New Zealand Made... do they really care?   7 Jun 2012

Annah Stretton

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So how important is NZ made?

It certainly became a heated platform for my daughter Sam and I the other night as we sat in Smith’s bar in Auckland. We were enjoying a bevy before we attended the NZ Fashion Festival, which included a section with our label.

"Hon, I think I might have to take the Chameleon Dress offshore and look at another source of manufacture. I'm unsure that we can keep up with demand especially with the huge international expo season that we have ahead of us."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "That dress is the golden egg in your collections. It is sooooo important that it is NZ made. I'm sure there are plenty of NZ manufacturing plants that you could give the work to. Think about it Mum. And what about those huge stickers you have across all of your retail store windows... 100% NZ made!"

Point taken... let's move on and quickly. My daughter has suddenly  become me... Ouch!

And whilst NZ Made is a focus and an important part of our brand story, I know from some of the research that we have done with our customer base that in so many cases price will come before country of manufacture.

As one women said to me (and I guess this pretty much sums up how most people think), "Yep, I would always go for the NZ made product as long as it the same price as the Chinese version."

How the hell do we make sense of that!

For our economy to experience the growth that we so desperately need, maybe we should consider that part of the answer is in the relationships that we could have with our migrant countrymen. They will have extensive relationships and contacts in their homeland and these countries are often the ones that have become very necessary trading partners.

Surely it would make sense to develop and foster these. Wouldn't it simply put business on the fast track to global growth?

Come on New Zealand! Embrace the rest of the world and their entry into our environment. Sure, this model will have its failures but it will also have its successes... so make sure you are well positioned to engage.

Remain open to opportunities.

www.annahstretton.com

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