It’s official – Australia is all about the food, footy and fame

Fourth Anholt Nation Brands Index values Brand UK at £2 trillion

SYDNEY, Australia (22 February, 2006) – It seems the rest of the world associates Australia with three distinct images: food, footy and fame according to the latest Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI), created by nation branding expert Simon Anholt and powered by GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), a provider of global market intelligence solutions.

In a worldwide survey, 25,907 consumers were asked which activities and products they associate with each country:

• 29 percent of the consumers polled saw sports as the most Australian cultural activity
• 14 percent of those polled also saw pop videos as a typically Australian cultural activity
• 31 percent strongly associate Australia with food when asked about country-specific products and services

The Anholt Nation Brands Index is an in-depth analytical ranking of the world’s nation brands. The poll, taken each quarter in 35 developed and developing countries, measures the power and appeal of a nation’s brand image, and identifies how consumers around the world see the character and personality of the brand.

NBI creator Simon Anholt was not surprised that sport has become an important contributor:

“ Sport is an increasingly influential component of the nation brand because people assume so much about a country and its people, their abilities and values from the way its national teams compete in international contests. The Olympic Games, in particular, has an unparalleled impact on city and nation brands. Australia is no different with its rise in prominence after the 2000 Sydney Olympics.”

“It seems that it’s not only our sports stars who are flying the Aussie flag worldwide. Kylie, Pete Murray and INXS are regulars in the international pop charts and our celebrated chefs have an international reputation as well,” mentioned Phil Whinnen, managing director for Asia Pacific at GMI.

The previous Anholt Nation Brands Index (October 2005) proved the archetypal Australian remained true: Australians were officially named the friendliest nation. Although Australians are still viewed as hardworking (16 percent), trustworthy (15 percent) and honest (14 percent), this time around they have had to accept second place in the Nation Brands Index. The Canadians have overtaken Australia as the friendliest nation worldwide.

One factor remains constant. If money were no object, Australia would be the number one nation consumers want to visit. In fact, many people favoured Australia as the place to live and work if they had to spend a substantial time away from home. Despite 69 percent of those polled seeing Australia as both exciting and fascinating, it came in second, under New Zealand, for being a country rich in natural beauty.

After polling consumers about the cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of these 35 countries, Australia was placed the ninth position. The UK took the number one slot, followed by Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Japan, France, Australia and the United States respectively.

Notes to Editors:

For more information, go to:
http://www.nationbrandindex.com/
http://www.gmi-mr.com/gmipoll

About the Anholt Nation Brands Index

The Q4 Anholt Nation Brands Index was conducted November 08-19, 2005 on the GMIPoll platform (www.gmipoll.com), which provides integrated solutions for global market intelligence. A 200-1,000 representative sample based on age, gender, and where applicable, geographical region, race and ethnicity was collected in each of 35 countries. For further information about the Anholt Nation Brands Index methodology, please contact GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) at http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/ or visit www.nationbrandindex.com.

About Simon Anholt

Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index in 2005. The first Index was published in May 2005. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities. Anholt advises a number of national governments and United Nations agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is the editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24/7 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents. More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com or email us at http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/.

For further information and a copy of the report, contact:

Vicki Cook / Karen Masters                    
Upstream Australia
Tel: (02) 9377 1121 / Tel: (02) 9377 1120
E-mail: vicki@upstreamaustralia.com / karen@upstreamaustralia.com