Waterfront forum is the next frontier

The ongoing marketing discussion intensified this month after the inaugural Melbourne Waterfront Forum was jointly hosted by the Yarra River Business Association (YRBA) and the Docklands Chamber of Commerce (DCC).

The forum was held on Wednesday, October 17, a day after Southbank Local News went to print, but prior to the meeting we spoke to keynote speaker John Gundesen. Mr Gundesen is the communications and marketing manager for Waterfront Auckland.

Mr Gundesen said he wouldn’t be coming to the forum to tell Melbourne’s waterfront how to operate, but to explain how and why Waterfront Auckland had been so successful for the marketing of its area.

“I think there are some lessons we have learned which we are happy to share and may have some value. We have either stumbled upon or unearthed these learnings from our robust and considered design process,” Mr Gundesen said.

“It’s up to the powers-that-be in Melbourne to take whatever ideas or processes they think best, are most relevant and may work.”

Mr Gundesen stressed that it was really important in Auckland to articulate the marketing ideas it wanted to pursue clearly, before effective action could be taken.

“It wasn’t until we were able to clearly articulate the vision and coalesce this into a common objective that real momentum was achieved,” he said.

Both the YRBA and DCC are hoping this forum is the first step to clearly outlining the needs and wants from a marketing perspective of Melbourne’s waterfront.