International

Bungee jumping with number 8 wire

Being perceived as being from a certain market can be an advantage (or a disadvantage of course), depending on where you are from and who you are selling to. If it is an advantage it may be significant but it will not necessarily protect you from new competitors and changing market forces. The ‘halo’ given to manufacturing markets for example, hasn’t always lasted, just look at China. It isn’t a new lesson but a good reminder perhaps – don’t rest on your NZ’ness; find more meaningful and defensible values and reasons for customers to believe in you and your product. With the exponential rate of change across technological developments, the globalisation of communities and the ever-present volatility of both market and non-market factors (of which we have had a nuclear-sized reminder this week), the challenges and solutions are constantly evolving.