Tesla is New Zealand’s most authentic brand
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Auckland, 15 May 2018: Research conducted by branding agency Principals, in conjunction with research and analytics firm The Navigators, has
found Tesla to be the most authentic brand in the New Zealand market.
The Brand Alpha study seeks the opinion of New Zealand consumers around four key drivers of authenticity: visibility,
value, vitality and virtue. The research is conducted multiple times each year and has been running for more than 10
years with a minimum of 300 nationally representative respondents per wave. The model has been proven to reliably
measure the reputation of brands over time and to date, more than 200 brands have been tracked in seven markets across
the Asia Pacific.
The most recent wave of research, conducted in April, was presented at an event hosted by the New Zealand Marketing
Association and Principals this morning.
Wayde Bull, founder and planning director at Principals, said: “Tesla’s positioning in the Brand Alpha study confirms
the business world is being upended by brands that don’t take a 20-year path to greatness. They arrive fully formed,
totally credible in their chosen market, beautifully designed and opinionated from the start. They’re not a product of
conventional push-marketing and won’t be beaten with it either.”
Tesla vehicles were first made available in New Zealand in February 2017 and earlier this year, power company Mercury
selected Tesla as the provider for a scalable national grid-connected battery trial after a tender process.
The Brand Alpha Top 20 Most Authentic Brands
1. Tesla
2. Ecostore
3. Icebreaker
4. Lewis Road Creamery
5. Whittaker’s
6. Airbnb
7. Air New Zealand
8. Uber
9. The Warehouse
10. Lemon & Paeroa
11. Apple
12. Amazon
13. Mitre10
14. Kapiti
15. The All Blacks
16. Toyota
17. Bunnings
18. Silver Fern Farms
19. Kmart
20. Kiwibank
While Tesla has established the leading position, a number of New Zealand brands have placed within the top five
including Ecostore, Icebreaker, Lewis Road Creamery and Whittaker’s.
Tony Mitchell, CEO of the Marketing Association, said: “It’s pleasing to see so many Kiwi brands within the top 20. It
shows that New Zealand marketers are delivering brand experiences that are on par with their international counterparts
and we couldn’t be more proud.”
The study also looked at key categories consumers would like to see disrupted and found Kiwis would most like to see
public services such as health, public transport, government services and education shaken up. The commercial sectors
most vulnerable are energy, real estate and banking.