Signs of a Nation: The story continues

From Kevin Roberts. Yesterday I talked about Monocle’s 6 ways to brand a nation. In the same issue, they talked about how you can make your country stand out. A few years back, Geoff Vuleta, Derek Lockwood and I were attempting to convince the New Zealand government to give Saatchi & Saatchi a crack at developing an out of the box, extraordinary tourism campaign for New Zealand. A campaign that would put us on the map everywhere. It’s hard to break through the very competitive tourism clutter, and we had an idea that was astonishing in its audacity and innovation. Politics ultimately got in the way and the idea never saw the light. Monocle gives us 10 things to do to make sure your nation can compete with the best of the best. And what are the best nation brands? I’d put Italy, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore and Dubai in my Top 10.

Here’s Monocle’s formula.

1. Develop an appealing national cuisine. Every woman knows the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Look at what France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, China and Thailand have done in this area. One thing’s for sure, New Zealand and Australia are not at the top of the totem pole in this game.
   
2. Develop a local wine, beer or spirit industry. Both New Zealand and Australia have done a fantastic job in wine and beer. Some might argue Bundaberg Rum (but only if you live in Queensland!) and 42Below have proven that nothing is impossible. A vodka from New Zealand. You have to love it.
   
3. Be recognized for being fair and just. New Zealand has taken a very positive stance in this area in terms of female emancipation, our position on the nuclear issue and view on conflicts that have very little to do with us. Visitors don’t want to get involved in Draconian local legislation, corrupt justice systems, or human rights issues.
   
4. Re-engineer the heavens. Neither New Zealand or Australia are faced with this particular problem. What passes for summer in the Northern Hemisphere is our winter, and we’re playing rugby. In the miserable Northern Hemisphere winter, it is summer in God’s Own. Places like Scandinavia successfully re-engineered the heavens by having all their travel photography being shot on that one golden day in July!
   
5. A good brand travels. Last week Air New Zealand was rated the number 2 long distance airline by readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Singapore and Dubai owe everything to their 2 magnificent airlines. Unfortunately, British Airways and Heathrow aren’t quite the advertisement they used to be for the UK.
   
6. Behave yourself. Lager louts, race riots, taxi and tube strikes are not the best way to encourage tourism. New Zealand must be in the top 3 in this area with its easy going hospitality and relaxed and friendly population.
   
7. Go easy on religion. Religious fanaticism and extremism is off putting wherever it’s practiced. As Dave Allen said at the end of every show, “May your God go with you”.
   
8. Master infrastructure. Crowded airports, inefficient trains and public transport on strike do not add up to great experiences.
   
9. Build brands people want. Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland have all built brands. In some cases they are Lovemarks. So, how did they do it? Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy are the key. Think Italy and Brazil.
   
10. Invest in sports. Go the All Blacks in France. Bring back the America’s Cup, Dalts.

KR

Signs of a Nation

From Kevin Roberts. Tyler Brûlé's Monocle magazine just gets better and better. Check out number 6 which focuses on nations and their branding. Tyler offers 6 ways to brand a nation and throws in another 10 steps to make your country irresistible.

First look at how Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong measure up against these criteria and then run your own nation through them. It’s a fascinating journey.

Let’s start with Monocle’s 6 ways to brand a nation.

1. Flag
2. Passport
3. Bank Notes
4. Typeface
5. Stamps
6. Road Signs

Simple ideas, but they resonate with me.

Flag: In my house in Grasmere, I have a limited edition distressed rug by Vivienne Westwood that depicts a beat up Union Jack. On my wall, I’ve got an iconic photograph of The Who draped in a giant-size Union Jack while sleeping near the Houses of Parliament. A limited edition of 7 prints of the Stars and Stripes by the photographer Art Kane is also iconic, and if you go to the store next door to one of my favorite hotels, the ZaZa in Dallas, you’ll see a bunch of flags of Texas, the Lone Star State, including one with a bullet hole.

We are haunted in New Zealand by a flag that looks like a pale imitation of our colonial past. One of our super patriots, Lloyd Morrison, has led a campaign to find the contemporary iconic representation of what it means to be a New Zealander. To me the answer is on the All Blacks jersey on the left breast. The Silver Fern.

Passport: The new U.S. passport released two months ago has elaborate illustrations of U.S. history printed on every page. In New Zealand, they don’t even stamp mine when I leave home. In Britain, we had to turn in our special leather-bound, gold-embossed British passports for European community passports - which means absolutely nothing.

Bank Notes: U.S. bank notes are bewildering to any non-American. They are all the same size and color and it’s hard to differentiate between a $1.00 and $100 bill. On the other hand, the Australians have come up trumps in terms of tactile sensuality. Here’s a rough rule of thumb: the smaller the value, the brighter the color.

Typeface: Bob Isherwood, my creative partner at Saatchi & Saatchi, is a fan of Helvetica. It’s a typeface that lets the idea do the talking and leaves lots of opportunity to do something special.

Stamps: For me, stamps have the power of a one-scene movie. They should tell the stories of a nation’s history and future. Stamps are a perfect way to connect past, present and future through visualization of great heroes, great events and great experiences. And, of course, every year or so we need to issue a limited edition of one, just to keep the philatelists on their toes.

Road Signs: Think about these in Paris, or in other romantic environments. What a great opportunity for brilliant art direction and iconography. It’s a major opportunity for most countries and New Zealand is at the top of the list.

For the second part of this post, check in tomorrow. KR

Top 10 for New Zealand

nzedge.com is commencing a series of “Top 10s” from New Zealanders who will offer their ideas, forecasts, strategies and projections for New Zealand 2007-2010 and beyond.

Initiating the series is John Williams, former owner of the Marton company PEC (New Zealand) Ltd, which was internationally respected as the world's first organization to design and market microprocessor-based petrol pumps and service station POS terminals. John is a passionate advocate for an inclusive export-based vision for New Zealand. John has presented his vision and strategy to all senior politicians over the past decade.

We will invite all readers of this blog to create their own Top 10 for New Zealand and send them to us brian@nzedge.com

John William's Top 10 Strategies for New Zealand (see full text):

1. Maximise growth in the sectors where we currently produce world-class products and/or services. The growth sectors, which have already chosen themselves by their success in export are: Tourism, Dairying, Food & Beverage, Information Technology/ Communications/Software, Education, Bio-technology and Niche Sectors (which would include Film, SuperYachts and Forestry).

2. Ensure that at least 25,000 New Zealanders (net) return annually to settle in New Zealand and play a vital role in growing an export-led sustainable growth economy.

3. Increase exports by making New Zealand organizations aware that if they are successfully marketing their products in this country they must be world-class and therefore have significant export potential; and by introducing support programmes to assist organizations to maximise their exports

4. Introduce the “Kiwi Can” programme to all Primary and Intermediate schools to reverse the continuous drop in values that has occurred in the past 50 years.

5. Re-create the University of New Zealand to compete with the much larger and significantly better resourced US, European and Asian universities.

6. Market New Zealand as “Innovative New Zealand” to increase exports. New Zealanders are among the most entrepreneurial and innovative people in the world.

7. Ensure that the contribution to economic growth from the Maori and Pacific Island ethnic groups (50% of New Zealand’s population by 2050) is significantly and continuously increased.

8. Demonstrate the amazing innovation of New Zealanders by creating a newzealandinnovation.com website, which would detail all our world-class products, services, and ideas.

9. Establish a “Centre of Excellence” for Innovation and Entrepreneurship whose role would be to provide world-class product development, marketing and intellectual property protection advice.

10. Create and widely publicise a “Vision” for New Zealand: “To ensure New Zealand’s future as one of the world’s most socially cohesive, prosperous, and innovative countries, which is sustained by a dynamic, wealth creating, export economy.”

For the full text of John's Top 10, see http://www.nzedge.com/features/john_williams_top10.html

Risk Rd, by Ohinerau St, Greenlane, Auckland. Photo: Sweeney

New Zealand Visibility in the USA

One of the reasons Scandinavian countries have been much more successful economically than New Zealand is their creation of great global brands. Nokia. Volvo. Ikea. Absolut. Saab. Ericsson. Abba. Lego. Bang & Olufsen. These countries have many parallels to New Zealand in terms of population size and distance to market, yet they could be described as idea-driven countries. New Zealand has shown many ways in which it can be world-changing, but this seems an individualistic occurrence rather than a result of any national determination or encouragement. "Winning the World from the Edge" is not yet tattooed on our foreheads.

Domestically, we are principally lifestyle-seekers, content rather than competitive (except for sport, where we are glorious.) With inspirational leadership by individuals and institutions, we can break out of this mental rut. Many are doing it; many more are needed. I was driving through New Jersey on US Memorial Day a week ago and spotted this Fisher & Paykel distribution center. “Yoh,” I thought, “more of this please!” New Zealand touchpoints are steadily emergent in the USA. At a birthday party tonight at the Russian Tea Room on 57th St the sommelier had an intimate knowledge of New Zealand wine, and his dream vacation is mapped around the vineyards of Central Otago and Malborough. My local liquor store, Kesslers on 28 St, has a very well presented Whitehaven Pinot Noir. All the wine stores in Manhattan have good to excellent nz wine (though not yet the signage, we're usually slotted unmarked somewhere between Chile, South Africa and Australia).

Food & Beverage is a big way to go. Two weeks ago 42 Below won the top print award at the US Clios for a Saatchi & Saatchi New York-created campaign (NYNZ at work again). Public, the Gordon/Hansen/ Farmerie creation on Grand St is the best public face for New Zealand food and wine you could hope for. Nelson Blue is a gastro-pub just opened in lower Manhattan at the Seaport. Down Under Bakery Pies, Brooklyn, is what it says. Josh Emmett is the Chef de Cuisine at Gordon Ramsay's London on 54th St. On the West Coast, at Costa Mesa, Noel Turner welcomes Californians to his acclaimed Turner New Zealand restaurant. A decade ago in San Francisco I invited a team of journalists who had been covering the State of the World Forum to The Moa Room, a beautiful restaurant run by a chef from Gisborne Jan Gardner.

Design-led companies (as per the Scandinavian way) have strong opportunities in the USA, as Bendon, Icebreaker, Karen Walker, Trelise Cooper and many are showing in Fashion & Apparel. Rebecca Taylor, Wellington/NY fashion designer-come international star, has her store in Mott St in lower Manhattan's Nolita. Phil&Ted's sports buggies and baby transporters are about the city. Architect and long–time NYNZer David Howell featured on the front page of Sunday's New York Times' avidly-read real estate section. Smart digital/web/search/mobile companies like Hyperfactory (with six international locations) and FirstLightERA have operations in New York. Film is an obvious but that's another discussion.

Export is the only economic imperative we have. New Zealand companies of every shape and size need to ask the question: "how can I fill the world?" As both a push and a pull strategy, New Zealand desperately needs street presence in global markets; touchpoints; first moments of truth; pop-up stores; retail stores; cafes and restaurants; exhibitions and trade shows; "out of home" advertising; a stream of it. Even a billboard at LAX would be a start. I started my career in 1980 as a showbusiness entrepreneur - seven years of producing, selling and popularizing NZ, Australian and international artists who mostly no-one had previously experienced or heard of. Street visibility was everything - and in America, the only nation of scale that is culturally simpatico in many ways with New Zealand - we have a cloak of invisibility. Profile that we have is serendipitous, random, sporadic and/or accidental.

Basically put, there is no above-the-line marketing of New Zealand in America at all. Some 100%Pure activity, but like a dress on a rack, just one of a gazillion ads. We need much more volume. The billboards at LAX (and SF and JFK) are no joking matter, if only as a two-thumbs-up to nz exporters heading into vastness of America to sell. Most people travelling through airports are influencers in some way or other. Market visibility starts at airports, and it's a case of fanning out from there.

If the Minister of Finance is concerned about the inflationary pressures of spending too much of the Government surplus domestically, then there is no better place to spend it than overseas. This is Export Year/Decade, and in-market, on-the-street visibility is essential for building the vibe/ perception/ preference/ attractors for New Zealand in meta, macro and micro ways. It's basic business technique to promote, and New Zealand is incredibly underpromoted in a rational, methodical brand marketing way. It's more than a question of funding, it's one of basic economic development.

The Labour Government did absolutely the right thing when it first came into office by raising arts funding, which had been perennially starved at less than $10 mil a year, to about $70 mil, and we are a more creative country for this. The same magic wand needs to apply to our export marketing effort. Trade & Enterprise's Better By Design program is an excellent example of the programs that exist; I'm talking about the programs that don't yet exist. An integrated and backed-up US$50 mil spent advertising New Zealand in the world's business and consumer media would deliver a billion dollar return. 4 points to finish:

1. I heard an idea in May to do a reality-TV program on export, which I said was terrific and should be made. Call it "Extreme Export." Close-up on the language, adventure and cursing that occurs when negotiating international situations. Education is a critical factor in building an export culture, and seeing how it's done in-yer-face is essential for getting follow-on.

2. There needs to be a meeting about NZ international brand marketing, or a bunch of video stories from exporters who are cutting/working/linking their NZ/world relationships. Knowing the language, seeing the tactics, the interrogation of the detail, the micro-management of these situations, could direct a generation whose only fix on export is leaving the country. The TED/7X7 format would be ideal, Ben Kepes from Waipara wrote me about invoking these formats in order to get stories/actions flowing. I didn't know what to answer him at the time, but I do now: the theme is "Extreme Export" - stories about achievements/ideas about selling nz-created stuff globally. You could mix the wisdom of some of the former DairyBoard's legendary traders with the chutzpah of BroTown's Elizabeth Mitchell. And so on. Call the meet/series Swarm.

3. NZ's greatest export is its people, and our relationship with our overseas multitude is at best embryonic. Victoria University did a great thing last week or so, and awarded an Honorary Doctorate to Wade Thompson, founder of Thor Industries, a VUW graduate who created the world's largest recreation vehicle and the largest manufacturer of mid-sized buses in the US (85 models). The Jackson Ohio company has 9,000 employees in 29 plants in North America and sales of US$3 billion+. Thor grew principally through acquisition, including the iconic Airstream which is now in the Museum of Modern Art's design section. There is a great story/myth heard 14th hand about a breakthrough Airstream achieved; during a delayed launch of a critical NASA space flight from Cape Canaveral the camera and commentators needed something to talk about, and their attention wandered to a beautiful caravan in the edge of the picture, and they waxed about its shape and classic lines and utility...and thus America experienced a new idea. Sometimes luck is on your side. Cheers Wade Thompson.

4. New Zealand Export can mean many things today, and we should explore and celebrate every one of them. In toto, to me it means connectedness and international value-creation wherever New Zealanders are, home and away. In indigenous nz showbiz in the 1980s the phrase "internationally-acclaimed" was a sure-fire winner, and in 2007 we should be acclaiming our international salespeople and dealmakers. Banish murder, drunkenness and other lousy behaviors from our front pages (start a "Page 13" for all the nasty stuff) and tag-along with the extreme exporters for inspirational stories. Purpose follows passion.

All from one drive-by photo. Thanks Fisher & Paykel. I have several of your appliances, the short-cycle dishwasher at Raumati being the best.

68 degrees in NYC and a 40% chance of rain tomorrow.