The Brand Down Under - Why Australian Owned is meaningless.
One of my great concerns about Australia is our over reliance on international trade and our mismanagement of naval and maritime assets that protect it. Regardless of who you believe; Australia has nowhere near the reserve fuel supplies or the local refining capabilities to supply our transport or farming sectors for more than a month. Blockading maritime trade is standard practice in regional conflicts.
There are those who believe Australia should play no part in any regional conflicts. A completely moral aspiration that has no reality. The Australia government has signed various defence pacts and has an obligation to defend our sovereignty as well as allies in the region. South East Asia is likely to be a contended space for many decades to come. It has healthy demographics, it’s rich in natural assets and it’s free of the stagnating guilt of woke culture.
How did we end up in this mess?
Anyone who has sought investment for any innovative project will see where I’m going with this. Australians have never developed the confidence to capitalise on our talent. Our best technical and creative people flock overseas because opportunities are not manifest here. We have no meaningful technology sector, of the few technology brands that have done well, they were built on either commercial or open-source technology platforms with the last few yards of functionally being localisation and customisation. Australians in the most part invest in real estate and not a lot more. Not surprising given we have compulsory superannuation and outside of the sprawling extra urban estates, some exceptionally beautiful places to live. The fact remains; a huge proportion of Australian business do little more than administration, specification and distribution. I am not wishing to minimise this work, marketing and warranty responsibilities for distributors are serious business. But it’s certainly not sustainable long term and certainly not in a post globalised, post AI world. There was always a significant percentage of Australians that were unable to work behind a desk, but now even those jobs are disappearing.
Australians have frozen in the headlights of a world that is dramatically changing. I have written about his before: Australias tall poppy syndrome
Being aware of a problem is usually the first step. But I don’t see the support for open borders and socialist ideology going away any time soon because it has empowered so many. Too many Australians myself included sit in silence in fear of being cancelled. I have seen too many lose their friends, family and careers to opposing woke ideology. It is completely correct to liken it to religious zealotry.
The Brand Down Under
It adds salt to the wound when Australian businesses theme their Chinese manufactured products with European or Australian sounding brands or pull out the ‘Australian Owned’ tagline. There is no way to be polite about this practice, its dishonest and could not be more un-Australian.
Having been through the process myself, it’s not rocket science coming up with a product or service idea. Today it’s easier than ever to find a manufacturer or outsourced service. You can get a logo designed on Fiverr and a website on Squarespace within 48 hours. All you need is a hole in the market.
Truth is you probably won’t ever really succeed if you don’t own the intellectual capital. Branding reflects your IP. Either way, under Australian consumer law you’ll need to take ownership of at least 12 months warranty coverage. No easy task when your products are fragile and you have limited knowledge and no faciality to repair. In my decades as a business consultant I can attest to very few businesses in Australia owning any substantial intellectual capital. Most focussed on localising products and services to suit to Australian consumers.
That’s not a lot to hide behind. I think the days of bludging are coming to an abrupt end..