Marketers know a thing or two about brands and logos and that is exactly what the New Zealand flag is. There are marketing principles to help us make a better flag choice in the upcoming referendum.
First, consider the target markets for the flag. Broadly speaking, there are two: New Zealanders and the rest of the world. The flag has to work for both.
Although New Zealand has a small population, we are highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, geography and socio-economic factors. The flag we choose should speak to all New Zealanders and will also have to work as an unmistakable representation of New Zealand to the rest of the world.
To be successful for both target markets, our flag needs to elicit three things: favourable, strong and unique associations in the minds of our target audiences.
Favourable associations prompt a positive emotion or thought. Think about your favourite brand. What are some of the things you think about? Your images of this brand are likely to be highly positive associations built through advertising, backed up by the brand's performance. In other words, you probably like it. A lot.
The flag design needs to evoke positive associations reflective of the fabric of this country and what it means to be a New Zealander.
Second, if we want our flag to be successful, such associations also need to be strong. New Zealand has marketed itself for decades to export markets, tourists and overseas students as a safe, clean and green country, full of natural wonders, creativity and adventure.
Marketers often use adjectives to describe the personality of a brand. In the case of New Zealand Inc, words such as "pure", "natural", "strong" and "beautiful" may be reasonable descriptions of what New Zealand - and our flag - stand for.
While favourable associations are important, the strength of such associations is critical. The New Zealand flag can only be richly imbued with meaning if it has strong links to a variety of concepts.
Third, our flag and attendant associations need to be unique. This may be the greatest challenge as most of the world, apart from New Zealand and Australia, struggle to correctly identify which flag belongs to which country.
This confusion can also happen to brands that have spent millions of dollars on advertising campaigns, only to find the target market thinks the advertising is for the competitor.
Marketers know: perception is reality. So if your target market does not perceive your brand correctly, it is not their fault. It is the marketers'.
Looking at other flags may give us some clues to good and not-so-good flag design. Which flags unmistakably identify the country they represent?
Perhaps the Canadian maple leaf, the Japanese circle of the sun, the Union Jack or the American Stars and Stripes are good examples. Flags much less clearly differentiated are from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - virtually identical in design apart from their choice of colours.
So favourable, strong and unique associations are the bedrock of a strong brand and are good guidelines for choosing the best flag for New Zealand.
However, our flag also needs to fulfil other demands. Marketers seldom throw away the value of their existing brand by just coming up with a random new name and logo. So the New Zealand flag needs to acknowledge our past, be relevant in the present and guide us into the future.
Four questions marketers would use to help choose the best flag
1. Which flag generates the most favourable associations?
2. Which flag generates the strongest associations?
3. Which flag is unmistakably New Zealand and is unique to us?
4. Which flag achieves these aims for the diverse New Zealand population and for the rest of the world?
We need to have a strong national conversation about what it means to be a New Zealander, what New Zealand is about and how we want to project this to the rest of the world. It is our chance to influence how we are seen around the globe.
This is a great opportunity. Let's make the most of it by applying some marketing principles to this important decision - one we will have to live with for a long time.