Appears to me like they're testing the water locally as a...

Appears to me like they're testing the water locally as a template for future media campaigns. Sponsoring sports as well. I doubt it's just local fervour (I guess it may attract some new investor awareness as well but I reckon that would be a secondary consideration).

In other words, getting data re ROI? All businesses need to explore this...some stuff works wonders other stuff doesn't...don't know how true it is, but they say some places are used as research centres based on demographics. Maybe Perth is a good example to compare with US/UK and other developed nations, which are our main target groups.