Melbourne Food and Wine Festival appoints Town Square as lead creative agency

Full service agency Town Square has been appointed as lead creative agency for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (MFWF) following a competitive three way pitch.

As the event enters its 28th year, Food and Wine Victoria appointed the Melbourne independent agency to manage all campaign creative, production and strategy.

Taking place between 19 and 29 March, the 141-year-old Queen Victoria Market will become the new festival hub in 2019 and will host a series of signature events, plus talks and presentations from local talent and international guests. In November, the Victorian Government announced a new four-year funding deal for the festival, which will also include a dedicated festival in regional Victoria to be launched this spring.

Town Square previously worked with Food and Wine Victoria on the inaugural Global Table event last year which brought together leading Australian agrifood events under one umbrella to address our biggest food challenges. It has also partnered with The Bloody Good Dinner, a charity event to raise funds for blood cancer and bone marrow failure, for a number of years.

Says Justine Lally, marketing and sales director at MFWF: “The Town Square team are a delight to work with. Their approach, in first thoroughly understanding our customer and the consumer need, combined with their key insights from the marketplace, provides the foundation for a strong and robust brand strategy and campaign approach.”

Says Danielle Moeller, founder and director at Town Square: “As an agency of foodies and wine lovers we’re delighted to have been appointed to work on the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. It is an iconic event which builds on our extensive experience in tourism and hospitality and we look forward to helping grow it further.”

The appointments by MFWF comes as former The Brand Agency executive, Alison Ray, joins Town Square as general manager responsible for driving business development and overseeing digital strategy and digital and social campaign work.

Town Square works with clients including APT Group, Visit Ballarat, Sovereign Hill and Chervon.