Unified national brand announced for Australian exports

A strong brand helps a company gain recognition and support, and instills consumer confidence, and this also applies to exported goods.

For a number of years, people have called for the introduction of consistent branding for all Australian exports. It seems the federal government has listened, announcing in the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper that it plans to introduce a unified national brand to promote the country’s products in international markets.

Australian Made Campaign Chief Executive Ian Harrison welcomed this announcement, explaining, “The power of consistent branding, both here and overseas, cannot be overstated.”

With global markets changing all the time, it is important that Australia establishes itself as unique and trustworthy in the eyes of the global community. Creating ‘Brand Australia’ will encourage customers around the world to buy Australian exports.

The white paper argued that, previously, Australia had inconsistent branding across education, tourism and the general ‘Australia Unlimited’ brand, which weakened its efforts compared to other countries. For example, New Zealand was admired for the way its products were grouped underneath its simple and effective ‘100% pure New Zealand’ brand.

Harrison suggested that the well-established Australian Made, Australian Grown logo is the most trusted country-of-origin symbol. For this reason, it would make sense for it to form a key part of government’s commitment to help Australians get their goods recognised abroad.

“The iconic green-and-gold kangaroo logo has been clearly identifying Australian goods in export markets for more than 30 years with great success, so there is a pivotal role for the symbol to play in any Brand Australia strategy,” he said.

It is currently used by nearly 3000 businesses across more than 20,000 products sold all over the world. The logo’s role as the country’s global products symbol is further reinforced by the fact that it is part of the government’s new country-of-origin food label, which will become compulsory for most Australian food products sold in Australia by July 2018.

Therefore, it is possible the new Brand Australia could build on the Australian Made, Australian Grown logo, but it has not been confirmed.

The paper explained, “We will develop a stronger nation brand that reinforces our reputation as an internationally competitive investment destination, a great place to visit, a quality provider of education and a trusted exporter of premium quality goods and services.”