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68
 
www.idealog.co.nz
new zealand
meet
you
the
new
 
idealog 
 january/february 2007

69
the late 1980s I was working in London as a marketingexecutive for the world’s biggest brands in the fastest-growing markets in Europe. I was young and on the up,the economy was hot, hot, hot and I can honestly say thatI thought about New Zealand, well … never. But I remember seeinga billboard that made me giggle: ‘What do you call a sophisticatedAustralian? A New Zealander.’Now that I live here, I realise the billboard was for Steinlager, andit turns out to be more prescient than I first thought. A powerful pieceof trend analysis by world-leading semioticians Malcolm Evans andStephen Seth confirms that Brand New Zealand is potentially muchmore interesting than the usual list of green fields and happy sheep. Thework, conducted for a multinational with a Kiwi liquor brand, suggestsNew Zealand could occupy an enviable space. I think this identity isbest described by two words: ‘raw sophistication’. Which is not to saythose words must be plastered on all things Kiwi; but there’s an essenceof New Zealand that’s both raw and sophisticated and it’s a story we’refailing to tell.Malcolm’s speciality is foresight semiotics—the study of signsand symbols to understand cultural trends, which in turn provideopportunities for new categories and products. He pioneered itsapplication in business; his company, Space Doctors, provides trendand brand analysis on categories to Procter & Gamble, Wrigleys andSAB Miller. The work not only helps predict new categories, it alsoassists companies to get their communication imagery right ahead of cultural change.
What does New Zealand mean to them, up there?Sheep? Scenery? New thinking from the UK suggeststhat New Zealand has a rare opportunity to meansomething very special in the northern hemisphere. Are we up to it? Jake Pearce lays down his own 2011challenge for selling Brand New Zealand
In
Mountains, lakes, rivers ...is that it?
 
70
www.idealog.co.nz
I worked with Malcolm for many years in Europe and wasresponsible for the ‘in-country’ component of this New Zealand study.The client wanted to know what Brand New Zealand means in the UKand Europe. Is it still the Little England of the South Pacific? Australia’scolder cousin? The clean, green, ovine capital of the world? Home of …I’m yawning already … Jonah Lomu and the fearsome All Blacks?The results threw up the usual clichés, for sure. But our study of symbols and icons shows that an emerging identity is bursting throughwhich owes as much to Fat Freddy’s Drop and Peter Jackson as it doesto Sir Edmund Hillary and Colin Meads. The new identity is refreshing,unique and provides a powerful set of ideas for any marketer trying tocommunicate to an export market. The work also suggests that muchof what we see in the likes of the ‘100% pure’ campaign and Air NewZealand advertising is a damaging, inaccurate cliché that squandersa wonderful opportunity. ‘100% pure’ is 100% wrong.You can deduce a lot from icons and symbols. SpaceDoctors takes imagery from advertising, packaging,films, music, books, news reports and magazinearticles—pretty much anything that has a sensoryexpression—to identify three facets of a brand’s lifecycle: the residual, the dominant and the emergent.Malcolm calls them codes, because they suggest an ‘essence’.Brand New Zealand’s residual code, for example, is a neo-colonialoutpost of Britishness that exists in an uneasy alliance with Maori. Thatbelongs to our history. What most people think about New Zealandis described by the dominant code, which is the clichés that we groanabout: the clean, green, sheepy pragmatists who punch above theirweight in a lovable but harmless sort of way. It’s the image of thestraight-jawed Hillary and the crispest Hawke’s Bay apple. Jolly goodchaps, those Kiwis. Shame we abandoned them for the Europeans andso on.The ‘100% pure’ campaign plays to this stereotype. Itspanoramic spreads of white mountains and whiter beachesreinforce the perception that we do little more thanraise cattle and run up mountains for kicks.Athletes like Hamish Carter and Dan Carter arethe natural products of this 100% pure NewZealand.Trouble is it’s not true, nor is it that helpful. I’mwildly proud of the Carter boys, don’t get me wrong.But there’s more to New Zealand than sport, and there’s aworld that wants to hear about it. Bursting through the clichés isan emergent code of creativity, flair, professionalism, sustainability(maybe) and successful multiculturalism.There’s no better expression of this new identity than the arrestingshape of a David Trubridge chair. It’s organically Pacific, reminiscent of driftwood and dune grasses. Yet it’s also a fine example of engineeringand design sophistication. It’s at once Polynesian and European.Artificial and natural. Functional and aesthetic. Flash yet earthy. It’suniquely New Zealand (although Trubridge wasn’t born in Enzed—andthat’s part of the point). It’s raw sophistication at work.Other symbols come to mind: our America’s Cup challenge (mixing
Ireland
They’e had their mmet. Ireadi w the Cetic tiger ecmy,erru by phiticated Eurpeatraeer ad erea ietmetbut erpayed  the raw ide—
Riverdance
(peae), Guieadertiig imagery, diddy dee jigad image f mky cutry pub.I the rea Iread, they’e baedmkig i pub.
 Australia
Pepe wud augh at ayAutraia caim t phiticati.That wud be pure Dame Eda.Ee the iteectua are perceieda brah, brih ba-cratcher:Cie Jame, Rbert Hughe,Germaie Greer. They’e beePm-bahig ad wiy-waig frt g.
 Jamaica
Bue Mutai, reggae—itmmet ha paed. Wheeer Ihear the wrd ‘cuture’, I reach fr
Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits
.
Canada
Thi i the ther bet ctederbut it’ t iibe eugh. The ewceratie germet, whichpa t extract i i the Arctic,ha’t heped the idea f ‘raw’. Itde hae a amazig umber f creatie iumiati gig back tthe 1960, but they ide t eaiyit a America idetity. Caadaeed methig ike a
Lord of theRings
t gie ‘raw phiticati’ achace.
 Who’s the raw sophisticate? 
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roesmary

Dear Sir. I am roesmary awa the only child of Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim(a cityzen of sierra leonenia) a licensed solid mineral (gold, diamond, etc) exporter here in sierra leone capital city freetown,he was age 52 before he passed away. Before his death my father, apparently, married a woman who became my stepmother because my mother died when i was very young. My stepmother already had two daughters of about my age, and they came with her to live in my Father's house in sierra leone . I discovered that there was some ill-feeling from my stepmother towards me, since then i have been badly treated; being forced to undertake work befitting only a servant, in my father's own house. When my father died instead of being in the state of mourns as custom demand, she went as much as desired and claimed my father's property as well into the future regarded as a possible danger to my live. My father before passing away informed me privately that he had an account valued, nine million hundred thousand USD ($4.6 Million USD) which he intend to transfer into his foreign associate's account for investment abroad on my behalf, this money he acquired from the export contract he secured and executed under the umbrella of the government,here in senegal Truely i don't know you but considering my situation and security, couple with an uncontrollable crisis between the rebels and government,my live is no more protected here in sierra leone so i decided to move and seck for reg united nation auothority here in senegal dakar . I confided on your assistance and write with every respect due to your good person and ask that you assist me to get the money transfer to your bank account on my behalf as my late father's foreign associate to your country for investment. So please i want to know you better. I am willing to offer you 40% of the total money for your assistance after the successful transfer of this money for investment; I have plans to do investment in your country, like real estate, industrial production or any other lucrative investment you bring to my notice in your country. EMAIL/ /rosejannifer@yahoo.com Seriously waiting for your urgent reply, Best regard. Miss roesmary Ahmed Ibrahim PLEASE THIS ARE NECESSARY REQUIREMENT NEEDED FROM YOU BY THE FINANCE COMPANY. NAME.......................... ............ YOUR POSITION...................... ............ AGE:.......................... ............ STATUS:....................... ............ STATE/COUNTRY................. ............ BANK/ACCONUT DETAILS...................... TELE/FAX NUMBERS....................... ... REMAIN BLESS

reply03 / 02 / 2009
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