Australia is failing to market its own scientific and technological achievements to the world, leaving the country without the global salience it needs to attract talent, investment and economic growth, according to futurist and social architect Dr Catherine Ball.
Speaking with B&T’s editor Tom Fogden and Cairns Crocodiles content director Pippa Chambers in the latest episode of the B&T x Marketing Association of Australia’s Brand Masters, Ball said while Australia is doing “amazing things” the country is failing to make anyone else aware of them.
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Marketers and communications businesses need to help Australia’s scientists and researchers talk about their achievements to create a virtuous circle of inspiration, investment and growth.
“Science needs your help because we are doing amazing things, but we lack salience,” she said.
“We have no ownership over the brand of science and technology as a part of our national identity,” Ball said. “We are much more likely to celebrate sports than we are to celebrate science.”
Ball believes the marketing industry has a direct role to play in changing that. She urged marketers to work more closely with universities, scientists and researchers to help turn complex scientific work into stories that can reach a much wider audience.
“We need your help, we really need your help,” she told the podcast’s audience.
Ball said Australian universities can be trapped in their own “echo chambers”, with researchers producing important work but struggling to communicate it beyond their immediate sectors.
“Science really isn’t finished until it’s communicated,” she said, citing STEM Matters founder Kylie O’Hearn.
The problem, she argued, is not necessarily a lack of Australian innovation – it is a lack of effective communication around it.
“We have amazing things happening, and we just can’t seem to break through,” she said.
For Ball, that makes marketing and communications fundamental to Australia’s future economic strategy rather than an afterthought.
The podcast is sponsored by CRA – Commercial Radio & Audio.
