21 August 2023

It was a packed room at the  “How to make Brand NZ work for you in North Asia?” in cooperation with the New Zealand Story Group business workshop. Not only we took away many valuable insights from the facilitators and speakers, but the participants also shared their own unique stories and experiences.

Here are some key take away summarized by our facilitator – Matt Roskovic from AUT Business school:

Ziena Jalil:
1️ Meet the market where it is, not where you are
2️ For most exporters, the nation brand is a key resource to leverage. It is the interplay of six dimensions: exports of goods and services; tourism image; perceptions of governance, institutional quality and political leadership; investment attractiveness and immigration; culture and heritage; and the people.

Peter Roband:
3️ Reminded us you can never know your customers too well.
4️ Put headshots on the wall and think about what stories will land for those customers.

Tony Boot:
5️ In Japan, you need to “sit on the stone for three years for it to become warm” (business relationships take time)
6️ Business partners in Japan are risk-averse, but not in terms of money. People just do not want to be the person that has let others down.
7️ Decision-making in Japan starts with middle management, goes up to top management, and then comes down.

Matt Raskovic:
8️ The magic of good storytelling happens when we are able to craft stories which connect with the self-story of our audience.
9️ We live in a narrative economy where stories represent sensemaking currency.