It was a big week for the Bridestowe Lavender Farm.
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Owner Robert Ravens said both the team from Google Asia and a major Australian fashion house had been onsite on January 9 and 10.
“It was heroic, it’s been amazing,” he said.
Google Asia were onsite to create a program about Bridestowe and its impact on the North-East.
The Google team had been in the state previously when famous Japanese chef Hal Yamashita visited.
They wrapped up their filming at the farm on Thursday afternoon.
“Bridestowe spends a great deal of its time on talking to the world, and talking about Northern Tasmania and the estate and the wonderful things that you can do in the area,” he said.
“This will just be sensational, because it will cover all of South-East Asia and it’s driven by Google.
“It dragged the community in – it talked about locals, interviewed the locals and a famous Japanese chef who came and visited.
“The story will be put to bed in Tokyo and then it will be released in South-East Asia, which is just amazing.”
Mr Ravens said its reach would be extraordinary.
“It’ll have a phenomenal number of eyeballs looking at it,” he said.
Mr Ravens said at the same time, an Australian fashion house had been at the farm “filming away” for its new release collection.
It’s thrilling, isn’t it? You spend your whole life trying to build this momentum and suddenly it’s been realised.
- Robert Ravens
While the brand name was still under wraps, Mr Ravens said it was described as being aimed toward forward-thinking, independent, empowered women.
“It was just a blast. Up at 4am for photography, and then to bed late,” he said.
“The release will touch a demographic that we find hard to get to, which is wealthy women with a global outlook.”
Mr Ravens said both campaigns were talking about the broader context of Tasmania, and more specifically the North-East.
“It’s exposure that is rare, and you have to just capture the moment and run with it,” he said.
“We’ve not sought these kinds of markets before.
“It was marvellous.”
He said it was amazing to see so much interest in the farm, both from companies and visitors.
“It’s thrilling, isn’t it? You spend your whole life trying to build this momentum and suddenly it’s been realised,” he said.
“December was up 18 per cent on the previous December in visitor numbers, and January to date is up 30 per cent. It’s unheard of,” he said.
“We’ve seen more than 12,000 visitors every day at the moment.
“They’re happy, and the farm is coping wonderfully.
“It’s a feel good year.”
Both campaigns were expected to be released later in the year.