Commerce culture keeps Cup alive

By Fran O'Sullivan

Team New Zealand would not have scored its stunning success yesterday without the financial help of some major state agency backers.

In the present, almost biblical climate - where Helen Clark seems bent on driving the money-changers from the temple - it's worth pointing out that while TVNZ may not dish up the high-brow Kiwi culture the Prime Minister wants on our screens, its long-term commitment to Team New Zealand has ensured that all New Zealanders are able to view the America's Cup final.

Without TVNZ's commercial approach to driving its Team New Zealand sponsorship, the fantastic viewing opportunities which will have many of us glued to TV sets during work this week would not have existed.

The role of major state agencies as Team New Zealand backers is one area Labour would be wise not to axe as it seeks to redefine the role which the Government, as shareholder, will play in state companies.

Clark intuitively sees New Zealand culture as providing the necessary cut-through for this country in world markets.

Nationhood defined by its culture - rather than the economic rationalist approach of the 1980s and 1990s known internationally as "the New Zealand Experiment."

Those economic policies and the major reforms they sparked may have been too much for many New Zealanders to cope with, but they did ensure a place on the world stage for a small island country of 3.8 million people.

The Irish model where Riverdance achieved tremendous branding for Ireland on the back of ultimately monotonous Irish dancing is one cultural model for this country to follow.

And rugby - despite last year's World Cup setback - will continue to provide international branding for New Zealand.

America's Cup yachting may have started as a "rich man's sport" but, as yesterday's success shows, it is a still a sport in which a small country can excel provided it can attract sponsorship for its teams.

The America's Cup would never have got off the ground in this country without the financial backing of the then state-owned Bank of New Zealand.

In 1986, the BNZ succumbed to Sir Michael Fay's sales pitch and became the prime backer for KZ7's Fremantle campaign.

Corporate Auckland - in the form of Lion Nathan's Doug Myers with Steinlager - chipped in. These days Telecom and Toyota also feature prominently as part of the "family of the five." But two state agencies, TVNZ and the Lotteries Commission, make up the other members.

Much of the sponsorship which has helped to keep the Cup alive since those Fremantle days came from TVNZ and the Lotteries Commission and other state agencies such as Enza and the Tourism Board.

Enza is not a participant this time round, but the other agencies are there as sponsors for either Team New Zealand or America's Cup 2000, the offshoot which Sir Peter Blake set up to run this year's defence.

The Blake mission is about more than simply being Team New Zealand's chief executive - sweet-talking sponsors and keeping a lid on the inevitable tensions which arise when a group of highly talented sportsmen have to hold their act together for five years before they get a chance to contest their games.

The convoluted sponsorship structure and the demands it has placed on players has lifted the ante for all. And there have been plenty of other players happy to stoke any fires.

The early claim that America's Cup contestants would not be happy to come to Auckland for a second defence is a case in point.

Most leadership imagery in the Kiwi business world revolves around rugby and its appeal to the traditional "command and control" mentality which handicaps much business.

But with Team New Zealand there has been a degree of self-management distinguishing it from the corporate heavy-handedness which neutered the All Black team in 1999.

One of the secrets of Blake's own success is his single-mindedness - a trait which he shares with skipper Russell Coutts who will find himself on the sponsorship trail for future regattas.

For New Zealand companies wanting to market themselves on the world stage, Team New Zealand is a great sponsorship vehicle.

The marriage of our sports skills and yacht-building industry dovetails neatly with the Government's desire to take part in the international technologically driven knowledge economy.

The Government's challenge is to realise these aspects are as much part of our international success as the arts industry. And to allow our state agencies to continue to make their decisions about how they spend their sponsorship dollars.