New Zealand and Fonterra will come out ‘clean’ says MTI

Thursday, 15 August 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

According to international strategy consultants MTI, brand New Zealand, Fonterra and their product brands are likely out ‘clean’ from the recent crisis of whey protein producing a bacteria that could cause a rare illness called botulism. “Product recalls are an inevitable part of large-scale global manufacturing and consumers are increasingly being exposed to such recalls across many categories. Think of Coke, Nestle, Toyota and J&J to name some of the prominent cases. What is important is to differentiate between wilful sabotage and cheating, like the recent case of horse meat labelled as beef in Europe, versus genuine mistakes, which the consumer would

‘pardon’ if the brand is trusted,” said MTI CEO Hilmy Cader. He went on to explain that a brand is like a P&L where the currency is trust and therefore, brand New Zealand, Fonterra and their product brands are likely to have to deal with a relatively low impact and will have a fast recovery period. He further stated: “From a global perspective, brand New Zealand has always been a source of highly trusted, clean, safe and environmentally friendly products, with an unblemished track record. Brand New Zealand does not suffer from any sensitive international political perceptions that can impact commerce, versus, for example, Denmark and the Arab boycott. All this means that brand New Zealand has a high level of ‘trust’ on their ‘consumer balance sheet’, which can certainly help it withstand the impact from such a crisis. In Sri Lanka, brand New Zealand has exceptionally high brand equity due to the Anchor brand.” Cader believes what will assist brand New Zealand is the approach of their government in being sincere in admitting and alerting the global consumer on the mistake and not trying to disguise or distort the truth, which is one of the biggest mistakes in corporate disaster management. He also believes that with the swift action on the part of Fonterra to recall the products and the opening up of a dialogue with the consumer will certainly give greater consumer confidence. “The sheer strength of the Anchor brand, based on the trust it has created and delivered to Sri Lankan consumers in the last 30 years, will be the best ‘insurance policy’ for a brand in such a turbulent period. Meanwhile, other brands trying to capitalise on another brand’s problems should note that brands can only be built on one’s own strength and value proposition you offer, and not by ‘preying’ on such a crisis,” added the MTI CEO.