Making waste reduction sexy

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Brian Richards dislikes phone interviews intensely.

His job is visuals and aesthetics. The beauty of branding can simply not be portrayed by description, he growls.

The interview takes place at his Newmarket office.

Mr Richards, branding strategist, is a passionate man. His black outfit is the opposite of his stark white surrounds.

Three couches squat in the corner, positioning coordinated with mathematical accuracy. One is red, one blue and one green.

He charges out something "not dissimilar to a high-end lawyer". That's about $300 an hour, although he negotiates project prices and does work pro bono.

Mr Richards' curriculum vitae boasts some high-profile work.

He was involved in the naming and identity of Te Papa - a contentious issue that raised hackles among the politically correct. His rebranding of Cervena - farm-raised young venison - launched in the early 1990s created an international image for the product.

The New Zealand-owned brand is now registered in 49 countries and farms that use it are audited to ensure their practices meet the product's protocol, right down to killing methods.

A rebranding process removed the "Bambi syndrome" dislike of deer from the American markets. Mr Richards says the meat was repackaged as high cuisine and now earns the bulk of its $25 million a year in the US market.

Rebranding took four years. Searching for the appropriate name was difficult. When a brand is launched internationally, the name can be inadvertently offensive.

Cervena was chosen to reflect the Latin word for deer, cervidae. Mr Richards says it also has a feminine ring.

The appropriate gender bias of a product's name can affect the price. Cervena needed to be female to show the delicacy of the product. With a feminine swing, the brand name can increase the price on a restaurant menu.

Mr Richards is a deer farmer and was fascinated by the project. Similarly, he fervently believes in rebranding waste. He has 39,000 native trees planted on his deer farm.

He is quietly furious at the nation's apathy towards waste reduction and his mission is to bring individual responsibility back. He believes it's pretty simple. Even just half flushing the toilet would make a difference.

But waste reduction needs to be sexier.

Mr Richards says effective branding has three aspects: a clear point of difference, a physical story and a supportive story.

A national campaign will drive the message into the heads of New Zealanders, he says. The catchphase is there - Life After Waste. The story will come after this week's Waste Management Institute of New Zealand conference in Christchurch.

All very intellectual stuff, waiting for practical grounding.

An industry insider says Mr Richards is known as an academic.

He also has a reputation as one of New Zealand's top branding experts.

Rebranding waste could be his toughest challenge yet.