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To attract consumers ever more distracted and dispersed, and achieve cultural resonance, brand advertisers increasingly speak to discourses of diversity. These representations are often contentious, particularly when they refer to certain aspects of contemporary identity politics. As these controversies play out on social media such as Facebook, they reveal key insights into branding today: the discursive volatility that shadows representations of diversity, asymmetries of communicative power between brands and consumers in online discussions and the extent to which representations of diversity are rendered more or less divisive depending on their proximity to already existing anxieties and/or resistance. This article contextualises this interplay through three Australian brand campaigns from late 2015 to early 2016 and shows how social media further problematise what was an already dynamic, tense and dialectical relationship between consumers and brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the national election win of the Liberal National Coalition in March 1996, Australia experienced more than ten years of contentious public debate. Discussions about Australia's history and future raged with an intensity that both highlighted and problematized the very notion of national identity. During this period, the television commercials for tea brand Bushells paralleled changes in Australia's political culture. In various ways, events of epochal significance, both in Australia and abroad, surfaced in the brand's promotions. These campaigns not only showed the increasing difficulty of picturing Australianness; they also showed that, no matter how fragmented Australian culture became, there remained a lingering bias to certain images, ideals and values. As the Australian electorate became more insular, parochial and conservative, Bushells followed suit. This article considers how Bushells drew symbolic markers from popular culture - the worlds of celebrity, sport, cinema and so on - in a bid to remain relevant, endearing and likeable. It therefore shows that, for a commodity as basic as tea, much can be gleaned about the contemporary political mood through the vernacular rhetoric of television advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the national election win of the Liberal National Coalition in March 1996, Australia experienced more than ten years of contentious public debate. Discussions about Australia's history and future raged with an intensity that both highlighted and problematized the very notion of national identity. During this period, the television commercials for tea brand Bushells paralleled changes in Australia's political culture. In various ways, events of epochal significance, both in Australia and abroad, surfaced in the brand's promotions. These campaigns not only showed the increasing difficulty of picturing Australianness; they also showed that, no matter how fragmented Australian culture became, there remained a lingering bias to certain images, ideals and values. As the Australian electorate became more insular, parochial and conservative, Bushells followed suit. This article considers how Bushells drew symbolic markers from popular culture - the worlds of celebrity, sport, cinema and so on - in a bid to remain relevant, endearing and likeable. It therefore shows that, for a commodity as basic as tea, much can be gleaned about the contemporary political mood through the vernacular rhetoric of television advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 15 years, the island of Lundy has become increasingly associated with important conservation projects, particularly in regards to its biodiversity. At the same time, the island's appeal continues to be channeled through a wellworn discourse of 'untouched', 'unspoiled' islandness - or a generic charm that is popularly attributed to small islands (Grydehoj, 2008). This article shows that this perception is highly misplaced, and fails to take stock of the considerable effort that goes into managing Lundy. If anything, Lundy's growing profile constitutes effective place branding (Anholt, 2008), whereby various stakeholders strive towards a cohesive and coherent strategy. This article considers the history of Lundy as well as decisions made by seminal individuals and organisations, particularly the Landmark Trust, and shows that Lundy's management carefully acknowledges tourism opportunities and environmentalist objectives. The Lundy brand is thus an ideal example of small-island branding in the 21st Century as its marketing both acknowledges and incorporates principles of sustainable development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]