Fonterra tightens naming game

By IRENE CHAPPLE and NZPA

Fonterra has appointed intellectual property firm A.J. Park to tackle the huge task of protecting its international brands.

Three of the brands, Anchor, Anlene and Chesdale, are among the top 50 consumer brands in Asia, says leading global branding and design consultancy Interbrand.

Fonterra's international portfolio is regarded as the most valuable in New Zealand.

Its big brands - which also include Mainland, Fernleaf, Andec and Annum - are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The company's brand portfolio is being valued. Fonterra's in-house counsel, Lloyd Kavanagh, said they might eventually be listed on the company's accounts as separate assets.

Fonterra's predecessor companies, New Zealand Dairy Group and Kiwi Dairies, counted their brands within the companies' total value.

The legal team now called on to guard the Fonterra brands, and other intellectual property such as website domain names, is led by A.J. Park Wellington partner Corinne Blumsky, wife of former Wellington mayor Mark Blumsky.

The three-year contract was won after a tender involving six firms from Australia and New Zealand. Blumsky said five staff had been employed on the account.

Kavanagh said Fonterra had customers and consumers in 140 countries.

There were 100 companies in its group and a lot of corporate and consumer brands, trademarks and domain names.

A.J. Park had proposed "innovative new ways" to approach global brand protection, he said.

Fonterra would no longer employ overseas patent attorneys, previously contracted to the company, but centralise its "management and protection" of the brands.

Kavanagh said Fonterra was focusing specifically on building its brands as assets, and was looking to emulate the success of leading international fast-moving, consumable goods companies.

Kavanagh would not name companies, but McDonald's and Coca-Cola - with multi-billion-dollar sales in the Asia Pacific region - are examples of successful branding.

"We are really looking to change the focus," said Kavanagh.

"We are adding value in terms of the way we operate.

"A lot of the work has been done already, but it's a case of reviewing and reconsidering the work that has already been done."