If you could sum up Australia in a word or two what would it be? Not easy is it? Then see if your winning line can work in a business context. Even harder.
And can it be used across all those areas in which we excel, namely tourism and sport and education. My brain hurts with the impossibility of it all. But that is exactly what some in the business community will attempt to do in the next few months.
A group of businessmen - led by the former British Airways chief Sir Rod Eddington and the effervescent chief of the Tourism and Transport Forum, Christopher Brown - wants to create a permanent panel of experts to advise government and business on how better to market Australia Inc. Some of the brightest marketers from Australian companies - Qantas, RM Williams, Foxtel and Macquarie Group to name a few - are involved, so if anyone should be able to get to the bottom of what Australia stands for then they should.
To date, the tourism industry has been doing all the heavy lifting in marketing Australia, though arguably without the consistency that the Kiwis have achieved with its "100% Pure NZ" campaign.
It's worth noting that in a month that campaign celebrates a decade in business. Not bad for an idea that was rushed through to capitalise on the millennium. The beauty of "Pure" is that it never attempted to describe everything, but rather tried to capture the essence of New Zealand. The 100% logo could be hitched to a landscape, place, emotion or feeling.
To many Kiwis the strapline and all that it has come to signify has become the nation's de facto brand. Such is its strength that other businesses are tapping into New Zealand's clean, green image. From frozen peas and beer, to vodka and butter, they are all out there marketing their pure credentials. This week a Kiwi beer, Steinlager Pure, replaced Castlemaine XXXX as brewer Lion Nathan's main export to British pubs. To borrow the memorable line from Castlemaine's ads, Australians most definitely would give a XXXX for a brand as recognisable as their smaller neighbour's.
But can it be done? Well if the Kiwis can do it, then why not the Aussies, I hear you say. Yet while Australia is still talking about it others such as New Zealand, South Korea, India, South Africa and Wales (yes, Wales) are forging ahead in the national brand stakes.
The head of New Zealand's Tourism Industry Association, Tim Cossar, a passionate believer in the Pure branding, says New Zealand Government is interested in taking it "to the next level" and to get "better alignment" of those sectors that are marketing Kiwi products and services abroad.
Of course the notion of Pure works better with food and agricultural products, which just happens to play to New Zealand's strengths. But Cossar thinks Australia can do it; we just need to get on with it. "You have some of the best marketing minds and with the recession … there's never a better time than to look at your brand," he says.
At the moment though Australia is best known for digging stuff out of the ground and for allegedly turning a blind eye to racist attacks on Indian students. Thankfully the only way is up.
jlee@smh.com.au
