Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index

The Anholt-GfK Roper index measures the image of 50 nations annually. For the last three years Australia has ranked 9th. The index examines six dimensions of competence: exports, governance, culture, people, tourism, immigration and investment.
 
Key findings:

• Australia’s highest ranking is in the People category. It is also rated one of the most desirable  places to live and work.


• Other key strengths are the country’s reputation in Governance and Tourism.


• Our weakest areas of reputation are in the categories of Culture and Exports – although they are still highly competitive.


• Australia ranks 2nd in the world as a place people would like to live and work for a substantial period of time. 

Reputation Institute

The Reputation Institute's country survey of 22,000 consumers in the G8 countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, USA, Canada and Japan), rates the reputations of 34 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.

• 2011 is the third consecutive year that Australia’s reputation was measured amongst G8 countries


• Australia’s reputation was also measured amongst Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Korea


• 14 countries were added this year, including New Zealand.

Key findings:

• Australia continues to have an extremely strong reputation amongst residents of G8 countries.  Of the 52 countries measured, Australia again ranks 3rd trailing first placed Canada and second placed Sweden.


• Australia’s reputation continues to be built on its physical beauty, lifestyle and being an enjoyable place to be. Australia is again ranked first or second on each of those dimensions. Australia has now been ranked first in terms of lifestyle in three successive years.


• Ratings of Australia’s product and services, brands and innovation and technology have continued to improve. This is crucial in improving advocacy of Australia’s product and services (Australia currently ranked 10th) and as a country in which to invest (Australia currently ranked 6th).


• The improvement on the above dimensions is important as there has been a shift in the drivers of country reputation. Economic components now outweigh physical/lifestyle drivers (32% v. 30% compared to 30% v. 33% in 2009)


• Australia also continues to receive strong levels of supportive behaviours and is ranked as one of the Top 5 countries to visit, live, work and study.


• Australia’s reputation remains strong among the G8 countries and, in 2011, Australia is considered to be the most reputable country in the USA and Canada and in the top 5 in Italy, Germany, France and the UK.


• Australia also continues to receive strong levels of supportive behaviours (ie. advocacy of Australia as a place to visit, live, work and invest and likelihood of purchasing products and services from Australia).


• Overall, Australia is perceived slightly more positively across 8 of the 11 reputation drivers, with the largest improvements being on perceptions of Australia’s Business Environment and being an enjoyable place to be.


• Last year, this report highlighted the challenge of improving perceptions of Australia’s Products and Services, Innovation and Technology. Encouragingly, across the G8 countries there has been an improvement in perception of Australia’s Products and Services but no such increase was recorded for the areas of Technology or Innovation.


• As a result of these lower perceptions, the supportive behaviour of recommending the purchase of products and services for a country is the only one that Australia fails to rank in the top five. Currently, Australia ranks 9th with Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Japan making up the top 5.


• Australia is considered to be the most reputable country in the USA, Italy, Germany and ranks in the top 5 countries among UK and Canada residents.


• Perceptions of Australia in France, Russia and Japan remain lower with Australia ranked outside of the top 5.


• The top 10 G8 countries, in terms of reputation, are: Canada, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Scotland, Austria.


• The change in Prime Minister, strength of the Australian dollar, media coverage of the Queensland natural disasters and Oprah Winfrey’s Australian tv shows have all had the potential to impact Australia’s international reputation


• Finally, Australia is ranked 5th in terms of a place to study and 10th as a country that values education. This provides an excellent opportunity to promote Australia’s tertiary education system overseas and help further increase the inflow of students to Australia. 

TNS Research for Building Brand Australia

As part of the Building Brand Australia program, TNS was commissioned to research Australia’s brand positioning in 14 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, UK, US and Vietnam.

This quantitative and qualitative research was designed to provide insights into Australia’s current and desired brand positioning. It involved interviews with approximately 14,000 consumers and over 130 in-depth interviews with stakeholders across the 14 international markets.

The research undertaken validated other research which shows Australia is perceived to be a vibrant, friendly and welcoming nation, supported by values of positivity, energy and practical solutions.  The research also served to identify a ‘creative territory’ for Brand Australia that was found to be consistently motivating across stakeholder and consumer groups both in Australia and overseas.

The Australia Unlimited concept was found to best deliver to this creative territory. In addition, Australia Unlimited was found to convey a strong sense of professionalism and future focus. These elements were consistently cited by stakeholders participating within the research as being key for industry adoption and support of the brand and in keeping with their desire for Australia to be perceived in a more contemporary and multi-dimensional light than has previously been delivered.

The Australia Unlimited concept has thus been chosen as the visual identity for Brand Australia as it both encapsulates the current image and perceptions that are had of Australia, whilst at the same time allowing for the incorporation of more assertive and dynamic elements than are traditionally known.