Sometimes, in order to get a clear understanding of our culture it’s best to ask outsiders.
We recently spoke to a journalist from New York, who was here to do a story on the Melbourne coffee culture. Apparently, we’re world famous for our infatuation with coffee. According to Andrew Brown-May, a senior lecturer in history at Melbourne University; “We’ve actually got, not just superficially but deep in our culture, a great knowledge and appreciation of coffee and certainly a mythology about it.” (theage.com.au).
The New York journalist’s biggest impression of our culture was how “multicultural” we were. Using the metaphor of the coffee culture, he explained that “while the coffee gets imported from all over the world, Melbourne takes it and creates something out of it that’s uniquely their own”. Same can be said about our culture. We have a blend of nationalities not only co-existing in harmony, but also embracing and publicising the uniqueness of each culture. We have multicultural districts, to a point where going around town can sometimes feel like travelling around the world. But what’s more interesting is when something new gets developed that is a blend of both – the foreign culture as well as Melbourne.
For example, think of the Chinese Dim Sims. This popular Chinese dish originated in Melbourne’s Chinatown, not in China. Just like coffee, Melbourne has taken the Chinese cuisine and created something entirely new.
It’s not just Melbourne, Australia as a country is highly multicultural. How many brands currently take this into account when addressing consumers? And more importantly, what is the opportunity for brands to take an element of a foreign culture, and morph it into something fresh and unique?
Written by:
Lana Bruskina – Strategy and Insight Manager
For further information on THINK Global Research, please contact Kristy Ihle (Managing Director) at info@thinkglobalresearch.com.
