This has got to be one of the industries greatest problems. Agencies changing hands all the time.

Overseas suppliers seem to delight in switching agents. It's our suggestion that they get huddled in some bar during a trade show, where with five more drinks past the point of common sense and in order to boost their flagging ego, they latch onto somebody in the room and say "Hey buddy, want an agency".

We would like to point out that most agents in Australia and New Zealand, work their arse off trying to keep the wheels on their business and the manufacturers happy.

It's our considered opinion that the fact overseas manufacturers have to swap agencies only proves the point that they did not bother to spend the time researching who they should commit with in the first place. This points loudly to the real issue that overseas suppliers don't consider Australia and New Zealand much of an out let and they simply don't care.

Lets just focus on Australia for a moment and point out a few things. At the start of July 2004 there were 20,136,088 people living in Australia. Sounds like a lot? Rubbish. The world population runs at about 6,378,711,633 so that makes Australia's pitiful little offering somewhere around 0.003 percent. A real huge market (not). But wait there's more.

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world (geographically) and the only one to occupy an entire continent. It covers a total of 7,617,930 sq km's. So now let us show you some rough figures from which you can draw comparisons.

No other developed country in the world comes close to Australia for the amount of landmass per capita. Even the Americans who believe they live in the wide open spaces are no comparison to the good old Aussie. The above specifications alone make it easy to see why other countries have no understanding of the distribution problems in Australia.

The problems with this large landmass + small population problem are obvious. Aside from the enormous cost difference in running companies out here, it takes ten times longer for a rep to travel to his customer in this country. It also takes ten times longer for the freight company to deliver the goods. And sadly, because of the laid back Aussie attitude, it takes ten times as long to get paid (but that's another issue).

Another point often over looked is that Australia and New Zealand are the dumping ground of the world. They are both placed at the arse hole of the planet and as such seem fair game for every world manufacturer. Manufacturers in both Europe and America fail to appreciate how closely aligned Aussie's are to the Asian marketplace. They are close neighbors both geographically and commercially. No other developed country in the world is as exposed to such a global market as Australia. Every man, dog and swank French frog is trying to sell something into this tinny market. So the competition is far more fierce. It's a tough ask to get a product established in Australia and it most certainly takes a lot of time and money.

Another point worth considering for overseas suppliers is that swapping agencies only serves to undermine the products standing in the industry. They normally develop a bad reputation in a number of areas but the key one is probably backup and service. It's only natural that companies who loose an agency normally try to pick up another in it's place and it's then unlikely they continue to support the first manufacturers products over the new agency products. It doesn't help the consumer or the first manufacturer and the outcome is obvious.

Now getting back to our real issue. As we said, distribution in Australia has a high cost in both time and money. So we pose the question. Would anybody in their right mind spend a lot of that time and money on an agency with a history of being jerked out from under, just as it is starting to re-establish itself again for the umpteenth time.

The moral of this story - If overseas manufacturers want to develop a reasonable reputation in Australia and New Zealand, they should remain happy with th agents they already have.