Aussie Brands Thrive in America

Australians working on establishing a brand are in a unique position. Yes, they are “Down Under” and seemingly physically isolated in comparison to Europe, for example, where it’s possible to visit three countries in a day. It’s about 7,500 miles from Sydney to L.A.

However, it’s arguable that Australians have never been in a better position to take their brand global. The success of Australians who already made the leap paves the way. What do American consumers know about Australia? Not much.

But they know about Paul Hogan, and his famous “we’ll put a shrimp on the Barbi for you.” Now Americans know he is not referring to a doll. Americans like Foster’s Lager, enough so that they can tell real Foster’s (the oil can from Australia) from Fake Foster’s, brewed by Molson’s in Canada.

Americans like Aussie music, though many probably confuse Aussies with British bands that they’re more used to. Australian music acts that made it in the States cover a head-scratching variety, including Olivia Newton-John and Jet. Rick Springfield and AC/DC. Men at Work’s first hit was a veritable commercial for Australia (“I live in the Land Down Under”).

Other than Midnight Oil, which brings a progressive political stance to their recordings, successful Aussie acts make few demands on their audiences, and those who jumped the Pacific are offering up exactly what you might expect from them if they were American. Jet sounds like Oasis, and yes, they’re British but so is the Lizard. Olivia Newton-John might as well be American herself.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason Australian entertainers do so well in the U.S. Other than a bit of an accent, they’re indistinguishable from your average blond, tanned Californians.

Musical acts may have an advantage in jumping the Pacific because there are few cultural barriers to becoming well known, though it’s more likely that an act will succeed on the strength of its shows than records, given the current turmoil in the music business. It‘s unlikely that an Australian act can make it in the U.S. solely on the virtue of its records. On the other hand, musical acts require less of an investment and are more nimble than an entire corporation looking to expand stateside.

Australians have also had success in American sports on the biggest stage of all, the NFL. Aussie footballer Darren Bennett led a host of punters who migrated to the NFL, because even though the two sports have little in common, they both require someone who can punt a ball 50 yards or so. Australian rules football has appeared in the early morning hours of cable sports networks.

Americans are even picking up on Australian figures of speech. While American guys aren’t yet calling each other “mate,” “no worries” made the jump so well that some think it’s a California expression.

Americans also like kangaroos and koala bears, so they become cute symbols if the brand being promoted has an “Australian” vibe to it.

Come to think of it, the only thing Australian that seems to have been roundly rejected by Americans is the vegemite sandwich. As a Southern Californian might say, “That’s just not happening.”