Unique NZ gives buyer warm fuzzies

New Zealand's unique environment is a strong marketing feature for wool and should be used more widely, says Belgian carpet manufacturer Philippe Vlerick.

Mr Vlerick and his wife, Patricia, were in Christchurch after watching her brother compete in Olympic equestrian events in Sydney.

After visiting Alaister and Sue Craw's farm at Little Akaroa, Mr Vlerick was ecstatic about the environment.

"Coming here I'm even more convinced of niche marketing than before. I underestimated the image you have."

Mr Vlerick's company, BIC, makes carpets and rugs aimed at the top end of the market.

It is one of the biggest users of New Zealand wool in continental Europe, and its catalogues make strong visual use of New Zealand landscapes.

"We believe it's the best wool in the world for carpets because of its strength and lustre," Mr Vlerick said.

"All of our products are Wools of New Zealand-licensed, which means they use a minimum of 70 per cent New Zealand wool."

BIC has two mills in Belgium and a small one in India.

It sells to 54 countries, but its biggest markets are Europe and the United States. It is also strong in Japan and the Middle East.

Rather than the commodity approach, New Zealand should try to become a niche player in the world market, with special wools for special needs, he said.

"If you do it right you can get a premium."

To do that, good product development and marketing image was needed.

"The problem is that sometimes you are stuck in the middle.

"On the one hand you want to be a niche player, and on the other you don't want to invest in marketing, product development, and image building."

New Zealand had to work in partnership with manufacturers, spinners, and weavers to build its image to "get full value for the goods."

Consumer promotion in the United States, Europe, and Japan was too expensive for New Zealand to attempt alone.

"You should put money into product development, and develop an image in partnership with manufacturers.

"We are talking about you being a leader in a niche market.

"That's the philosophy of Wools of New Zealand, but they have to restrict themselves to what you can financially bear, and to go into partnership to achieve those goals.

"That's the strategy I use."

Mr Vlerick said carpets were losing ground to other floor coverings, but his company was growing because of its top-end-of-the-market strategy.

With over-capacity in the European carpet market, those companies that were not state-of-the-art and focused would not succeed.

Two months ago the Louis de Poortere company, the biggest European carpet manufacturer in the 1950s and 1960s, went out of business "because they wanted to be everything to everybody, and didn't have a focus," he said.

- NZPA