Clemenger BBDO Sydney wins government pitch to rebrand Australia
Clemenger BBDO Sydney has won Austrade’s creative tender and will now be tasked with developing Australia’s ‘nation brand’.
The government tender was worth $3m and sought an agency which could create “a unified brand” and a “more consistent brand approach” which “will bring together Australia’s export strengths – such as tourism, agricultural products and education – under one Australian banner”.
Photo by Leio McLaren (@leiomclaren) on Unsplash
While pleased for Clemms – with the best will in the world Austrade aren’t in charge of Australia’s Nation Brand. And even if they were a $ 3 million dollar budget is laughably inadequate to have any real impact given the multitude of other forces effecting how the world sees Australia.
Come an see our new prime minister – this, year, next year, every year.
The old ‘under one banner’ — the default strategy when you have no strategy. All this approach does is straight-jacket the creative to conform with the agreed brand look and feel – and probably a strapline that creatives will play twister to make relevant to their work.
If you’re going to do this you need to ask yourself why you need to unify diverse products such as tourism, agricultural products and education. What is to be gained? Because a shipload of creative options are going to be lost.
The people at Clem’s are smart. I hope they see this as a process for collaboration rather than another clever but competitive and underfunded logo and brand expression.
Then it just might not be a waste of time.
Congratulations to Clemenger BBDO Sydney, we are in safe hands.
A so-called “unified brand” of Australia will never be creatively limiting, it will certainly help to smother the notion of a land cluttered with cuddy marsupials and the oddly still surviving expectation of seeing swagmen wearing hats with corks attached.
Safe hands… they are an ad agency, not a brand agency. They have butchered the logo
Australia the land of equal opportunity.
Yes, you too can have a shot at PM like the latest half-a-dozen.
Australia. Your just a 457 visa away from a longer stay
Strategic thought # 3
“Australia, where the bloody hell are we?”
Australia. Where time has stood still for 7 years