Advertising guru David Ogilvy insisted: “Any darn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.”
So why leave our most valuable asset in the hands of politicians?
Brand Australian has to compete against many other countries, regions and cities to gain a fair share of tourism, business investment, respect and recognition.
With this in mind, surely politicians should follow the lead by major corporations and embrace the principles of branding.
However, Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Think about it for a few seconds, and then read on…
Kevin Rudd recently called spending $180 million on the ‘Where the bloody hell are you’ campaign as "an absolute rolled gold disaster" that failed to yield any significant benefits for the tourism industry.
At this point, one might thing Kevin Rudd would reveal a new approach. Unfortunately, Kevin07 announced the appointment of another traditional Advertising Agency to manage an account worth over $180 million to promote Australia as a tourism destination. Sound familiar...
Is Albert Einstein right or Kevin Rudd?
Why do Governments and tourism groups see branding simply as an advertising function full of creative taglines, beautiful images and a logo. Advertising does not build brands or credibility.
It’s hardly surprising given what experience our members of parliament offer, we have lawyers, accountants, trade unionists, firemen, millionaires, teachers, rock stars, career diplomats, ex-military, small business owners, developers, TV personalities, Christians and farmers…what no marketers?
Put simply, in our over communicated society the Australian Government has left branding Australia to…let me see: The Hon Simon Crean, MP, Minister for Trade; The Hon Stephen Smith, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs; The Hon Anthony Albanese, MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy; Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research; The Hon Peter Garrett, AM, MP, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts; The Hon Tony Burke, MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; The Hon Martin Ferguson, MP, Minister for Resources and Energy & Minister for Tourism.
A little cluttered and confusing don't you think?
Some people might say branding Australia is apart of The Hon Martin Ferguson, Minister for Tourism's portfolio.
If that’s the case, we have a career unionist (nothing against Unions) managing Australia’s most important asset and he's handed over a $180 million budget to Tourism Australia.
Tourism Australia, a statutory authority of the Australian Government with a poor track record for marketing Australia has in turn handed over brand responsibility and money to an Advertising Agency whose immediate focus is exploiting an upcoming Baz Luhrmann film called, wait for it...Australia.
While planning to spend heaps of money on traditional advertising.
Baz Luhrmann’s movie offers a huge PR opportunity, but even if this film is successful, I’m not sure a period film based on a love affair located in outback Australia is going to attract millions of American, European and Japanese tourists.
Tourists that will cancel their five star beach holidays fly thousands of miles and then drive hundreds of miles to a drought ridden region with not many amenities.
My angst is not targeted just at the Federal Government, the NSW State Government recently announced a $40 million re-branding of Sydney, on the global stage.
HELLO…in 2008, Sydney was voted number one city in the world. So…why re-brand? Advertising is not the answer to the declining numbers of tourists visiting Sydney!!!
Too often, Governments full of lawyers, accountants and unionist see advertising as the easy way to solve their problems.
Kevin Rudd had the perfect opportunity during this year’s 2020 Summit to harness the best creative marketing minds and put the wheels in motion to build a modern Australian brand strategy, robust enough to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The 2020 Summit brought together business people, experts, community leaders – and just every day Australians…except marketers.
Not only did Kevin Rudd miss a political opportunity, he missed an opportunity to capture the imagination of every day Australian’s by defining the meaning of brand Australia. Cool Britannia did this in the UK for Tony Blair, in the 90’s.
Branding a nation is not simply a short lived advertising campaign with big meaningless taglines, bright images and a fluffy new logo.
Branding a nation is much, much more. It has to come from the very top, it’s a strategic process for developing a long-term vision for a nation that is relevant to its people and compelling to its target audiences.
Australia should have a Government minister and ministry to manage our most important asset, brand Australia. A Minister and Ministry that not only communicates and collaborates with the best marketing minds and key stakeholders, but engages in an ongoing conversation with all Australian’s. Australian’s are the most important brand advocates…
So, I ask you again: Why don’t politicians get it?
Comments