Mai military
By Amokura Panoho,
Mai FM and the armed forces have more in common than you might think
[Strategy]
Maori love gatherings, whether on a marae or at a conference, so many of our institutions invest heavily in providing opportunities to get together. It’s not just to have everyone in the room to hear the latest political news, the normal drawcard, but it’s also to interact and rub shoulders with relations, colleagues, friends and, most importantly, successful and influential Maori.
Celebrating Maori success has been a catchcry since the Maori Economic Development Summit, Hui Taumata, in 2005. But it’s actor Cliff Curtis’ challenge for Maori to move beyond the traditional industries of farming, fishing, and forestry to his ‘new three Fs’—film, fashion and food—that resonates with many Maori like myself.
So when I looked at the programme for Thrive Tangata, the big day out for Maori business held during Matariki, the Maori New Year, it seemed promising. After a whirlwind trip around the neighbouring Atamira: Maori in the City festival site at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds, taking in a plethora of sights, sounds, and mouth-watering smells, I sat down ready to be inspired.
First up: the armed forces. Eh? Lieutenant-General Jerry Mateparae and young Maori representatives from the Navy, Air Force and Army took the stage. Sure, the big chief‘s success is to be applauded, but where does that fit in with growing Maori innovation?
It wasn’t until Maori Television CEO Jim Mather spoke that the penny dropped. “Nothing focuses the mind more than survival,” Mather said.
Maori have essentially been in survival mode for over 150 years but as Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said in his opening address, “We must move beyond survival to compete, to be part of the global phenomenon that exists within the creative economy—to make our entrepreneurial spirit our point of difference.”
That point of difference needs to be focused, though. Yes, it’s true—Maori were reported as the third most entrepreneurial people in the world in a 2005 Global Economic Monitor report by Unitec professor Howard Frederick. However, our success rate is heavily dependent on experience in governance and management, in which traditional Maori institutions have been slow to invest.
Mateparae’s astute interpretation of his brief to the event was to reinforce that within the 11,374-strong Defence Forces, 16 percent are Maori. The diversity of the occupational activities was reflected in the presentations from his three young representatives who are engaged in a $4.5 billion industry heavily dependent on innovation, organisation and human resource. This presentation was more than trying to appeal to the ‘warrior’ spirit of Maori—it’s a clear message that strategic leadership combined with innovative flair produces results.
When Mai Media’s Toni Urlich talked of Mai’s growth from 1992 from “a small brown splash in a big white pond” to becoming a leading radio broadcaster in Auckland, the audience of over 400 responded with applause. With a snappy visual presentation she discussed the various phases the business went through establishing its niche in the market. Their slogan ‘It’s down to be brown’ consolidated Mai’s strength in the industry with social marketing advertising to an audience that has been ignored and undervalued. This reflects the untapped potential that exists within a values-based Maori and Polynesian market.
Kingi Gilbert, director of Ignite Studios, reinforced Urlich’s message, speaking from his experience with the gaming industry. However, he warned those values are being influenced by global market trends and challenged the audience to invest in greater understanding of their market, especially the youth market.
“We must move beyond survival to compete, to be part of the global phenomenon that exists within the creative —to make our entrepreneurial spirit our point of difference.”
Through his own market research, which involved focus groups with Maori and Pacific Youth, Gilbert shared some of the characteristics that gave him a greater understanding of their lifestyle choices. As he had suspected, their choices weren’t necessarily attuned to their cultural identity but rather American culture and this obviously presents some challenges.
No one knows that more than Maori TV’s Mather, who spoke of the competitive broadcasting environment. Recognising that Maori TV needs to zig where others zag, their challenge is to do things differently. “We had to keep our approach simple, and keep it real by focusing on our strengths. Our vision is to become a world class indigenous broadcaster.”
Still, Mather understood that Maori TV needs to have mainstream appeal and the company’s research has shown that 90 percent of New Zealanders believe they should be part of the broadcasting scene.
By finding content that isn’t on mainstream television and then presenting it to a widespread audience, Mather says Maori TV has focussed on its distinct selling proposition.
With the emphasis on 2007 as an Export Year, and many Maori businesses only noted due to their success as exporters, it was interesting to hear the speakers talk indirectly about the emergence of the domestic Maori market.
So I ask Alasdair Thompson, who as CEO of EMA was a co-host of the event, whether he considered the importance of Maori businesses in the broader New Zealand community when developing Thrive Tangata (which is part of EMA’s Thrive Business events series).
“Several things converged when we got into discussing this programme,” he says. “We were recognising through our membership a growth in Maori businesses and we were trying to find ways to get better engagement.
“We now understand more why many big businesses have latched onto the Maori cultural value base with their approach. There is a richness there that early settlers understood. A really successful Thrive Tangata would have more non-Maori businesses coming to be inspired, learn more about their New Zealandness, connect to Maori creativity and innovation and realise the untapped market potential that sits in that room.”
Diana Heka, the event manager for both Thrive Tangata and Atamira, understands why business leaders are waking up to the potential of the Maori market. “We developed the Atamira concept to celebrate the creative world of Maori,” she says. “Our ambition was that our people were immersed in a market environment that reflected their potential.
“We expect to do an analysis on what product sold well, who the consumer was, all the things you need to do to create a true marketplace so that we can repeat this again in 2009 and build up to 2011 for the Rugby World Cup.”
Fashion, food, film—anything that reflects who we are as a people—was available at Atamira to purchase, barter for, indulge in, or to envy. It perfectly complemented the purpose of Thrive Tangata.
As film-maker Rhonda Kite said in her closing remarks on the day, “Maori need to stop managing deprivation and move to managing prosperity”, I reflected that Thrive Tangata was more just a teaser as an event.
The real challenge is to accelerate the opportunities to truly delve into the management of cultural intellectual property, investment in research and development, the removal of caps on innovation, and building marketplace infrastructure.
2011 seems an appropriate time by which to have it all sorted.
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