Government seeks to rebrand Australia, kicks off $3m creative tender
The Australian Government’s Austrade is seeking an agency with “the best creative minds” who can create the next generation of Australia’s international branding.
‘Australia’s Nation Brand’ is a whole-of-government initiative which aims to cement the country as a trusted exporter of premium-quality goods and services, a competitive investment destination, a quality provider of education and a great place to visit.
“This is a transformational project for Australia and we’re looking for the right agency partner to join us for the ride,” the expressions of interest notice explains.
The Turnbull government wants to reinvigorate Australia’s national brand
“We’re looking for an agency that understands the depth and breadth of Australia’s capabilities and most importantly, knows how to articulate Australia’s competitive edge and how to present it to the world.”
The Turnbull government’s ambitions to create “a stronger brand for Australia” were flagged back in November, when a release from the Trade Minister’s office said a unified national brand will help exporters sell their products and services to the world.
“A unified brand will bring together Australia’s export strengths – such as tourism, agricultural products and education – under one Australian banner,” the release said.
“It will be a powerful symbol for our goods and services to use on the world stage.”
At the time, Austrade began a stocktake of existing Australian brands.
The successful agency will be responsible for developing a “contemporary” nation brand platform including brand strategy, brand narrative, visual identity, brand architecture, associated brand assets and creative material.
In addition, they will be charged with implementing innovative and cost-effective ways to activate the brand in international markets, and creating brand activations that encourage partner participation from the public and private sectors.
The expressions of interest (EOI) stage is open until June 26, following which there will be a request for tender (RFT). Only agencies shortlisted following the EOI will be asked to respond to the RFT.
The timeframe for delivery is 2018 to 2021, with the government estimating the project is worth $2.9m and $3m.
Steven Ciobo, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, also named Australia’s nation brand advisory council members today: Andrew Forrest AO, non-executive Chairman, Fortescue Metals Group (Chair); Alan Joyce AC, CEO, Qantas; Bob East, Chairman, Tourism Australia; Christine Holgate, CEO, Australia Post; Glenn Cooper AM, Chairman, Coopers Brewery; Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO, A2 Milk; Michael O’Keeffe, CEO, AESOP; Mike Cannon-Brookes, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Atlassian; Rod Jones, Group CEO, NAVITAS; Wesley Enoch, Sydney Festival Artistic Director; Dr Stephanie Fahey, CEO Austrade.
The Nation Brand Advisory Council will work across industries and government agencies to develop a new brand to be utilised in education, foreign investment, tourism, exports and other sectors.
“Today is the first step on Australia’s Nation Brand journey. I strongly encourage representatives of industry and business across the country – be it in the arts or agriculture, sport, education, tourism or technology – to have their say and be a part of this unifying nation branding initiative,” Forrest said.
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$3m to rebrand the country?
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Don’t think that include stationery 😉
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Oh No! Our esteemed politicians have run out of things to say, so let’s have an ad campaign! As soon as there is a change of government, they will start all over again.
Or is this a backhanded way of supporting our poor media barons with a media campaign?
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I’ll provide a unified australian brand for free : “Bogans.” australia has always exported (tourist) bogans VERY successfully… I’ve just saved the government $3M
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