The kumara never speaks of its sweetness. We often used this Māori proverb internally at NZTE in reference to our brand. In the background, we quietly got on with helping kiwi businesses succeed internationally, without much fanfare or brand awareness.
Then covid hit – with one in four New Zealanders’ jobs dependent on exports, NZTE had a huge role to play in trade recovery. We rapidly grew our customer base in order to actively help more New Zealand exporters succeed. We had to start speaking of our sweetness. And swiftly.
Increased national visibility for the NZTE brand, coupled with the need for a more cohesive brand in our international markets, meant a revitalisation of our existing brand. We needed a design system that worked effectively both internally and externally, locally and globally, and across multiple business sectors.
