Fingermark is a New Zealand tech business that develops hardware and software solutions from digital signage through to interactive touchscreen kiosks. Their client base is increasingly global, having successfully leveraged their domestic relationships to springboard into providing solutions to parent companies in the highly competitive international fast food market. Their Kiwi developed digital menu boards can be found in drive-throughs across Australasia, the United States, the Middle East, Pakistan and even Kenya.
Fingermark Managing Director and Founder Luke Irving says being from New Zealand can give you a ‘competitive edge’ in an export game that can be ‘pretty hard’.
Luke is an extremely proud New Zealander and believes that ‘we’re an innovative, breeding ground of fantastic, intelligent people.’ He says this is what New Zealanders are known and respected for internationally.
“I just think Kiwi’s think and do it differently without even really trying. If we can’t find it in our own back yard we generally build it ourselves.”
“When I’m talking to customers the thing that resonates about New Zealand is our can do attitude. ‘We will solve your problem. We will get it done. We also have bigger ambitions than this particular problem’. After that they tend to stick with you.”
“At Fingermark we got into a niche where we started building outdoor capable technologies. That’s a real passion of ours. We love to be in that really difficult space. The space where there’s not too many people playing in it, at the bleeding edge.”
Being ‘of New Zealand’ can be your trump card
Luke also says customers see New Zealand as a cost effective and trusted economy to work with in addition to it not being the worst place in the world to visit!
“It’s also the beauty of our brand, the country itself, the fact that a lot of people have been here and seen us as people helps hugely. They feel, and trust, and see that we are a good clean country that has got good tech, we are forward thinking, be it in terms of payment tech or innovation in tourism. That’s all part of it.”
“If there was one other country my clients would want to live in, rather than their own, probably 80% of the time they would say New Zealand.”
Luke says that these factors have contributed to the success of Fingermark and that leveraging their New Zealand provenance remains very important to the business.
“Being from New Zealand, being a kiwi company is hugely important to the success of our global ambitions.”
Leveraging the FernMark supports our export success
Fingermark have embraced the FernMark Licence Programme across their products and off-shore offices not just because they are keen to leverage the value of brand New Zealand but because they see it as a unifying emblem.
“We applied for the Fernmark because we wanted a brand that represented who we are and where we come from. We wanted something that represented quality and innovation, the beauty of our country and its safe environment to do business.”
Luke says the FernMark Licence logo has also been a real conversation starter and ice breaker at trade shows.
“The FernMark has been really beneficial for us because people immediately recognise we are from New Zealand and make a point of stopping as a result. They have a genuine recognition of New Zealand and the quality tech products we produce.”
But it’s not just about the logo for Fingermark.
Luke says being part of the Fernmark Licence Programme is about combining with other New Zealand businesses to help grow a bigger New Zealand story and that with respect to this “you’ve got to be in to win”.
“For Fingermark we have also used the silver fern to help build our company culture in our offices around the world. It’s part and parcel in trying to build that Kiwi culture that we in many cases are asking our multi-cultural staff to sell.”