Q&A with Bridget Liddell of the North America Beachhead

Bridget Liddell is the principal of consulting firm Antipodean Equity, which offers advisory services to New Zealand and Australian businesses seeking access to the United States market.

She is also Chair of the United States Friends of the University of Auckland and a Director of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

Bridget has been a director of New Zealand public companies Sky City Ltd and Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd and held other governance roles, including Industry New Zealand, Competitive Auckland Ltd and Auckland Uniservices Ltd.

She has also held a variety of management positions including Chief Executive of Carter Holt Harvey Plastic Products and University of Auckland Development. Bridget is married to New Zealander Chris Liddell, Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer.

Does the United States live up to its billing as the land of opportunity when it comes to New Zealand companies?

There are truly unlimited opportunities; we’ve got examples of New Zealand companies succeeding in the United States in virtually every sector.

New Zealanders are extremely sought after for the qualities that we bring to market – we are innovative, flexible, are not deterred by size and we will give it a go.

You can make a lot of money in the United States if you get it right and the value proposition that New Zealand companies offer is often exactly what this market wants.

It’s a retail marketplace which in many cases offers few points of difference.  Innovation is extremely important to revenue, for example Walmart’s entire same store sales growth in any year is due to new products.

There’s a hunger here for new products; consumers are ready for novelty and an innovative point of difference, especially round a clean, green natural theme.

You need to be able to back up what you are saying based on the qualities of your company and your product. Icebreaker is a very good example of a New Zealand company doing just that.

Is New Zealand on the radar in the United States?

The New Zealand brand is extremely strong in the USA and is very advantageous in a number of different product categories such as forest products, food, apparel, wine. In some sectors, particularly software, it is not identified as a source of competitive advantage, but in most other sectors it is and can be very much the differentiating edge that a company can have.

The New Zealand brand is recognized for a number of qualities which are anchored in the tourist definition of clean, green, scenic, distant but attractive and friendly. From a business point of view we need to exploit those advantages as relevant for various product categories.

Recognition of the New Zealand brand has accelerated over past years driven by a constellation of events such as The Lord of the Rings, a general desire for a safe and understandable place as the world becomes more and more complex and threat ridden.

It’s now New Zealand’s time in the sun in the United States and for that reason I support those who say that we should be investing to build the New Zealand brand more broadly, from a business perspective.