Provenance Marketing (and why the word ‘made’ matters)

February 12, 2019

For the last three decades, the Kiwi trademark has been applied to products made here by New Zealand businesses. Iconic Kiwi brands are made over time not overnight.

“Provenance marketing must take into account where a product is made, not just designed or assembled but actually where it is manufactured.” Ryan Jennings — Executive Director Buy New Zealand Made.

Educated consumers can discover where a product is made faster than ever. They don’t want to discover a product is made in one country if it is really only designed in one place and made in another. Imagine if Apple said their products were Made in U.S.A when they’re only designed in California. Designed in <insert country name here> does not have the same attaché as a business that designs and manufacturers their products from start to finish in a single country.

Designed in California and Made in China tells a different provenance story from Made in the U.S.A and that matters to consumers now more than ever. So what do other countries do?

Made in Australia

Australia wants consumers to know just how much of any given product is made in Australia. If it’s 100%, then you’ll see a ‘Product of Australia’. If the significant manufacturing process takes place all inside Australia, you’ll see the ‘Made in Australia’ logo, and if there’s some imported components or ingredients, you’ll see a Made in Australia from at least 70% Australian ingredients.

Made in Britain

In the United Kingdom, there is a ‘Made in Britain’ brand that helps Britain’s manufacturers sell more with a single marque. The benefits are simple. By getting a group of manufacturers to apply a collective ‘Made in Britain’ mark to goods, they’re making it clear to product buyers that these products are manufactured in Britain and to the very highest standards.

Made in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Kiwi manufacturers who make products here also want to tell their manufacturing origin story to buyers. The iconic New Zealand Made Kiwi trademark creates a market origin advantage for over 1,200 businesses and is growing fast. In the second half of 2018, another 90 businesses applied successfully to become an Official NZ Made Licence Holder. In January 2019 alone, 21 businesses became an Official NZ Made Licence Holder.

5 Provenance Marketing Questions to Ask

While there may be a number of logos, brandmarks and quality marks all vying for a place on your product, not all are created equally. Here are five questions to ask yourself before deciding on your provenance marketing strategy.

Does the brand-mark explicitly say the word ‘Made’? If it doesn’t, then what does the logo really mean?
How established is the brand-mark within the markets you’re operating? If it’s not clearly recognisable, is there really a market origin advantage for you?
What trademark protection is offered by the logo? If there’s no trademark then you’re buying a licence for a logo without any protection.
Is the licensing organisation privately funded by the businesses it represents or publicly funded and / or regulated? If the licensing organisation is privately funded, your business needs are more likely to be aligned with that of the licensing organisation.
What provenance marketing capability does the organisation have to grow your business? Will you be able to access provenance marketing services or is it purely a licence to use a logo?