New brand takes centre stage

The Brief

Our first integrated report for NZ Post back in 2019 reinvented their reporting after researching who their stakeholders actually were and what they were seeking. This resulted in a highly accessible, human-first series of ‘magazine-style’ articles designed to help their wide range of readers understand NZ Post’s rapidly changing business and how the company was responding to those challenges. Feedback indicated that the new approach was highly effective from this communications-objective point of view. The same format was followed in 2020, with learnings from the previous year incorporated.

The brief for the 2021 report was to continue with the winning formula, while improving the content, particularly with regard to reporting on the commercial aspects of the business. And further fine tuning the principles of the integrated reporting framework.

But there was one more major change that we needed to both celebrate and explain clearly in the report: the brand name rationalisation of the courier delivery side of the business, and the new brand identity across the full organisation. 

The Solution

Having been working on the new brand for the previous two years, we had already quietly built the new positioning and brand characteristics into the prior two reports, so a major structural or messaging approach change was, by design, not required. The tangible factors of the new brand ­logo, colour palette, fonts etc ­­­- did, however, need to be incorporated. The strategy was to convey a sense of business continuity and considered evolution through the recently announced changes.

Accordingly, we elected to retain the magazine format, and the readable exemplar articles. We placed more emphasis on the business aspects – the driving strategies and commercial imperatives, and increased the commmentary and reporting on the financial aspects of the business. For stakeholder attraction and readability, we continued to feature human-centred articles that showcase the business strategy in action and clearly cross-reference these to those strategies and what stakeholders hold as the most material issues. That meant doing justice to NZ Post’s people and just how they are valued and supported. And how NZ Post’s sustainability efforts are gaining ground, particularly with the final realisation of sustainable postal bags after years of rigorous research into fully understanding the comparative supply chain impacts of various options.

We led the report with the striking new brand, explaining clearly why the previous livery no longer accurately expressed what the company now does, and why rebranding Courier Post and Pace Couriers to adopt the parent monicker of NZ Post both gave competitive strength and resolved consumer confusion. 

The Results

This report was received as an informative expression of a defining year for NZ Post and the continuing growth of parcel deliveries. The familiarity of the format provides comfort, consistency and accessibility to important stakeholder groups such as employees and customers, while the supporting ‘data’ that is increasingly required in the evolving reporting environment is beginning to impact on the length and its user-friendliness.