In the immortal words of Steve Hansen, the next All Black coach, it’s time to ‘flush the dunny and move on” in Christchurch. It has been a year none of us will forget, with the impact in human terms enormous.

Business too has had its challenges, and, like the noble citizens of Canterbury, needs to reflect on what has been and move on in 2012. To do this it’s helpful to look back over what has changed in local business, so in the spirit of Bruce Raines’ great book “You know you are from Christchurch when . . . “:

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when premium retail brands like Ballantynes, Barkers, Trelise Cooper and Plush can operate out of old shipping containers, and we love it. Cantabrians have ripped themselves from the blandness of the malls to flock to City Mall’s Restart, a bunch of shops housed in painted metal boxes. Nobody would have believed it 18 months ago.

Restart shows that the only way the central city (or New Brighton, Sydenham or any other non-mall area) can compete at retail is to offer consumers a distinctly different experience to the malls, even if that means shipping containers.

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when the biggest advertisers are demolition companies and insurance firms. Ad spots extolling the virtues of giant demolition cranes or pleading patience with your insurance provider seem normal these days in Canterbury.

While it’s a relief from the constant barrage of impotence advertisements, it is actually a pity that the region’s largest home insurer, AMI, seems quite silent in comparison to other insurers, and has certainly been the weakest at communicating with its customers.

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when meetings could be held anywhere from a suburban sandwich shop to a McDonald’s meeting room, and home offices have become the norm. Particularly in the weeks after the quake meetings were being held in all manner of random locations – I attended one in the sleepout of a client’s teenage son. Luckily he’d picked up his underwear prior to the session.

As in many other social situations the earthquakes have broken down rules of etiquette, making the conduct of business a little more relaxed and informal. Even the lawyers and accountants have managed to chill out a little, a few adventurous types even seen to be going without ties.

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when you learn how unprepared some large national companies can be when it comes to a crisis. The outstanding example would have to be Wilson Parking, who were hopeless at dealing with customers with cars stuck in various buildings after February.

Slow to communicate and reluctant to provide any useful assistance, they gave the impression it was money that was important to them, not protecting your car. This was emphasised by the fact our company received an invoice for use of our carparks for March 2011, no matter that our company’s cars were stuck under the crumbling edifice of the Hotel Grand Chancellor. Wilson Parking later acknowledged the mistake, but the fact it happened said volumes for their lack of customer focus.

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when the Government actually helps pay for your visits to overseas customers. A number of companies took up this offer, one of many programmes of assistance provided by the Government through various agencies. It was critical because although offshore customers were sympathetic for a few days, the patience didn’t last long before they expected normal service to resume.

Government assistance overall post-quake was quickly given, with minimal red tape and maximum intention to support. This has helped a number of businesses continue, and retain jobs that might have otherwise been cut.

Useful on-going support is being provided by Recover Canterbury, a joint venture between the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and the Canterbury Development Corporation. As companies struggle with post-earthquake issues, they are providing support in the form of funding, mentoring and other advice, free seminars and the like.

You know you are doing business in Christchurch when you actually care about business continuity and disaster recovery strategies. From yawning when thinking about computer system backups and relocation plans, we’re all now experts, stripped down and ready to move at a moment’s notice.

Finally, you know you are doing business in Christchurch when old age rivalries are put aside in the name of commercial, and sporting, gain. Next March it will be remarkable to see the Crusaders playing their Super Rugby games at Rugby League Park, a decision that would have had league and union diehards spluttering into their pints prior to the earthquakes, but is now commercially sensible for both codes.

What next in this spirit of post-earthquake cooperation?  The Anglicans and Catholics building a joint cathedral?

Whatever miracles emerge from the trauma of 2011, business like any other sector will be focussed on getting on with life in 2012. And given another global financial crisis is predicted, it will like being back to normal.

1. Connect with everyone you meet in a business sense – e.g. clients, suppliers, partners, prospects and other contacts you meet at networking events, tradeshows and seminars. LinkedIn also has functionality that allows you to import a list of contacts from your email account.
2. Complete your personal profile, including details about your skills, work experience and education. You can also add a photo, ask your connections to make recommendations about you and personalise your URL which gives you a link that is easier to share with others.
3. Set-up a company profile and add a company overview, products or services your organisation provides and a company logo.
4. Join relevant industry groups. Here you can share ideas, post questions and find answers to topical industry issues that other group members can comment on.
5. Post regular content updates and link these through to your website, e.g. articles or blog posts, opinion pieces on industry news, relevant events, industry studies/reports etc. You can also link up with social media tools such as Twitter so that one post can be shared across multiple platforms automatically.

Additional LinkedIn features include the applications platform which allows online services such as Tripit, WordPress and Amazon to be embedded within a member’s profile page and post updates; and the ability to request and post recommendations on a colleague, product or service you’ve had experience with.

LinkedIn also provides a number of paid opportunities for you to promote yourself, your company and its products and services:

Premium accounts – LinkedIn offers three levels of paid accounts which offer a number of additional account features including the ability to send direct emails (InMails) without waiting for an introduction, see more profiles when you search and view expanded profiles, access the Profile Organiser that allows you to track and file your connections into specific workspace, and access more specific details on who has viewed your profile.

LinkedIn ads – this service enables you to hone in on your target audience, allowing you to specify who sees your ad based on their job role, gender, age, geographical location and what LinkedIn groups they belong to. On the downside, the minimum cost per click or cost per 1,000 impressions in LinkedIn ads is $2 – high compared to Google AdWords, however you can target a more specific audience.

Job listings – LinkedIn offers straightforward job posting packages that start at US$195 for a 30-day posting. There are also a number of other paid options including a recruitment solution, a referral engine, company career pages, and ad space on your company’s profile page.

In our experience, we’ve found that most people are using LinkedIn regularly for steps 1-4 above; setting up personal and company profiles, adding connections and joining groups. While that is a vital starting point to allow you to share business information and ideas and collaborate with colleagues, it’s using LinkedIn as a marketing tool that will really help build your LinkedIn profile and presence.

Use your network to build appreciation of your company’s brand and develop stronger relationships. Share relevant content, ideas, company news, achievements and more.

If you’re sick of seeing your LinkedIn news feed filled with who’s now connected to who, or who has changed their profile picture, then lead the way by sharing content and partaking in relevant discussions. Viewers of your news feed will thank you for it.

How to really use LinkedIn: Click here to view a great infographic, “LinkedIn boot camp – basic training for the personal marketer”.

www.linkedin.com

Phew! Tea-tapes, mass poster defacement and the inevitable Winston comeback. Thankfully another agonising period of electioneering is over, but we are left with some interesting insights into ‘real’ marketing from the campaigns.

More than any other realm, political marketing shows starkly how consumers are ‘imprisoned’ in a world view that drives their decision making. We are all conditioned by our upbringing, our job, level of wealth, friends, the area we live in and so on to see things in a certain way.

While one person will see a John Key speech as inspiring and visionary, another will consider it weasel words designed to manipulate. The same goes for Phil Goff, Russell Norman and any other politico.

Political leaders are very disciplined these days in delivering their specific messages, but those are received entirely differently by us ‘consumers’ as we filter them through the prison bars of our mind. We can be a bit like poor old Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption, so comfortable in our jail we are terrified to leave, to change our views.

This is not so obvious when selling goods rather than political slogans, but the same rules apply. Most people don’t want to listen to your advert, read your brochure, receive your phone call or get an email.

Many will reject your messages, filter them out completely or maybe file them away for later reflection. A small few will respond, as you connect with their view of the world.

For example, Kiwi software companies have sometimes found it harder to sell their wares domestically than overseas. Local buyers’ worldview often sees local products as too high-risk, even if they are cheaper, preferring more expensive, lower risk software products. It’s a safe and comfortable prison they have no interest in leaving.

And like any institutionalised person, it is never their fault. It is your fault as a marketer in not being able to release them.

So how do you help people escape this prison?

Emotion is a key. The Latin word at the root of emotion is “to move”. In marketing terms that is why emotion is all important – it’s gets people to take action.

Political parties are classic at this approach. They will relentlessly use issues they think connect with voters’ emotions. Often it is law and order (you are going to get robbed!), health (nobody will care for you!) or education (your child will end up stupid!) that are rolled out, but this campaign it was more about the economy.

Labour ran a very aggressive campaign around the sale of state assets, something they perceived voters to have strong emotions about. They hammered away relentlessly on it.

I’m sure when Mrs Goff asked Phil what he had for breakfast, he replied “A big fry-up, but at least I didn’t consume a whole lot of state assets.”

Rationally, the proposed partial sale of state assets was a relatively insignificant issue in economic terms, with strong arguments for either selling or retaining. Emotionally it was seen as a strong lever.

Using emotion is made possible by having a deep understanding of your customers.

After all marketing is simply about finding and penetrating a ‘market’, a group of consumers with a particular need. You need to know who they are, where they are and what motivates them.

You need to understand what helps build their views about products and make decisions. For example, in the medical technology field often respected clinicians endorsing your products is much more effective than lots of other promotional activities, while using social media works in reaching technical audiences like computer programmers.

Speaking their language is the other critical factor. One of John Key’s enduring appeals is that he speaks in a straightforward and typically Kiwi way, until he reads an autocue on TV and sounds like any other politician.

When you don’t have all of these fundamentals in place your promotional activity can fall flat, or even worse backfire on you, as it did with Qantas last week.

Qantas launched a Twitter competition offering people some pyjamas and a ‘luxury Qantas amenity kit’ for the best tweets about what luxury meant to them inflight. Entrants had to tag their Twitter post with #Qantasluxury.

Reflecting the recent issues Qantas has had in Australia, they were swamped with people tweeting, but using the tag to criticise the airline. “Getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire. #QantasLuxury”, “#QantasLuxury would be not having 5 flights in a row delayed on one trip” were two of hundreds of negative comments.

Much like Phil Goff, Qantas will now just want to keep their head down and get on with life.

For the rest of us we are thankful that another election campaign is over, and can remain happily imprisoned in our view of the political word for another three years.

“It could be a billion dollar opportunity” said the businessman on the other end of the phone, with a breathless tale about an academic who had come to him with a revolutionary piece of technology.

Five minutes on Google revealed it as a con. The ‘academic’ in question had a history of fleecing people to fund various grand inventions that came to nothing.

Why did a successful and experienced businessman fall for this conman?

We are all vulnerable to the allure of brilliant technical innovation, the world-beating idea that will change an industry and earn its owner billions.

New technology is like ‘P’ for business people, offering the chance of quick hits and a fast payback.

With the promise of earning more foreign exchange and the creation of high value jobs, it’s a drug politicians find highly addictive too.

Innovation isn’t sexy enough to be a big election issue, but John Key did recently announce an investment in the tech sector, creating a ‘high-tech HQ’ called the Advanced Technology New Zealand (ATNZ), out of an existing crown research institute called Industrial Research Limited.

The new entity will be focussed less on pure scientific research and more on commercialising high tech ideas.

“High-tech sectors could contribute substantially more to the economy than they currently do. We already have successful companies in this sector, particularly in areas like ICT, biotechnology and medical technology, but we need more of them and we need them to be bigger,” said Mr Key announcing the move.

Key’s statement was underlined by the recent release of Technology Investment Network’s top 100 index, which showed New Zealand has 30 tech companies earning over $50 million in annual revenue, a fraction of the more than 2000 companies in our ICT sector.

Forming ATNZ was actually a key recommendation of a high-powered government report with the catchy title “Powering Innovation: improving access to and uptake of R&D (research and development) in the high value manufacturing and services sector”, that was commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

It is an excellent analysis of the innovation ‘system’ in New Zealand, and identifies the need for the various research entities to be better coordinated and more focussed on market demand.

‘Powering Innovation’ has detailed suggestions for improving research and development, including the development of programme similar to the successful ‘Better By Design’ scheme, this time aimed at encouraging research and development (Better by Design helps exporters be more customer-oriented throughout their business).

While the report received a lot of positive response from science and business, it ignores two fundamental questions that hang over any new innovation.

Who will buy it? And how can we sell it to them at a profit?

This sounds ridiculously basic, but it is amazing how often these two simple questions aren’t answered until after time and money has been spent on developing new innovations.

There’s an inherent danger that underlies our approach to innovation in New Zealand – we keep reinforcing the view that success is just around the corner. If only we could invent the better mouse trap export earnings await.

Here’s the real challenge for New Zealand tech – if we didn’t invent one more thing how big could we get?

The stark reality is that we struggle to actually sell all this innovation to the world as it is. No matter how efficient and effective our innovation system, it matters little if we are not finding profitable market opportunities for them.

As well as continuing to strengthen our innovation system as recommended by ‘Powering Innovation’ we need to improve our ability to build international distribution channels, build strong brands and attract premium pricing positions.

It is these sorts of skills that technology exporters themselves say they are most lacking.

In the 2011 Market Measures study, tech companies rated themselves strongly on their ability to innovate. Marketing and promotion, protection of intellectual property and selling were cited as their weakest areas of commercialisation capability.

Perhaps what is needed is a “Better by Design” type programme for improving the sales and marketing skills of our innovation sector – a way of matching our world-class technical capability with a world-class ability to find and develop markets.

Last week the latest Flying Kiwi award, a hall of fame run by the New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust, was conferred on Brent Robinson of Rakon Limited.

Robinson had the audience spellbound with his story, which was as much a tale of courageous and relentless selling to multinational companies as it was to technical innovation.

Many other Kiwi innovators show Robinson’s talent for innovation, but too few have his company’s ability to locate, secure and grow large customers over a long period.

Flying Kiwi’s like Robinson don’t get addicted to technological innovation.

That’s because they have been treated with a serious dose of commercial reality, where selling innovation to the world is as hard as coming up with it in the first place.

A potty-mouthed puppet, controversial rapper and a pair of Playboy Playmates. It is not an article from a Lads’ Magazine article, but the key characters in advertising by our national carrier Air New Zealand.

Part of a gutsy approach to marketing that has seen Air New Zealand build its brand against huge odds, it offers a great example to other Kiwi companies competing on a global stage.

The edgy promotions are a long way from the very corporate and self-important carrier brand of the past (remember those epic television advertisements by Lee Tamahori)? And a breath of fresh air in an environment where so many firms are too afraid to take the kind of risks needed to really stand out.

As a small player in a huge global industry, the company understands the need to do something different. As CEO Rob Fyfe has pointed out, a single spot in the US Superbowl would equal the carrier’s annual marketing budget.

To overcome the odds, Air New Zealand has chosen to take some chances to get exposure. That’s included online advertisements and in-flights videos (released via mediums like YouTube) featuring the likes of Rico the risqué puppet, rapper Snoop Dogg, former TV star now cult figure David Hasselhoff and Playboy twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon.

To be successful using online channels, you typically need to entertain or inform – you can’t just do the ‘yell and sell’ of traditional paid advertisements. It’s a tribute to Air New Zealand’s ability to entertain that their bare essentials safety video, in which Fyfe plays a bit-part wearing little more than a coat of paint, has recorded over 6.5 million views on YouTube; a great return on a modest investment in producing it.

There’s been other smart initiatives like Facebook games and cheeky publicity gimmicks, such as the recent survey Air New Zealand commissioned to see who adults in the US and UK would most like to cuddle up with on a trans-Atlantic flight. A promotion of the airline’s new Skycouch service, the results got great play online (for the record,  women were most likely to choose Johnny Depp and George Clooney, men Jenifer Aniston and Megan Fox).

I was critical of Air New Zealand in a 2008 Press column, when they didn’t seem to be clear on who they were. “It is not clear what Air New Zealand stands for. Building a brand that stands for something is important for any business. It gives you a basis for competing against anyone else in the market.”

They’ve certainly carved a distinct personality now, and are delivering a unique experience. And they’ve done smart things like creating the “Grabaseat” brand to provide a value offering to the market, for customers who values price over flexibility and convenience, without affecting the core Air New Zealand brand.

The edgy approach can be a gamble, and has been criticised by some advertising agencies (typically those who profit from large and expensive TV campaigns), but what Air New Zealand has done in many ways is focus their brand on a real “Kiwiness”. Smart and a bit quirky, fond of humour and not inclined to take ourselves too seriously.

Simply creating some awareness and expectation in the market is not enough however. Air New Zealand has had to actually deliver something that fits with the brand it tries to portray.

Skycouch is a good example. A different way of looking at economy class, Skycouch offers passengers a new experience on long-haul flights. It’s different, fun, smart, classic Kiwi ingenuity. As Fyfe said at the launch, “For those who choose, the days of sitting in economy and yearning to lie down and sleep are gone. The dream is now a reality, one that you can even share with a travelling companion – just keep your clothes on thanks.”

They’ve delivered lots of other innovation around things like automated check-in facilities and lots of online tools for booking and managing your travel with them. It’s been about delivering the promise their promotion makes.

Contrast this with rival airline Jetstar, owned by Qantas. It has spent up large on a good quality promotional campaigns across TV and print commercials, and billboards. They haven’t matched the expectations created with these promotions with a good experience for the flying public.

Has all this worked? Given Air New Zealand’s latest profit result, dropping 45% for the year to June 2011, you’d be forgiven for saying no. But they did achieve a 7% increase in overall revenue in what has been described as the worst operating conditions for a decade. Air New Zealand estimates the impact of the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes reduced earnings by about $70 million.

Having a stronger, more distinct brand has given Air New Zealand some resilience in such a tough environment, and is a tribute to their courage in trying to stand out. It’s the one part of their business where we are happy for them to take risks.

Us marketing types pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge, relentlessly pursuing innovative ways to help companies sell more of what they produce.  Following what Facebook or Google are doing, or analysing Apple’s latest marketing move.

In reality, I could do no better than taking some lessons from my great uncle Cyril Cox, and a brilliant promotional project he worked on over a hundred years ago.

The project was the New Zealand institution that is The Edmonds Cookbook. As Kiwi as gumboots, buzzy bees and fish and chips, it actually started life as a grubby old marketing tool.

Today we would call it a piece of ‘content marketing’, the latest buzzword in how to attract customers in a world where they are being drowned in marketing information from all angles.

As Wikipedia describes it, “Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action.”

Companies worldwide are publishing e-books, authoring white papers, filming video case studies or conducting podcast interviews in an endeavour to offer prospective customers something of enough value to encourage them into a commercial relationship.

And it can be a far better way for many companies to reach new customers, rather than the moronic promotions that too often dominate. As marketing writer Hugh Macloed puts it “If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.”

‘New’, ‘leading-edge’, ‘game-changing’ are all terms that have been used to describe this new content marketing trend. Except that a Canterbury company probably invented it in 1907.

Edmonds is a famous Canterbury business. An image of its’ original Linwood-based building (demolished in 1990) still adorns product packaging, although the brand is now owned by food manufacturer Goodman Fielder.

Such a consistent visual identity is something a few large New Zealand companies could learn from, given they seem to change their logo every time the marketing department gets bored with it.

Thomas Edmonds started his business in 1879, stepping off a ship from England and setting up a grocery store in Christchurch’s east. He developed his famous baking powder in response to continual complaints from customers that existing products didn’t do the job.

Like many product innovators before and after him, Thomas Edmonds didn’t actually find this translated into instant demand for his new baking powder product, with merchants uninterested in stocking it.

In response, Edmonds closed his store and spent many long days trudging about Christchurch handing out samples to housewives.

Brilliant and intuitive marketer that he was, Edmonds refused upfront payment for the product, saying he would return and only accept money if they were completely satisfied. Reportedly every single person paid.

He also knew the power of a tagline, adapting his brand’s famous marketing statement from an interaction he had with an early customer who questioned the baking powder’s efficacy, to which he replied, “Yes Ma’am, it is sure to rise.”

Thomas Edmonds’ real focus on customer satisfaction rather than simply peddling his goods worked, with sales of his tins increasing from 1000 in 1879 to 429,000 by 1906.

A relentless innovator, Edmonds was always looking for new ways to increase sales of his product, and in 1907 decided to publish a cookbook, initially a 50 page leaflet with 100 recipes most of which were for food that required baking powder.

This is where my great-uncle Cyril Cox comes in, who, as Edmonds factory manager played a key role in assembling early versions of the annual cookbook.

And the tactic worked brilliantly. Sales of Edmonds baking powder increased 30% the year after, reaching 2.5 million units by 1925.

Over time it has come to reflect changes in our culture.

Originally the cookbook featured mainly baked goods, and then broadened as reliable refrigeration and electric ovens become common and enabled a wider range of recipes.

Depression year’s editions reflected a shortage of many ingredients, and post-world war two there was a greater influence of American dishes, a legacy of the many US troops who spent time in New Zealand.

Today the Edmonds Cookbook is an institution, even boasting its own fan page on Facebook.

Since 1907 Edmonds recipe books have sold over 3,000,000 copies. It remains New Zealand’s fastest selling book with over 200,000 copies sold in one year.

Pretty good for a humble piece of marketing fluff.

The Edmonds Cookbook is fundamentally great marketing, which more of us should try and emulate. To provide useful information to customers rather than just try and sell, sell, sell.

It’s that aim that should drive content marketing. To really help your customers achieve something, not just try and ‘suck’ them into buying with some semi-useful dross. To be a servant rather than a cynic.

It’s the way my great uncle Cyril would like it.

‘Get weird’ has been the advice to companies wanting to build hi-tech companies, from 2011 New Zealander of the Year Sir Paul Callaghan.

The Victoria University professor of physics is a passionate advocate of New Zealand building more hi-tech businesses, to complement the traditional powerhouses of our economy such as agriculture and tourism.

Being successful as a Kiwi tech exporter is about doing the weird stuff, he wrote recently. “Our brilliance has been in the “weird stuff” that the big players don’t think to exploit. What we excel in are the niches, the little pieces of the world of technology where the big players can’t be bothered, but which . . . can be huge for us.”

The critical importance of this sort of market focus comes through strongly in the latest Market Measures survey, an annual study of the sales and marketing activities of New Zealand’s hi-tech companies.

158 companies completed the online survey, across software product development, IT design, consulting and development services, electronic devices and equipment (76% of respondents).

Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington were the most common locations (94% of respondents), and companies included start-ups through to established companies.

Turnover and age statistics suggest we continue to struggle with building international technology businesses of scale and substance. Only 15% of companies earn over $10 million with long tail of under $1 million (38%).

There were also some real positives to come from the survey with turnover increasing by an average of 48% across the board, up 8% from the previous year and exports (also up 8%) with 85% of all companies selling offshore.

While the study gathered a broad range of data, the most exciting insights it offers are what marketing ingredients are likely to produce high growth. By correlating a set of marketing variables against the companies growing the fastest, four clear themes emerged.

In line with Sir Paul’s vision, the first is focus. Companies that grew the fastest were much more likely to have a lower number of core products and services, sold into a lower number of industries than the average (25% less products and 35% less industries).

Second is market knowledge. Firms rating themselves strongly on the ability to research and learn key aspects of their target markets, tended to have higher growth figures. Having clarity around the markets they were entering enabled these companies to make better decisions about key issues like how to price, who to partner with and what kind of buyers to target.

Partnering is the third theme. High growth was associated with using a partner in both local and export markets, interesting given that overall only a minority of respondents used distribution channels.

Last is promotion. Basically, any promotion is good promotion. All promotional activities tended to be associated with good growth, with a couple of particularly effective areas: spending on public relations, direct calling programmes (e.g. telemarketing) and using social media effectively, especially having a blog and using social professional networks (such as LinkedIn).

The survey also charted differences in the ways companies of different stages of growth approached their sales and marketing. Companies self-categorised into start-ups, early growth and established.

The main insights across these stages were that start-ups were good at product development, but struggled to attracted capital; early growth companies excelled at attracting staff, but were constrained by a lack of cash; and established companies tended to be strong on managing their finances, but were still seeking staff and additional capital.

Pricing confidence clearly increased as the companies matured, with only 2% of start-ups commanding a premium price positioning, as opposed to early growth (10%) and established companies (22%).

Companies overall tended to price below their competitors, even though they tried to position their product as superior.

Companies at whatever stage were heavily export oriented, targeting Australia, USA and the UK in the main. Start-ups were more likely to sell into Asia, which is not a traditional target for our technology exports.

In terms of what they perceived to be the most effective promotional activities: website, collateral, and industry events rated highest across all companies. Advertising, sponsorship and telemarketing rated lowest.

Focussing on sales support type promotion (events, collateral, web) was common across all companies, with start-ups more likely to use social media. The least was invested in telemarketing, sponsorship and product reviews.

A key insight is that while promotion correlates with growth, it has to be done in the context of a solid marketing strategy – a tight focus on a market you know well, using channel partners to help with sales.

Sir Paul’s says New Zealand firms will be successful by picking small, unexploited niches and being the best in the world in those segments. Being the best not only means creating great products, but selling them in the smartest ways.

Marketing is often seen as a creative pursuit, all about dreaming up left-field ideas to export more of your product. This is especially so in our innovation-based industries.

Good export marketing is actually more about being thoroughly-researched, planned, process-oriented and measurable. This is backed by a study of the sales and marketing activities of New Zealand’s hi-tech companies, released in early October.

Market Measures is an annual survey that assesses all aspects of how innovation-based businesses take their products to domestic and international markets. Produced by Concentrate, in conjunction with fellow Kiwi tech marketing company Swaytech, Market Measures is sponsored by business advisers PwC.

The ‘secret sauce’
While the study gathered a broad range of data, the most exciting insights it offers are what marketing ingredients are likely to produce high growth. By correlating a set of marketing variables against the companies growing the fastest, four clear themes emerged.

The first is focus. Companies that grew the fastest were much more likely to have a lower number of core products and services, sold into a lower number of industries than the average (25% less products and 35% less industries). They could concentrate limited resources on a fixed market opportunity, gaining more intensity with their sales and marketing.

Second is market knowledge. Companies that rated themselves strongly on the ability to research and learn key aspects of their target markets, tended to have higher growth figures. Having clarity around the markets they were entering enabled these companies to make better decisions about key issues like how to price, who to partner with and what kind of buyers to target.

Partnering is the third theme. High growth was associated with using a partner in both local and export markets, interesting given that overall only a minority of respondents used distribution channels.

Last is promotion. Basically, any promotion is good promotion. All promotional activities tended to be associated with good growth, with a couple of particularly effective areas: spending on public relations, direct calling programmes (e.g. telemarketing) and using social media effectively, especially having a blog and using social professional networks (such as LinkedIn).

Failing at scaling
So who participated in this study? 158 companies completed the online survey, across tech sectors including software product development, IT design, consulting and development services, electronic devices and equipment (76% of respondents).

Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington were the most common locations (94% of respondents), and companies included start-ups through to established companies.

Turnover and age statistics suggest we continue to struggle with building international technology businesses of scale and substance. Only 15% of companies earn over $10 million with a long tail of companies earning under $1 million (38%).

There were also some real positives to come from the survey. Turnover increased by an average of 48% across the board, up 8% from the previous year, and exports were also up 8%, with 85% of all companies selling offshore.

Expenditure on sales and marketing (staff costs and direct expenses) has softened a little, likely to be a lagging effect of the global financial meltdown that hit many markets in 2009 and 2010. It remains broadly consistent with international benchmarks.

The land of missed opportunity?
New Zealand has a wealth of smart technologists exporting great innovations, but the study showed some significant constraints to realise the immense potential offered by its technology sector to earn foreign exchange.

Companies cited the difficulties of finding sufficient capital and appropriately skilled and qualified staff as major impediments to their sales and marketing.

There was an over-reliance on selling directly with an in-market presence, rather than use channels. Only 16% were selling indirectly, which is concerning given high growth was associated with effectively using channels to market.

Reinforcing the perception that our tech firms are talented innovators but lack go-to-market skills, was companies weak self-rating of their capability around promotion and sales.

A final constraint was the fact many of our tech exporters were focussed on tough, slow markets such as health and community services, utilities and government administration and defence. And although companies like Orion Health or Rakon have done exceptional well in these sectors, there is surely an opportunity to promote our technology into other industry segments, such as agriculture, where the New Zealand ‘brand’ would add real value.

The generation gap
The survey charted differences in the ways companies of different stages of growth approached their sales and marketing. Companies self-categorised themselves into start-ups, early growth and established.

The main insights across these stages were that start-ups were good at product development, but struggled to attracted capital; early growth companies excelled at attracting staff, but were constrained by a lack of cash; and established companies tended to be strong on managing their finances, but were still seeking staff and additional capital.

Pricing confidence clearly increased as the companies matured, with only 2% of start-ups commanding a premium price positioning, as opposed to early growth (10%) and established companies (22%).

Companies overall tended to price below their competitors, even though they tried to position their product as superior.

Companies at whatever stage of the lifecycle were heavily export oriented, targeting Australia, USA and the UK in the main. Start-ups were more likely to sell into Asia, which is not a traditional target for our technology exports, even though they rate as strong trading partners overall for New Zealand.

In terms of what they perceived to be the most effective promotional activities: website, collateral, and industry events rated highest across all companies. Advertising, sponsorship and telemarketing rated lowest.

Focussing on sales support type promotion (events, collateral, online) was common across all companies, with start-ups more likely to use social media. The least was invested in telemarketing, sponsorship and product reviews.

A key insight is that while promotion correlates with growth, it has to be done in the context of solid marketing strategy. With a tight focus on a market you know well while employing channel partners, makes promotion the icing on the exporting cake.

If you were starting a hi-tech exporting venture tomorrow, who would be your first hire after the requisite technical gurus? A patent expert, someone with financial skills, a human resource specialist perhaps?

For me it would be a marketing writer, because the ability to create and publish content is a huge promotional opportunity for Kiwi exporters. This is not just doing traditional ‘public relations’, sending out news stories to various online and offline media in your target markets, but actually creating and publishing content yourself.

Two trends are behind the shift to what is called “content marketing”. Mainstream media organisations have shrunk, with fewer journalists expected to produce more content as news outlets battle the growth of free online media.

The other, connected, trend has been the meteoric rise of social media as a source of content for people. Blogs, social networking sites and wikis have become second nature to us as sources of information.

This is giving companies an ability to build their brand by providing quality content, in written, audio and video formats. That doesn’t mean the tired old PR spin of old, but interesting, customer-focussed information that provides the reader with value and isn’t just trying to shove a message down their throat.

A local example is exporter Pivot Software, who creates a lot of content and publishes it on their website and through various blogs, social media sites and other online channels. This has included resources like a guide for developing remuneration policies in large companies – useful, factual information based on their deep experience in this area.

Pivot sells software to help with managing remuneration, but the guide doesn’t even need to mention the product. It focuses on giving the reader value, and reinforces Pivot’s brand as a credible provider in this area, as well creating an opportunity to interact with the reader and start a sales relationship when they download the document.

Producing compelling content isn’t easy, and requires a good understanding of your market and access to people with good communication skills. But having this in place also allows you to drive a traditional PR programme, which can be very powerful in export markets where you are battling much larger competitors.

Kiwi exporters usually find PR attractive for a couple of reasons. The primary one is that because the media offers a third party view of your brand, it has much greater credibility than an advertisement or advertorial you have placed yourself, or even any content you have published. The other is that it can reach a large audience at minimal cost. When the Kiwi-made YikeBike was featured in Time Magazine last year it was endorsed to millions of readers for no direct cost.

So is getting good publicity about putting a ‘spin’ on what you do? Having a customer-focused story will be far more effective. Customers are not interested in what your product does, but what benefit it brings them. It’s the same with news, it’s what you do for customers that is newsworthy not the cleverness of your product.

For example, a New Zealand biotech company might invent a new microbiological agent – hardly front page news. But if it was a cure for cancer then it would be headlining worldwide. For the media what counts is not what your product is, but what it does for people. The next time a journalist ignores your press release ask yourself whether it’s too introspective.

So how do you get prepared for generating publicity?

As with any marketing activity, the first step is to gain a deep understanding of your customers and their needs. A compelling story aimed at those customer needs will attract the interest of the media. Knowing your market also helps you identify the media that covers that geographic or industry sector.

But what if it all goes wrong? Unlike many other communications techniques, the media’s independence means they’ll cover your newsworthy activities, good or bad. Contrary to popular opinion, there is usually no way to ‘spin’ your way out of trouble.

The power and ubiquity of modern media carries stories like this around the world in seconds, quickly wrecking havoc with the reputations of individuals, companies and products.

What can you do when bad news hits?

The best defence is obviously not to do anything wrong. But given there are so many possibilities for attracting negative publicity – redundancies, a failed project, fraud, environmental incidences, product issues and so on – it is often hard to avoid issues that might make the paper.

The next best defence is to have prepared well. Companies that survive through PR disasters are often those that already have a relationship with their target media i.e. media from their industry, business journalists and media in their geographical area. The better the relationships and level of trust with these reporters the greater the likelihood of a fair hearing when things go bad.

It might be counterintuitive but the ideal response is to be as open as you possibly can and move as fast as you possibly can. Faced with a crisis you need to clarify the situation quickly and then get your story out to as many media as possible. The more you try to hide and obfuscate, the greater likelihood it will turn into a bigger story than ever before.

Companies are always tempted to hide as much as possible, but it doesn’t usually work. There may be valid legal reasons for not disclosing, especially where redundancies are involved. But even in those cases be careful to balance legal advice with other views as disclosure is more likely to minimise damage to your brand.

Don’t let the fear of what could go wrong stop you using the power of PR to help build your brand in offshore markets. With the right skills, and a sensible approach, it can be very cost-effective. As can using those same skills to create and publish your own content.

So go save an unemployed journalist and employ a writer to help improve your export marketing.