Few people know how to sell a country better than Susan Coghill, CMO of Tourism Australia and inductee to B&T’s CMO Power List so many times we’ve lost count. In this op-ed, she explains why doing ‘the obvious’ isn’t bad. It’s in fact just good marketing.
Twenty-six young men in Norse leather armour and animal furs, holding spears, axes and shields, posing before longships moored in a fjord. It looks like a still from an HBO fantasy series, but it’s the official team photo of the Norwegian national football team, setting the tone for their first World Cup in 28 years.
The shot was the work of photographer David Yarrow, who titled it “The Vikings are Coming”.
The Norwegian Football Federation backed the idea, and as its president Lise Klaveness told The Athletic: “We recognised early on that the Viking narrative would follow us regardless. That’s why we chose to take ownership of it and fill it with what truly defines us.”
She was clear the team itself is diverse and multifaceted, and that the Viking references were meant to bring people together, not narrow what the team represents.
Modern Norway is sophisticated, diverse and highly progressive. And it is far more than its Viking history. But they leaned into the ancient warrior imagery anyway, and made it carry modern values rather than just old aesthetics.
The more I watched the teams arrive, the tunnel fit reviews on social media, and the start of the tournament unfold, the more I realised Norway wasn’t alone.
Some of the African teams used their travel outfits to tell you exactly where they’re from. Côte d’Ivoire drew plenty of love for striking orange tie-dye jackets featuring elephant motifs, a nod to Les Éléphants, the team’s long-standing nickname.
Les Léopards, the national team of the Democratic Republic of Congo, turned heads in beautifully tailored suits with bold leopard-print sashes, lapels and travel bags. Alvin Mak, the Congolese designer behind the outfits told the New York Times, “In Congo culture, the sprit of leopard is a spirit of strength”.
And the host countries came to play as well. When Japan arrived in Monterrey, the Governor of Nuevo León greeted the team with vaquero hats, one of the most recognisable symbols of northern Mexico.
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Then there was Scotland. Their supporters transformed the streets of Boston into a sea of tartan and kilts ahead of the team’s first World Cup in nearly three decades.
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Scotland’s supporters understood the assignment. Unfortunately, the team didn’t.
The players arrived in generic tracksuits that could have belonged to almost any team in the tournament.
What a missed opportunity to have the Tartan Army walk down the airsteps in kilts – the US media would have lapped it up!
The fans themselves were demonstrating just how powerful recognisable national symbols can be (and had a great time doing so!).
What I love about these examples is the spirit behind them. Teams and federations having genuine fun with the symbols, stories and references that express where they’re from. It’s a very human instinct, reaching for the things that say “this is us” and enjoying them out loud.
Every nation has a handful of things the world immediately associates with it. Not because they tell the whole story, but because they’re memorable, distinctive, and they create recognition.
As someone who is lucky enough to work in destination marketing, it’s a tension I see often. Australia is one of the world’s most successful multicultural societies. We’re innovative, creative and constantly evolving. We’re also home to some of the most recognisable symbols on the planet: kangaroos, the outback, our beaches and wildlife, and the easy-going optimism people still associate with us.
From time to time, questions arise about whether those symbols fully represent modern Australia. Of course they don’t. No symbol ever can. Norway is more than Vikings, Scotland is more than kilts, Australia is more than kangaroos and beaches.
But that’s the wrong test. The goal was never to tell an entire national story in a single image, outfit or campaign. The goal is to create a point of connection. A reason for somebody to lean in, to get curious, to discover more.
That’s why I found Australia’s own World Cup story so interesting. While many nations reached for long-established cultural references, the Socceroos chose to celebrate something else: who we are now. Ahead of their opening match, 20 of the 26 players released a short video, each naming where they were born, before landing together on a single line: “no matter where you come from, football is for everyone.”
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And then they went out and played like it, beating Türkiye 2-0 against a side many had favoured. There’s nothing more Australian than a bunch of battlers going out there and getting the job done!
It’s the same instinct Klaveness described in Norway, arrived at from the other direction. One team reaching back into history to find what unites it, another looking around the dressing room. Both, in their own way, telling the world something true about home.
The Socceroos did lean into one very popular cultural truth about Australia: they’re sponsored in part by Bluestone Lane Coffee, the Melbourne-style café brand a homesick Australian built into a US brand.
Who would we be without our beloved flat white? 😉
