Promoting provenance to grow export success
New Zealand depends on its great reputation to thrive in key export markets. So being able to authenticate and promote your country of origin gives your business a real competitive advantage in markets where provenance is a key driver in purchasing behaviour.
…places evoke strong emotional connections that are highly effective in conveying characteristics and perceptions that are associated with the location.
Brand Finance Steve Thomson Feb 2020
Consumers are refocusing on what value means to them and spending more intentionally as a result. In a tough economic environment, consumers want to make smart financial choices without sacrificing their quality of life.
Mintel Global Consumer Trends 2023
A licence to bear the FernMark is a formal government recognition of your product’s connection to New Zealand and clearly communicates your country of origin to consumers around the globe. Displaying your Licence number alongside the FernMark logo provides an additional layer of credibility and strengthens consumer confidence in your products.
PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY'S REPUTATION
As consumer demand for trusted products increases, so too do the efforts of non-licence holders to capitalise on the FernMark’s great reputation and brand value.
To protect our national symbol, the FernMark now has trademark filings in 30 jurisdictions around the world across various key classes of goods and services (including all 45 classes in New Zealand) and, as such, offers a high level of IP protection in key export markets including Australia, Europe, China, Japan, US and the UK.
Click here to view the full schedule of trademark registrations and applications.
To make sure we protect the integrity of the FernMark, the Programme employs a number of global monitoring and legal services.
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Corsearch™ monitors over 800 online trading and social media sites to identify any unlicensed or misuse of the FernMark. That way, when a consumer sees the FernMark, they can be sure they are buying a product that’s genuinely of New Zealand.
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The New Zealand Story Group employs global monitoring and brand protection services to identify trademarks that might infringe the FernMark and will enforce its rights when necessary. We regularly oppose third party trademark applications that infringe or contain the FernMark.
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The ongoing administration and costs to register and maintain our portfolio of trademarks relating to the FernMark are managed by the New Zealand Story Group.
FERNMARK AWARENESS
The FernMark Licence Programme allows New Zealand businesses to leverage government accreditation and their connection to New Zealand. Being able to authenticate and promote country-of-origin gives your business a decisive advantage against competitors in many key international markets. 46% of consumers recognise the FernMark across key international markets, and importantly, 44% of consumers revealed they were ‘more likely’ or ‘a lot more likely’ to purchase because of it*. There has never been a better time to join.
To see what consumers thought the FernMark stands for, we took to the streets of Singapore and Sydney to find out.
*Kantar Perceptions of New Zealand Brand Tracker May 2022
HOW DOES THE LICENCE PROGRAMME WORK?
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Any export business that meets the eligibility criteria can apply online and submit a schedule of products they want to be licensed
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If the application is approved, a Licence Agreement is granted for an initial term of three years (with three-yearly renewals)
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The Licensee is provided with a unique Licence number together with access to the marketing toolkit
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When consumers see the FernMark on a product, they can easily verify its connection to New Zealand simply by entering the unique Licence number via newzealand.com
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Here they will access to information about the Licensee and their products, together with a short NZ Story video that brings to life the Kiwi attributes that make us unique and promotes the values we hold as a country.
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This page will include a Social links including WeChat to promote product advocacy and social sharing
OPTION TO LEVERAGE QR CODE TECHNOLOGY
To leverage the high uptake and demand for QR code verification in our key export markets – South East Asia in particular - we give Licensees the option to include a QR code alongside the logo. Displaying it on your products gives consumers a quick and easy way to verify your products. When scanned, this takes the consumer directly to your dedicated webpage, where they can confirm the authenticity of your Licensee status and licensed products.
The technology is provided by Trust Codes and includes access to a dashboard to track all QR code interactions.
OUR COLLECTIVE MARKETING APPROACH
All Licensees are given access to the FernMark Licence Programme marketing resources, which includes:
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Your own online Licensee profile that consumers see when verifying your products
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Key messages about the FernMark Licence Programme that you can share with your stakeholders, distributors and internal staff
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Comprehensive marketing guidelines, examples and tips to support your use of the FernMark logo assets and QR codes, to ensure brand consistency across all types of use
