Kangaroos, Outback and Indigenous Culture: the development of ‘Australian’ brands for the international market

Abstract

An analysis of some popular Australian icons reveal that their meaning with respect to their use as logos for a number of commercial products has been built up over many years. The tourism industry has been an important part of this process, particularly with airlines such as Qantas and the Ghan railway. This paper examines the successful linkage of the kangaroo, indigenous art and the Outback myth to show how a brand image for ‘Australia’ has been created over time through the efforts of a select number of organisations. The result is that products which now adopt these images as a part of their branding strategy find the meanings of Australia is already established in the minds of their overseas customers.