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Marketing wars: Australia vs. US

By Steph Glaser On November 27,
2013 · 12
Comments

Photo: ashton

Case study: “Plunger” vs. “French Press”

How do cage eggs, scones topped with clotted cream, toast spread with
concentrated yeast extract, Digestives biscuits, and coffee pressed by a plunger
sound for breakfast? To an American, these items sound more like a lineup of FDA
rejects. Many Australians, however, gladly consume these products at brekkie.
They may even flashback to childhood while eating some of these comfort
foods.

USA: Glam it up.

Americans, instead, go for “farm fresh eggs,” “scones with “Devonshire
cream,” “fiber wafers,” and coffee made in a “French press.” Forget the
concentrated yeast extract (Vegemite) altogether. Accused of being superficial,
we want products to have pleasing connotations.

Remember, we’re talking about a country where the government has referred to
torture as “enhanced interrogation,” and sports organizations admit that
athletes use “performance enhancing drugs” rather than steroids. We
definitely like things enhanced — or at least glammed up a little. I once worked
for a temporary agency that offered me a “paper manipulation” gig. You mean
filing?

Australia: Tell it like it is.

While living in Australia for a year as an exchange teacher, I noticed
Australians, on the other hand, are direct and straightforward. They don’t
sugarcoat anything. After all, this is a nation that labelled Vegemite, its
favorite spread, as “concentrated yeast extract,” created boots called “Uggs,”
named a popular discount retail outlet “The Reject Shop,” and promoted train
safety with the hugely successful public service campaign “Dumb Ways to
Die.”

You are what you market.

Essentially, the product names and the marketing messages of a specific
country tell us quite a bit about that nation’s personality. They often reflect
the tastes, attitudes, and values of a nation’s citizens.

For example, since Australians are typically direct and have adopted an
attitude of “no worries,” those character traits influence their marketing
strategies. “Australians tell it like it is, and we don’t stand for bullshit,”
says my Aussie friend Amy Frazier, a photographer and language arts teacher. “We
don’t beat around the bush.”

Australia: Time to use the “toilet.”

Straightforward communication is just part of life in Australia where, daily,
I heard newscasters announcing which streets were hosting active speed cameras.
“Take it easy driving on Cheltenham Parade today. The cameras are on.”
Public service announcements warning about flu season show snot and mucus
spraying full on from convulsing noses and contorted mouths. Additionally, in
public places, people ask to use the “toilet” rather than the “bathroom” or
“restroom.”

USA: “Toilet” = TMI.

While Americans appreciate the truth, we also cringe at too much information.
When I taught high school in Adelaide, I was somewhat stunned the first time a
student said: “Excuse me, Miss, I need to use the toilet.” Whoa, I don’t
really need specific details. For Americans, “toilet” already is implied in
“bathroom.” On the contrary, according to Scott Hill, another one of my
Australian teacher friends, “When some of my kids say, ‘Can I go to the
bathroom,’ I say, ‘What? Are you going to have a shower?”

Truth in advertising?

As far as “cage eggs” go, most American consumers don’t want to be reminded
that the chickens laying the eggs scrambled up before them are crammed into tiny
wire pens. Furthermore, a plunger coffee maker would never sell in the US,
because a “plunger” is too closely associated with brown stuff that isn’t
actually coffee. And, while plunging occurs with this type of coffee maker,
pressing the grounds in a “French” way sounds so much better.

Australians regard “plunger” as a practical label. The coffee maker plunges
the grounds, so you call it a “coffee plunger.” It’s reality. Likewise, when
Australian consumers shop at “The Reject Shop,” they know what they’re in for.
It’s a dollar store, and occasionally, defective products are part of the
cheaply made mix. However, you can’t complain if a product falls apart after
buying it from The Reject Shop since you were warned about the quality up
front in huge neon letters.

Digestives biscuits, an import from the UK, are widely popular in Australia,
and Aussies who want regularity find them in the cracker/biscuit aisle of a
grocery store. In the United States, any product aiding in digestion is shelved
strictly in the antacid/laxative aisle. You only go there if necessary, and when
you arrive, the crackers will be called “fiber wafers,” because “fiber” is code
for “colon cleanser.”

But perhaps the US and Australia are beginning to meet more in the middle
with marketing messages. On a recent trip back to Oz, I noticed grocery stores
still stock “cage eggs,” but now they come from chickens “fed fresh grains.”
Then back in the US, we have made progress with “pimple” products. For years,
American marketers have largely avoided using the term “pimples.” And despite a
1982 Oxy 10 television commercial that maintained, “Last night, while you slept,
the ZITS came out like stars,” advertisers primarily have relied on “acne,”
“breakouts,” “blemishes,” or “spots” to describe the dreaded pimples. At
Walmart, however, I recently saw the package of a popular acne product claiming
it “visibly reduces pimple size.”

Ultimately, while “plunger coffee” may never catch on in the US, perhaps
someday Americans will say we need to use the “toilet,” and Aussies will replace
the phrase “concentrated yeast extract” on a Vegemite label with “Australia’s
Favourite Spread.”

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About The Author

Steph Glaser

A freelance writer, teacher, traveler and MatadorU alum Steph Glaser lives in
Colorado with her husband and two kids. Glaser particularly enjoys the humor in
life and writes about travel mishaps, misadventures and mess ups (mostly her
own). You can find these bloopers on Travel
Oops.

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Glaser

Lulu

Most of these would be the same in the Uk or New Zealand. It’s not a
specific Aussie thing. Digestive biccies by the way, aren’t laxatives they’re
biscuits/ cookies!

Chris Harfeld

It’s the same for Denmark. I can’t imagine looking anywhere else for my
digestive crackers (which in Denmark is only considered a name, and NOT a
function) than the biscuit/cracker aisle..

Paul

In the UK, we are typically less direct in our communication than in the
US. But, we would usually say “toilet”. To us, a bathroom is a room with a
bath in it (i.e. you only find them in houses) and rest room just sounds like
a euphemism.

Stephanie Schuck Glaser

Indeed! Thanks for reading and sharing a comment,
Paul.

sue

I agree. I would not buy coffee made by a plunger.

Stephanie Schuck Glaser

It definitely takes you aback the first time, Sue! Thanks for the
comment. Cheers.

Danielle

Sorry, just had to giggle at this over my plunger coffee! I love our
honesty down under, my favourite being our former Prime Minister calling
Australia the “arse end of the world”, when the Earth is on its axis, we do
sit at the bottom. But I think our directness is pretty tip top
lol

Stephanie Schuck Glaser

Thanks for the comment, Danielle! Was it Julia who called Australia the
“arse end?” Gotta love the humor and the honesty. I definitely appreciated
that about Oz — even if it was hard to get used to “toilet.”
Cheers!

Glenn Druery

Nice work Stephanie!

Stephanie Schuck Glaser

Thanks, Glenn!

Travelwanderings

I recently took a defensive driving course, and some of the videos the
instructor showed were Australian, and some were American (all of course
advertising for safe driving). I was very surprised and refreshed to see that
the Australian ones were very straight-up about the consequences of speeding,
inattention, etc. Much more effective in my opinion than the American
ones.

Stephanie Schuck Glaser

I’ve found that Aussies are always up front. Their public service
announcements tell it like it is, but they also have humor. I mentioned the
flu PSA being graphic. Well, while the cameras showed every detail of a
sneeze in slow motion, opera music was playing as a sound track. It was
funny and effective. I, indeed, got my flu shot.

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