No substitute for the Australian Made kangaroo

The famous Australian Made logo is not changing or being replaced. It will remain as Australia’s global product symbol, following the release of another new Nation Brand for Australia.

This latest release follows the dumping of the first iteration of the Nation Brand—the infamous ‘Wattle mark’—that drew unfavourable comparisons to images of the coronavirus. The Wattle mark has now been replaced by a gold kangaroo paired with the stylised word, ‘Australia’.

According to Australian Made Campaign Chief Executive, Ben Lazzaro, the Australian Made logo will be unaffected by the introduction of the new Nation Brand and will continue its pivotal role in Australia’s domestic and overseas branding strategy.

“The iconic green-and-gold kangaroo logo has been clearly identifying Australian goods in export markets for more than 35 years with great success,” he said. “It is by far Australia’s most recognised and trusted country-of-origin product symbol and is central to the export strategies of Aussie exporters taking their goods abroad. No change has been made in this space.”

Importantly, the new Nation Brand is not intended to be used as a country-of-origin mark for products and will not duplicate the role of the Australian Made logo—Australia’s only registered country of origin certification trademark. “It’s important that the new Nation Brand is accompanied by effective and clear communications to help educate users around permitted use of the brand,” said Mr Lazzaro. “This must be paired with the appropriate governance and policing measures, to ensure it is used as intended and to detect and address misuse. These measures are paramount to ensure the Nation Brand is able to comfortably co-exist with other brands and initiatives in the export space, without causing confusion.”

According to Roy Morgan Research, the Australian Made logo is recognised by 99% of Australians and trusted by 92%. It is currently used by more than 4200 businesses on thousands of products sold all over the world. Its international reach is supported by its legal registration as a trademark in key export markets such as China, European Union, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam, with many more to follow.

In fact, in 2019, the Federal Government awarded Australian Made Campaign a grant to promote and protect the Australian Made logo in key export markets for the next 3.5 years. Furthermore, the Australian Made logo is now a central element of the Government’s mandatory country of origin food labelling laws and appears on nearly all Australian food products for sale in Australia. These very products are also sent into numerous export markets carrying the distinctive green and gold kangaroo.

“The Australian Made logo is entrenched in the domestic and export activities of thousands of Aussie brands,” said Mr Lazzaro. “This famous kangaroo will continue to connect overseas customers with Australia and help businesses leverage Australia’s reputation for creating products in its clean, green environment to high quality and safety standards.”

The Australian Made logo is in high demand at the moment, as Australia continues to deal with the impact of  COVID-19. In 2021, the brand garnered record levels of interest, with monthly applications to use the logo up around 300% compared to pre-COVID rates. This was paired with increases in engagement with Australian Made social media platforms and a more-than-doubling of traffic to the official Australian Made online product directory at www.australianmade.com.au.

The Australian Made logo is perfectly positioned to work in concert with the new Nation Brand. “For decades now, the Australian Made logo has been used as a trusted country of origin mark alongside other Australian brands. It has a strong track record in this regard,” said Mr Lazzaro. “It’s business as usual for the Australian Made logo—providing recognisable and trusted country of origin branding that makes the Australian connection instantly and clearly, here and overseas.”