A Marketing Lesson From Out Back
by Fred on 01/12/08 at 2:47 pm
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[This article first appeared in MarketingWeb last week]
Wayyy back in the last century, before my time, there was a place east of us that was filled with nothing but a kakload of rabbits and a handful of ex-inmates. About 10 million of them, I think (inmates, not rabbits).
The thing about this place was that no one was really interested in it. Nobody north of Capricorn gave a hoot about a hot, dangerous stretch of land peppered with people who talked a little special, if you know what I mean?
The inhabitants there were not very happy about this, since they figured they were pretty important. For one thing, everyone called their stretch of land an island, when they knew that it was, in fact, a continent. They were highly pissed off at the modern world for ignoring them, and being a pretty competitive lot, they decided to do something about it.
Their leaders got together one fine day (probably a Monday, since most things start on a Monday) and brainstormed some ideas. This involved much singing and drinking games.
The people on this island were good at singing and games.
All of a sudden, one of them stopped and said: “Stop die lorrie! Why don’t we just do what we’re good at, and show the world?” *
They all stopped what they were doing (picture a bar fight, frozen – chairs in mid air, mouths wide open). They were stunned. “Eish!” said another. “That actually sounds like a great idea!” ** They realised that the things they were good at, were things that the rest of the world enjoyed too.
So, from that day on, the leaders of this rather large, barren place poured a heap of money into things that they hadn’t really focused on before. Weird things like singing, swimming, athletics, cricket, acting and storytelling.
They decided that they would take on the world in all these things – and win. They wanted to become the best, and they wouldn’t stop trying – or spending – until they were the best. They figured that the world would only start taking note if they did really well. And they knew that it wouldn’t be cheap.
Lo and behold, within a few years, they had their first breakthrough: a drunken rock band with a goose-stepping guitarist whose records sold out of record stores on every continent, and didn’t stop selling for next three decades.
It wasn’t really what they planned, but it would do for now.
Next came a singing, dancing, acting popstar who outshone John Travolta (then the biggest movie actor in the world) in her first big movie role. Now that was better. Sports-wise, they weren’t doing so badly either. Their athletes started breaking records. The swimmers were kicking ass. Rugby and cricket were looking good.
Over the next few decades, their actors starting winning awards and the world started to actually watch, and then enjoy 
their movies. Artists, comedians and soapstars were everywhere – all talking in their funny island voice.
And then, a strange thing happened.
People everywhere started to take notice, and their island was on the map. Suddenly, lots and lots of visitors started to visit their strange-looking outpost. They built bars and hotels everywhere, and brewed lots of beer to accommodate these newcomers to this hostile corner of the world. These visitors had a great time, spending tons of money and thus, indirectly, funding the building of more bars.
That made the islanders very happy.
And so, a few decades later, this disparate group of ex-inmates had achieved what they’d set out to do. By pouring money, lots of money, into previously unthinkable things like arts and culture, they’d made the rest of the world aware that there was something worthwhile down under. Something more than just a kakload of rabbits.
Something worth investing in.
** Some bits have been translated for this audience. What he really said was: “Gawd strewth!“
** Again translated, this time from: “F&%k me, matey!”
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred.
