Cashing in on the rugby business

By GREG ANSLEY Herald correspondent

CANBERRA - New Zealand will be heads down in the scrum for business packing down around the World Cup in Australia.

Given increased presence by the power of the All Blacks and their chances of taking the Webb Ellis Cup from Australia, NZ Trade and Enterprise intends using the six-week competition to boost the country's potential at the top end of the business chain.

Working with the privately run World Rugby Business Club in Sydney and the Weary Dunlop Club in Melbourne - an assembly of some of the biggest names in corporate Australia - NZTE will push the image of New Zealand as a centre of excellence and innovation.

Main targets in the push are food and beverage, building, construction and engineering, and ICT and creative industries.

The drive already has internationally recognised platforms, among them - inevitably - The Lord of the Rings and its associated technology, which will be given another gentle push with previews of scenes from the finale to the trilogy, to be screened during a New Zealand day at the World Rugby Business Club on October 24.

Among former All Blacks and other sporting notables assembled to help promote New Zealand will be other celebrities, reported to include film director Jane Campion, actor Russell Crowe, Kiwi-born rock star Jon Stevens, and fellow singers John Rowles and Dinah Lee.

The drive has been pulled together by Sydney-based NZTE Australia and Pacific manager John Nicholson, in conjunction with Investment NZ and the Trans Tasman Business Circle.

Nicholson said the drive was more than a trade fair-type push for sales and markets.

It was aimed at raising New Zealand's profile during the cup campaign.

It will also emphasise networking and the casual contact-making that NZTE's Australian counterpart, Austrade, says opens the doors to more than half its nation's new exporters.

The New Zealand campaign will be focused on the World Rugby Business Club at Sydney Harbour's Overseas Passenger Terminal.

The club will be open on all match days until November 22, with giant screen TV, food and entertainment - and a discreet New Zealand theme throughout.

The big day for New Zealand falls on the day of the All Blacks-Tonga game, open to visitors at a day pass rate of A$150 ($174) - gold passes for the entire tournament are for A$2500 - complete with gourmet Kiwi food, wine and entertainment.

About 750 business guests are expected to attend.

Details are available by emailing ttbc@transtasmanbusiness.com.au.

The New Zealand roadshow moves to Melbourne on November 6, for a breakfast organised by NZTE and Investment NZ and hosted by the Weary Dunlop Club and the Victorian Rugby Union.

The Weary Dunlop Club holds functions attracting more than 1000 people to push rugby in a state besotted by Australian Rules, and is a key mover in the Australian Rugby Union's strategy of determined encroachment on the AFL and rugby league's market, revenue and sponsorships.

The club is pushing Victoria's claim for a fourth Super 12 team.

The breakfast costs A$75, and registrations are at the Victorian Rugby Union.

The cup's business potential has also been recognised by Austrade, which has drawn on its Olympics experience to form a separate Rugby Business Club Australia.

Its free membership has already topped 5700.

For Australia, the economic benefits and business potential are clear.

Although the cup has attracted fewer foreign visitors than expected, the 40,000 attending will spend more than Olympic travellers, and most other tourists, and will join about 100,000 Australians following games across the continent.

Net economic benefits for New South Wales are expected to reach A$350 million. Citibank estimates Queensland will gain an extra A$200 million and Victoria another A$100 million.

Marketing spending associated with the cup is forecast to exceed A$80 million, and cup broadcaster the Seven Network has made about A$40 million in advertising revenue.

But for New Zealand, which lost similar direct gains when it bungled its co-hosting deal with Australia, the biggest business potential lies in national exposure and corporate networking.

As well as the host of Australian giants who will be following the tournament and rubbing shoulders at social events, some leading international figures are heading south.

The list includes chairmen and senior executives of such groups as Coca-Cola, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro, UBS, AXA, Air France, Peugeot, Royal Bank of Canada, Gulf Air, Visa International, Walkers Shortbread and Diageo, whose labels include Guinness, Tanqueray and Smirnoff.

Other business groups will follow English, Welsh and Japanese games.

With the All Blacks as the icebreaker, it's a big pool for New Zealand business.

Key dates

OCTOBER 24

NZTE New Zealand promotion

All Blacks v Tonga

World Rugby Business Club, Sydney

A$150 a person


NOVEMBER 6

NZTE business breakfast

Weary Dunlop Club, Melbourne

A$75 a person