The very mention of the Budgy Smugglers brand is guaranteed a giggle in Australia. The brand takes its name directly from an age-old Aussie colloquialism, used to describe a certain type of male, figure-hugging beach attire, which, when viewed from the front, looks as though the wearer may well be attempting to conceal a domestic budgerigar (a small parrot). Although prominent on Australia’s beaches for decades, budgie smugglers have seldom been seen outside of the Antipodes since the 1970s and the days of Mark Spitz—a trend that Lachlan Harris and Tom Malone, partners at Budgysmuggler.com, would like to change.

When asked about their future plans, Harris explains, “At the moment our business is 100 percent web-based and we would like to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. We have been approached by several retailers interested in picking up distributorships, but the beauty of the web is that it forms its own discrete distribution channel, so there is no real need for us to use third parties at the moment. We enjoy being based here in Bondi, so why change it?”

In terms of competition, one would think that Budgy Smugglers would be wide open to attack from Speedo, the brand more or less responsible for the original budgie smuggler concept. Harris acknowledges this point by stating, “Speedo are much bigger than us and their strategy is about sponsoring guys like Ian Thorpe. Not everybody can be like Ian Thorpe, so our strategy is about having fun at the beach—and if there’s one thing that Australians know how to do well, it’s how to have fun at the beach. If you want to be a world-class athlete then go and get some Speedos, if you just want to have some fun then buy some nice pink Budgy Smugglers.”

The forthright and cheeky nature of the Budgy Smugglers business will come as no surprise for those who have ever been touched by Australian culture; neither will its honesty, which is wonderfully exemplified in the rationale behind the spelling of its name and is freely available on the website. Indeed, the humor and the approach that forms the Budgy Smugglers engine room is typical of the unambiguous and tongue-in-cheek dialogue that Fran Bailey, Australia’s Minister for Tourism, has been trying to defend when attempting to overturn advertising bans in the UK, Canada, and the US for the country’s latest advertising campaign, “Where the bloody hell are you?”

When commenting on the potential global appeal of Budgy Smugglers, Harris says, “Budgie smugglers are very much part of Australia’s heritage so primarily we had a lot of interest from ex-pats. We’ve had pictures of blokes in Budgy Smugglers from the snow fields of Sweden to the streets of Singapore, and there continues to be a lot of interest in the brand both here and overseas. Australians are proud to be seen in their Budgy Smugglers and that’s been a great advertising medium for us as the momentum has started to build.”

To help retain their hard-earned impetus, Harris and Malone are currently planning a revamp of the Budgy Smugglers website and are looking to include more video footage of those Budgy-Smuggling blokes on tour (somewhat reminiscent of, if not more down to earth than, the Lynx Air hostesses at the now grounded www.lynxjet.com), as well as some additional functionality and perhaps some more depth to the product range.

In terms of immediate marketing plans, while Harris still has a penchant for the indirect, guerrilla-style approach, he also recognizes the need to make the brand more visible. He cites a recent campaign on the back of Sydney’s buses and a host of entries in the “Surf and Turf Lifesavers Sprint,” held on the Girls Day Out at Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens, as “great at raising awareness.”

Despite the Budgy Smugglers brand gaining more recognition in Australia, a great deal will rest on its ability to transfer what is clearly a successful domestic concept to the international stage without losing the plot in translation. While some may point to French Connection UK, or FCUK for short, as a successful case in point, others will be keen to highlight the many pitfalls associated with attempting to globalize a brand that has little or no meaning beyond its indigenous market.

Notwithstanding these views, and given the culture at Budgy Smugglers, it is doubtful that the opinions of the purists will be given any credence, considering that the company’s immediate priority is simply to enjoy itself. Indeed, in fostering a refreshingly honest environment with a forthright outlook on life, the team at Budgy Smugglers appears to have epitomized Aussie culture and is being given a “fair go.” A point which Harris acknowledges by simply responding, “No worries mate.”

Ian Cocoran has worked as a senior manager and director with a number of multinational organizations and has been a contributor to brandchannel since its inception. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and daughter.