The Need for a
Good NZ Brand

There are over 59,000 brands on sale in NZ and these are applied to products in more than 45,000 categories. (source - a'Court's Database of Products and Brands in New Zealand)

The vast majority of these brands come from overseas, the minority are local brands created for Kiwi products. Often the local brands leave a lot to be desired. Let’s look at the following brands:

  •  Norsewear
  •  Swazi
  •  Kathmandu
  •  Montana Wines

Consider this:

•  Norse is an adjective relating things to Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.
•  Swazi is an abbreviation of Swaziland, a country in Africa.
•  Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal.
•  Montana is a state in America.

Do these brands suggest to you that they're from NZ or does each of these brands suggest that it's from a foreign place?

Despite being fine brands, they don't represent NZ or Kiwi characteristics in any way, shape or form. They have no NZ attributes, no meaningful or compelling NZ stories and no Kiwi symbolism. They don't sell our country, our people, or our values and success. They are “brands created and marketed in NZ” but they are not “NZ brands”.

Now consider the following brands:
  •  Line7
  •  Icebreaker
  •  UntouchedWorld
  •  Moontide
  •  Swanndri
  •  Fairydown
  •  42 Below

Can you tell from the name where each brand is from without knowing the background or guessing from the context that they're brands created in NZ?

As before, they are also fine brands but they are not “NZ brands.”

New Zealand, and the world market, is crying out for good Kiwi brands. Brands that tell the NZ story, market NZ values and ideas, and brands that deliver good old-fashioned Kiwi mana!

ZisSells has two first-rate NZ brands available to license. Check out our Classifieds for details. Click here.

What visitors to our site have said...

"I was so totally blown away with the information and expertise you provide from your website...I just wanted to congratulate you on an awesome site with down to earth, sensible information. Your company is certainly something to be proud of... Your site... stands out far superior to the 20 million or so on the net. It is definitely worth the look." - N.C., Company Director, Whakatane

What clients have said...

"Sheer genius. Everyday I marvel at how wonderful it is." - J.M., Owner, MICRO POET

"The name you gave us has been our greatest asset." - P.V. Owner, FIXWELL Engineering

"I went to my attorneys for advice and what they told me conflicted with the advice I got from your site. So I printed off your information and went back to my attorneys with it. They admitted that what you said was right." - R.H., Internet Developer, Gisborne

Some Accomplishments...

Dene André, our Brainsmith and the founder of Zissells, is the owner and creator of the BLACK KIWI (R) TM trade mark and the PIWI THE KIWI (R) TM trade mark..

After hours, Dene is Chairman of the South Auckland branch of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. He is also a well known expert on native fish.

You can visit his GreenerCities website on www.greenercities.co.nz.

You can visit his enviro website on http://www.zissells.com/enviro/.

 

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The funny bone is not really a bone. It's a nerve.

A group of larks is called an exaltation.

A real sign in a restaurant display reads - Don't stand there and be hungry, come in and get fed up.

Words that don't rhyme but should include goose and choose.

In English, four is the only numeral that has the same number of letters as its meaning.

The longest word in the English language to have only one vowel is the word strengths.

A phrase that isn't but should be is IDIOS AMIGOS. It means we're wild and crazy guys.

A word that isn't but should be is Dilberted. It means to be exploited and oppressed by your boss and is derived from the comic strip character of Dilbert.

The drink Gatorade was named after the University of Florida where it was developed. The name of this university was Gators,

The real origin of the term Oxford Cloth is from Oxford in the U.K.

There really are 18 U.S. butchers named Bonecutter.

On the ground a group of geese is gaggle, in the air a group of geese is a skein.

Spell the word evian backwards and you get naïve. Evian is the name of a famous brand of water.

The real origin of the word HUMVEE is from the phrase High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle.