We often check in with our toolkit to see what the most commonly downloaded resources are. And out in front are images of our natural landscapes and beautiful scenery. That’s no surprise. But if we want to broaden our country’s reputation beyond being beautiful, we need to collectively share new stories that speak to our other uniquely New Zealand values.
Not just a pretty space
There’s no denying we live in a beautiful country. People from all over the world flock here to experience it. But when it comes to doing business overseas, we’d be foolish to ignore our other unique attributes. After all, there are plenty of other beautiful countries in the world. But it’s the way this beauty shapes our people that’s really special. Our land defines us. And our extreme, adventurous landscapes, and our location in the world influence our way of thinking.
Moving away from our landscape altogether, recent research from Australia has shown that talking about our landscape is even becoming a tad cliché. Overseas, they’re more interested in our other unique attributes, like our people, our culture and our resourcefulness. So it’s important to highlight these things too.
Open Hearts
“Ever met a Kiwi you didn’t like?”
People actually say this. All over the world. It’s a result of our friendly, trustworthy people, our culture of hospitality and our belief in ‘doing the right thing’. We are people of integrity. Showing people interacting with each other, with our land and our animals is a great way to highlight this. And if they’ve got a smile on their face - even better. View an example of our Open Hearts images here.
Open Minds
Down here at the bottom of the world, we think differently, we challenge the status quo, and our thinking is not bound to our borders. So it’s important we do what we can to let the world know this, which means using images of our people in unconventional environments, solving problems and engaging with modern technology, architecture and design. Our images from Fisher and Paykel are a good example of this.
Don't miss out on telling your full story
Yes, we have stunning open spaces. But there’s more to a great country than pretty mountains. So for your next presentation, have a good look around our Toolkit and focus on telling a full New Zealand story. And keep an eye out for images like the image above, which talks to our Open Spaces, Open Minds and Open Hearts all at once.