Australia is the favourite global hub for product testing by top companies

In the global business landscape, Australia has attained a unique distinction as the world’s best lab for launching new concepts and products before the companies could extend them to other global markets. For many market wizards in the west, Australia is the perfect place for product launches as it is away from the media glare and a "good proxy for white, Christian America."

In a report, the Fortune magazine hailed Australia’s new role and cited a number of examples to reinforce that point. The report noted the success of McDonalds and KFC in having tried out their hipster-friendly restaurant concepts in Australia and said they were not the first.

The Citigroup had been using Australia as the test centre for its digital banking tools. Similarly, AOL used it for ad products, while Coke tested its packaging in Australia. McDonald’s debuted its coffee concept in Melbourne in 1993 and the U.S. was the 18th country to get it.

Already the country is quite popular among energy companies as a hub for test-launching their products. It was the first to get Tesla’s home battery powerwall.

Australia is also ahead in testing gaming apps, according to German firm Priori Data. It said there is an average 350 daily launches and nearly 58 of them make it to the top charts every day, unlike any other country.

Hungry for new experiences

So what makes Australia such an appealing lab? According to Michael Silverstein, senior partner at BCG, it is the continent’s educated, affluent population of 23.9 million, which is an "open aperture.” He meant they are hungry for new experiences and products and a “good proxy for white, Christian America.”

One main factor that gives Australia an edge as a test lab for the world is its ready infrastructure in terms of media, distribution channels, talent and some privacy, he added.

“I call it under-covered Down Under,” Silverstein quipped.

Training and innovation

Meanwhile, a recent report highlighted Australian companies paying a big focus on tertiary training but are less inclined to use publicly funded research for it.

An OECD report ranked Australia second only to Denmark in terms of investment in staff training. But Australian companies were seen loathe to taking the support of universities or research institutions in the matter of sourcing innovative ideas, reports the Australian.

Australian companies are too happy with the ideas they are getting from suppliers, customers, competitors and consultants but not from universities. Thus, Australia takes a fourth rank in the world for relying on “market sources” for innovation ideas. Others in the club are Turkey, Israel and Switzerland.

The OECD report also noted that Australia is spending only 1.6 percent of its GDP on higher education, which is below the OECD average. Also, its spending on R&D is 2.1 percent of GDP, which is far behind the 4.2 percent benchmark set by world leaders Israel and South Korea and the 2.4 percent of OECD.

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