MasterChef Australia and Crown Resorts have launched a new pop-up restaurant called ALUMNI at Crown Melbourne.
ALUMNI will see a rotating cast of MasterChef Australia alumni serve dishes at the pop-up restaurant for a limited time.
Each ALUMNI chef will take up a rotating residency for three weeks, commencing with Kishwar Chowdhury (16 May-2 June), then Callum Hann (6-23 June) and Khanh Ong (27 June-14 July), with a surprise fourth MasterChef Australia chef to be announced in late June.
The restaurant is a collaboration between media agency Initiative, integrated creative agency Mediabrands Content Studio, Paramount Brand Studio, and Endemol Shine Australia. ALUMNI is the latest launch to support Crown’s brand platform “Here’s Where Things Get Interesting”, which rolled out in September 2023.
Rod Prosser, chief sales officer, Paramount Australia, said this announcement is breaking new ground for the MasterChef franchise.
“The Paramount Brand Studio team has amplified this audience opportunity and worked closely with our partners to create a remarkable brand extension and experience like nothing we’ve seen before in Australia.
“It’s a direct hit with consumer desire and we can’t wait for Australians to see, smell, touch and taste MasterChef Australia at ALUMNI.”
“There’s media sponsorships, brand collaborations and then there’s audacious ideas like this,” added Chris Colter, chief strategy and product officer at Initiative. “Both these iconic brands have more than come to the table, harnessing their entire experience ecosystems to maximise the cultural and commercial potential of this partnership.
“I couldn’t be more proud to see this come to life, and have already reserved my table at ALUMNI.”
Awareness of ALUMNI will be driven via the MasterChef Australia franchise including integrated billboards, a social campaign across all platforms, in-house promotion throughout Crown venues in Perth and Sydney and the launch of a bespoke TVC featuring the celebrity chef lineup nearer ALUMNI’s opening date.
MasterChef Australia’s Season 16 premiere recorded a total TV national reach of 1,423,000, a total TV national audience of 776,000, and a BVOD audience of 57,000.