, industry warned

The wool sector is "marketing wool as it was 1995", according to comments written in the latest WoolProducers annual report. In his president's report, Steve Harrison wrote of the turbulent year wool had experienced, and made reference to the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress held in Lille, France this year. "There were pointed comments regarding the lack of certified wool compared to other countries, thus our wool wasn't the first option of purpose by China, and also that we are marketing wool as if it were 1995," he wrote. Reports that delegates at the IWTO Congress heard of a growing preference for South African wool from some Chinese buyers for reasons to do with certification schemes have already caused significant industry debate this year. Elaborating on his comments to ACM Agri, Mr Harrison said the need for wool marketing to modernise was highlighted in a Young Professionals presentation, which called for the industry to do more social media marketing on platforms such as TikTok. "There's a raft of platforms in China where the potential reach is 78 million people," he said. "In Australia, it could be four to six million for instance. "That was a real eye-opener for myself and others in the room, that we were marketing wool as if it was 1995. "It wasn't a direct shot at Australian Wool Innovation, but just at wool globally." Mr Harrison said he believed having more young people in wool marketing would be beneficial to tap into a younger consumer base. Wool Industries Australia chair David Michell, who was also present at the IWTO Congress, said selling evolves from generation to generation and wool was evolving too. "You can't stay and do what you always do, otherwise you get bypassed," he said. "There are many ways to sell, you can sell direct to the brands but if you're going to do that you have to be tech savvy, you have to be young, you have to be focused and it's more product-focused than fibre-focused. "The challenge with China as a major buyer is they are less brand-focused today, but that will change because they will be forced to. "My company, Michell, we talk direct to the brands and pull the fibre through, rather than try to push it through a spinning, weaving traditional way of doing it." Mr Michell said the Young Professionals presentation came as a "bolt from the blue from a young generation, saying 'hey, guys, you've got to get with it'". "I can't quite see how you would sell wool on TikTok, but maybe it's possible," he said. "It's just stretching the mind, that's all. "Is it an industry focus topic today? "Well, not really. Will it be? Probably, we have to work out how we sell things smarter." AWI's marketing arm Woolmark is already using social media platforms including TikTok to appeal to younger consumers, creating videos that have wracked up hundreds of thousands of views. A video associated with the Wear Wool Not Waste campaign of 2024 has been viewed 3.6 million times on TikTok.

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