1. Future
Proofed + future proofing companies
by creating relevance with
emerging generations
December 2016

2. The influence of
company and brand values
on revenue growth and
emerging generation
purchase behaviour in
New Zealand
A critical nuance of emerging generations (<35 yrs
Gen Z and Millennials) versus Gen X (35-54 yrs) and
Baby Boomers (55+ yrs), is the growing complexity of
their decision making process.
Globally,there is extensive research into the influence
company and brand values play in the purchase of
products and services, for younger generations, but
little substantiation with New Zealand consumers.
Research completed by Future Proofed NZ Ltd in
September2016,with 805 New Zealand respondents,
confirms how significant the role of values and
principles is, and how smart companies can leverage
these insights to create deeper engagement, and
future-proof their revenue.
The following is a summary of our research.
A company’s ETHICS,
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,
and ENVIRONMENTAL stance
is very important to emerging
generations aged 18-30 years
84%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 yrs agree that
a company’s ETHICS e.g. being
fair and honest, valuing equality,
diversity, individual rights, having
good moral standards, is important
(very important or quite) when
considering a purchase.
83%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 yrs agree that
a company’s SOCIAL stance e.g.
having a positive impact on people,
communities, and society, is important
(very important or quite) when
considering a purchase.
79%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 yrs agree
that a company’s ENVIRONMENTAL
stance e.g. having a positive impact
on the physical world around us and
its inhabitants, is important (very
important or quite) when considering
a purchase.
65%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 years agree that
PROVENANCE e.g. being local to
NZ, or at least not from a place of
poor reputation, is important (very
important or quite) when considering
a purchase.
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

3. Values affect purchase decisions
(4 out of 5 Millennials consider a
company’s deeper values when
choosing a product or service)
81%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 agree (strongly or slightly)
that “when considering a product or service,
my choice is influenced by my understanding
of the brand’s (or company’s) deeper values
e.g. what I think it believes in or cares about
etc”.
82%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 agree (strongly or slightly)
that “when considering a product or service,
my choice of brand or company is influenced
by what that choice will say about ‘who I am’
e.g. my own values, attitudes, personality
and what I believe in”.
The ‘brand behind the brand’ i.e.
parent company principles and
values also have an impact on
purchase decisions
69%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 yrs agree (strongly or
slightly) that “when considering a product or
service, my choice is influenced by who the
‘parent company’who owns the brand is, not
just the brand itself”.
Values also affect who they want to
work for…
90%
of Kiwis aged 18-30 yrs say their choice
of company to work for is influenced by
“whether I think that company has values
and attitudes that are the same as mine”.
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

4. Does leveraging values actually
convert to purchase?
Yes, and the best reflection of this is the growth of‘social enterprise’
organisations globally, and in New Zealand. They primarily trade to
support a social or environmental mission while in most instances,
also make a profit. In order to make a profit, consumers must
purchase their products and there is no shortage of demand.
In the UK, there are 70,000 social enterprises, 49% of which are
less than 5 years old.They contribute £24b to the economy, employ
over 1M people and 52% of them grew their annual turnover in the
last 12 months’ vs 40% of SME’ s.
New Zealand and Australia have many examples of consumers
purchasing from social enterprises:‘Thank You’in Australia primarily
operate in the FMCG environment with a range of water,body wash,
foods and baby products. Their social cause is to ‘help end global
poverty’ by purchasing their products. ‘Eat My Lunch’ is another
here in New Zealand where for every lunch you buy, they give a
lunch to a kiwi kid in need. There is an ever-increasing number of
businesses launching in this space – tapping into the demand of
Kiwis wanting to do good in their everyday lives.
Source: ‘Social Enterprise and Social Finance NZ’ - April 2016 and ‘Social Value Lab’ 2015
Non-profit
organisations
reliant on grants
and donations
Non-Profit
organisations
with some
trading activity
Social
enterprises
Businesses
with social
responsibility
policies
Traditional
for-profit
businesses
Primarily incorporated
societies and
charitable trusts
May form as
companies
incorporated
societies, or
charitable trusts
Primarily limited
liability companies
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

5. Purchase decisions
for emerging generations
have evolved
The purchase decision process is more
complex for emerging generations (<35 yrs)
vs Gen X and Baby Boomers (>35 yrs)
Recognising a rational, and emotional, purchase decision process
of ‘wants, needs and values’ is critical to create high performing
organisations. To succeed in the future is to understand what’s
important to create deeper levels of emotional engagement.
To fail is to continue to communicate to all consumer segments as
one homogeneous group on a ‘needs/wants’ basis.
In 2016, Stats NZ shows Millennials (18-34 yrs) currently
representing 28% of the New Zealand population, and Gen Z (<18
yrs) approximately 23%. They are not only important now but in
a decade will represent over 50% of the population in total, and a
significant proportion of the spend.
Can you afford not to understand what makes them purchase now,
to ensure revenue in the future?
Wants Needs
Wants Needs
Values
Previous
Gen X (35-54 yrs) and
Baby Boomers (55+ yrs)
traditional purchase decision
considerations, and company
opportunity identification, are
based on ‘needs’ and ‘wants’.
Evolving
Gen Z (<18 yrs) and Millennial
(18-34 yrs) purchase decisions
consider ‘needs’,‘wants’ and
‘values’. Values and principles
include those of the parent
company and/or the brand.
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

6. Values are no longer just
internally focused
Done correctly, values are an external lever
that can create competitive advantage
and drive revenue. However, authenticity,
honesty and transparency are ‘pillars’ for
emerging generations and are growing in
importance with Gen X and Baby Boomers
also. Companies must ‘live and breathe’ their
values to be seen as credible – no longer
‘say’ they do something without undisputed
substance. ‘Giving’ money to a cause, for
example,is seen as disingenuous.A company
must ‘live and breathe’ its principles.
To achieve this, values must be relevant
to external stakeholders but also
underpin internal culture. This will allow
the organisation to create authenticity,
honesty and transparency.
A common mistake we see is two lists of
values – one internally focused and behaviour
driven, and a second company or brand
driven. Going forward, one set of values
(3-4) is required that can be interpreted in
different ways to be relevant to the audience,
whether this be internal or external.
Don’t take your current internal values and
communicate them externally to consumers
– they don’t care about how you want
everyone to behave. The net result is talking
about yourself and what you are about, not
what they want you to care about.
Guidance for companies in
leveraging values to drive revenue
Just as the decision making process for emerging generations has become more complex, so
has the solution for companies to capitalise on this opportunity. However, values alignment
driven by category importance, and the ability to influence purchase behaviour across all age
groups, will enable revenue opportunities and competitive advantage if companies:
01 Have the correct values that are interpreted to create relevance with emerging
generations
02 The values message is communicated in a relevant and meaningful manner
to emerging generations
Here are some key points to keep in mind to make sure you set the company up for success:
01
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

7. Get it right from the beginning
These are enduring values that are rooted in the
value you deliver to your consumers and external
stakeholders. And whilst their interpretation may
change over time, your core values should not,
particularly because they touch all aspects of your
organisation right down to internal behaviour and
culture.
Take the time to understand what your external and
internal stakeholders value in your category.
What’s important in various categories differs. For
example, The Colmar Brunton ‘Better Futures’ Report
2015 confirms that 18-24 year old New Zealanders
over-index on the importance of sustainability in the
following categories: food & beverage producers,
oil/petrol companies, airlines, banks, insurance
companies, car manufacturers and cosmetic
manufacturers. Getting this right is critical as it is
the basis of being relevant and therefore changing
purchase behaviour that will drive revenue. External and internal
communication is critical to
influencing revenue
Many companies undertake social,
ethical, environmental etc. initiatives
and don’t talk about them as we do
other attributes of a product e.g.
functional benefits.
Communicating what you’re doing to
emerging generations in a manner that
is relevant to them and ‘lives in their
world’ is critical. Avoid the mistake of
telling them what you are doing via
social media – they won’t care unless
its delivered in an engaging manner
that is relevant ‘in their world’. How you
communicate your values message is
as important as the message itself.
02
03
Future Proofed ——— December 2016

8. Future Proofed NZ Ltd
An independent consultancy that helps
companies identify, in their industry, the
key values that are important to emerging
generations then builds the strategy and
communications plan that results in driving
revenue and relevance for our clients.
This article has been developed by Louise
Cunningham (CEO) and Adi Staite (Head of
Research and Strategy) at Future Proofed NZ
Ltd. Louise is a career marketer and agency
director with experience in both the UK and
NZ. She has led agencies and corporate
marketing functions and was most recently
a senior member of the Ogilvy leadership
team and led the successful introduction of
WPP’ s Geometry Global into the NZ market
in her role as Executive Director. Louise leads
‘Future Proofed’ with a particular passion
in understanding emerging generations,
and more importantly how to connect
companies and brands with them. Adi offers
over 25 years of experience in research and
strategic development with ad agencies
and research organisations. He is a former
Planning Director of BCG and Ogilvy, and
the Executive Director of Research at Ipsos
NZ, as well as the founder of BambooNZ
research and communications planning. He
sits on the judging panels of both the NZ
Market Research Effectiveness Awards and
the advertising EFFIES (at both category
and Exec level).
Research and Methodology
The nationwide quantitative survey spanned
all forms of employment status, household
composition, gender (52% female, 48% male),
income levels (9 groups) and ages. The 805
respondents included 400 Millennials, 200
from Gen X and 205 Baby Boomers. Research
Now provided participants.
This sounds complicated
– where do we start?
01 Review your current company and/or brand values and principles: Are they grounded in
what’s important to your consumers and external stakeholders? Or are they limited to
internal focus?
02 If your values are solid, do you have proof-points in your company where you are actually
‘living and breathing’ your values? i.e. authenticity, transparency.
03 If you have genuine proof points, are you communicating them externally and internally
in an engaging manner that will affect the behaviour of emerging generations?
If your organisation is satisfied that it has all of the above under control, you’re looking good
for the future. If however, these findings have raised questions and concerns, then we can help.
Please contact:
Louise
Cunningham
+64 21 624 243
louise@futureproofed.co.nz
Future Proofed ——— December 2016