Sébastien Desclée: The opportunity and the peril of NZ's global brand

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern continues to have a strong reputation abroad. Photo / AP

OPINION:

For centuries, the USA has traded on its reputation as a country of freedom and progressiveness. The notion of democracy as outlined in the Declaration of Independence - of all being equal and bestowed with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - has been the foundational element on which values such as democracy, freedom and equality have been built. Over time these values have taken root and translated into what many call "The American Dream".

Driven by that strong image and those values, the USA has seen people immigrating from all around the world, aspiring to be part of this country full of possibility, with the hope of creating a better future for themselves and their children. Just like its Statue of Liberty, Brand USA shone like a beacon in the darkness for many.

However, over the last couple of years, Brand USA has come under intense pressure, driven by many "Timely" events and attitudes that are in total contradiction with its "Timeless" positioning. Case in point: a publicly divisive president who, while in office, demonstrated behaviours and values in complete opposition to some of the USA's key values, e.g. Trump's support of the Capitol riots, and his administration's attitude towards minorities.

Even more recently, the Supreme Court's rejection of Roe v Wade, a huge blow to women's rights in the USA, is a "Timely" decision that seems to contradict what the USA – and its constitution (in this case, a woman's constitutional right of privacy), has always stood for.

This succession of timely actions and decisions is clearly damaging the strong, long-standing Brand USA, which is quickly losing its shine in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The overturning of Roe v Wade was a big blow for women's rights in the US. Photo / AP

Conversely, Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Greenland - consistently manage the right balance between their long-term ambitions of progression (Timeless) and the short and mid-term measures they put in place to help them deliver on these (Timely). As open-minded and future-focused countries, their efforts to nourish and support their Timeless ambitions make them much more consistent and progressive.

Not only are these countries at the forefront of gender equality in general, but they also adopt timely actions to support their timeless agendas. For example, they have timeless and ambitious environmental goals (the Nordic Region aims to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030) and put timely measures in place to support those, e.g. supporting carbon neutrality measures and non-fossil incentive programs. The Nordic brand is growing stronger, driven by the progressiveness of long-term ambitions tempered with the consistency of the timely measures and actions put in place to deliver on those.

Now, to Aotearoa. Here, we too have an opportunity to leverage our strong brand to inspire the rest of the world. We are already known for many positive qualities - our beautiful landscapes, our multi-talented population, the 100% Pure New Zealand brand, the All Blacks, and our young and modern female PM, to name just a few. But there are many areas where we are underleveraged. Very few people in the world are aware of how progressive Aotearoa is as a society – trailblazing women's rights, our support of the LGBTQIA community, the unique Te Tiriti o Waitangi, our ambitious CO2 emissions target, our multiculturalism and our consistent appearance on "Best Places to Live" lists, to name some examples.

Given the immediate challenges we face in attracting and retaining talent, we should of course highlight these strengths to the rest of the world. But we should also make timely decisions along the way to support our timeless ambitions – education and our high cost of living spring to mind as two areas deserving of immediate focus.

Just as small innovative brands can inspire an entire category (think of how Tesla pushed the car sector into transitioning to EV), Aotearoa is in a unique position to inspire the world, leveraging its strong timeless positioning – always remembering to implement timely action along the way.

Put simply, we can shine our own beacon from all the way down here, bright enough for the world to see.

- Sébastien Desclée is the chief executive of advertising firm FCB Aotearoa