Stop being bashful and start bragging, innovative Kiwi firms told at PwC Herald Talks event in Christchurch

Savannah Peterson , the founder of Savvy Millennial. Photo / Shaun Ross

New Zealand may quietly pride itself on its No 8 wire mentality and ingenuity but Kiwi firms needs to stop being bashful and start bragging about their world-leading innovative ideas, according to a top US tech entrepreneur.

Ingrained conservative attitudes and tall poppy syndrome are the main obstacles for Kiwi innovation, a PwC Herald Talks event in Christchurch heard today.

"You have this incredible gift of creating a lifestyle that the entire world envies, and they don't realise it was a lot of innovation that drove your beautiful lifestyle. Wake up to that, own that, be proud of that," said Savannah Peterson, founder of Savvy Millennial and entrepreneur named to the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in consumer technology.

New Zealand has many success stories, Peterson said, and is creating solutions to problems that the entire world has.

But the government, industry, and individual businesses need to "amplify their message", she says.

"You need to brag about what you're doing," Peterson said.

"New Zealand needs a megaphone. And the reality is, that megaphone is free now. You can livestream everything that you're doing on Facebook, you can do that on YouTube, you can Tweet about it. There's really no excuse not to be spreading the good word about New Zealand innovation."

Today's PwC Herald Talks event in Christchurch was the last stop in the roadshow which has already stopped at Auckland and Wellington.

With the theme of innovation, keynote speaker Tobias Grant, commercial director of the Pop-up Globe in Auckland, has been giving a remarkable first-hand case study for audiences to relate to.

During a panel discussion this morning, Andy Symons, innovation partner at PwC New Zealand, said Kiwi firms are no longer just competing against each other, but against companies throughout the world.

It means they need to be more creative and come up with new ideas and solutions, he said.

But he fears that around a third of New Zealand companies are failing to look to the future and are "trapped in a paradigm of getting the basics right".

After the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, Christchurch International Airport, like many other local businesses, suffered massively with its share of the aviation sector plummeting from 23 per cent to 14 per cent.

Since then, it has become renowned for its innovation, introducing a pilot on driverless shuttles and this week teaming up with VW New Zealand and Europcar to offer corporate flyers free electric car hire.

Its also looking to big data and has signed up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to strengthen its ties to Chinese visitors.

"It extends the lifetime value of that relationship well beyond the two hours we have with them in the airport terminal," said Malcolm Johns, chief executive of Christchurch International Airport.

GE began life with Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb nearly 140 years ago, but the company has never stopped evolving and adapting, says GE New Zealand's Kevin Hart.

He told the PwC Herald Talks audience that process and procedure kills innovation and urged companies to encourage innovative ideas.

"Culture and bringing your people along with you is absolutely fundamental to innovation," Hart said.