Experienced business, marketing and e-commerce specialist Ryan Jennings has joined the BusinessNZ team as Executive Director of the Buy New Zealand Made Campaign.
Jennings, who brings domestic and international experience to the new role, will be placing a focus on developing the audience for the campaign as well as emphasising the iconic brand – celebrating its 30th anniversary this year – as one which companies can utilise with customers who are increasingly asking where a product was made. His first eCommerce business was setting up New Zealand’s only online florist for his mum before starting his own tech business introducing MP3 players to New Zealanders, three years before the iPod was invented. In the early 2000s he moved to London to design and market telecoms products for some of the world’s largest global tech companies headquartered there, including Vodafone, Inmarsat, BT Global and Swift.
Jennings has worked with SMEs throughout New Zealand creating business and marketing strategies and is the author of 100% Kiwi Business: 9 Kiwi Success Navigators based on the insights from interviews with 100 kiwi business owners.
The Buy NZ Made Campaign offers a licence for businesses to use the Kiwi trademark to promote their New Zealand Made goods and services. All must meet the requirements of the Fair Trading Act for Country of Origin labelling.
Jennings says there is great value now and in the future for companies that qualify to use the trademark to differentiate with Kiwi buyers and leverage New Zealand’s reputation internationally.
“There is no question that the Kiwi trademark is a significant marketing tool for businesses who make goods here in New Zealand. I believe it will be even more valuable in the future as businesses here and abroad look to differentiate through New Zealand provenance of manufacturing,” he explained.
“New Zealand Made is a trusted origin of quality that removes the doubt about where a product might have been made. Internationally, consumers recognise the value of knowing where a product comes from and New Zealanders are increasingly looking for the reassurance that country of origin labelling brings.
“This is where using the Buy NZ Made trademark can and will serve them very well. In a world which has effectively become smaller at the same time as it has become increasingly competitive, businesses that have committed to making goods here need to utilize every potential competitive advantage they can, and we will be working to make the Buy NZ Made trademark one of the primary tools for those businesses to gain a market origin advantage.
“I hope that I bring both passion and energy to this new role, as well as a sound knowledge of the standing of the NZ brand both at home and abroad and how we can work with business to develop the New Zealand Made trademark as a recognised origin of quality for their markets.”
