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New Zealand Engineering 1997 March Letters To The Editor Letters To The Editor Can Be Sent To: Letters, Nz Engineering, Freepost 3938, Po Box 12-241, Wellington Or Emailed To Peter@Ipenz.Org.Nz Identity before branding
Richard Atkins' letter in the December 1996 issue of New Zealand Engineering puzzles me. He clearly and
correctly stated ".. the title "Engineer" is used by many non-professionals…" and "…within the profession the title Engineer is
largely ignored", yet he still advocates the continued use of the title "Engineer". The word "Engineer" is so ingrained in the
English language and so generic in its use that I do not believe we can ever re-invent and re-image the word for our purpose. Is it
not then surprising that we are reluctant to use the title "Engineer" when it associates us with car mechanics, fitters, etc? It's
time to stop flogging a dead horse and get serious about establishing a unique identity and image for the professional engineer.
This search for self is not about establishing as "elitist" group, it's about enabling professional engineers to differentiate
themselves and develop an appropriate public perception of what we do. Let's look at the identity issue from a different angle. I see
IPENZ as an organisation that brings together different engineering related professions of varying technical and intellectual skills.
If our organisation is to be successful in branding IPENZ, it must have a strong product identity, the product being its members.
This is not the case at present. Developing a strong product requires smart marketing and smart marketing starts with a unique identity that can
be registered and protected. Take the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board (NZKMB) as an example. The NZKMB
have recognised the need to protect their international kiwifruit markets from an increasing number of competitors by introducing
a completely new brand _ Zespri. This new brand immediately differentiates New Zealand Kiwifruit from the rest of the world
and through brand registration will protect NZKMB's reputation, and image from misuse, thus their market share. This analogy
can be applied directly to an alternative title to professional engineer in order to differentiate ourselves within the engineering
field, and externally, by marketing our image in-line with how we want to be perceived by the general public. What is a suitable product name you ask? I strongly believe that we should adopt the title "Ingenieur". This word
is unique enough within the English language to stand a good chance of being registered for our use alone and it
automatically aligns us with our equivalents in non-English speaking counties, who use the same name. I am not ignorant of or fazed by
the magnitude of the task required to implement a new identity for professional engineers, but I am concerned at the present
apathy, resulting from this lack of identity within our profession. I strongly believe that this identity issue should be at the top of
the agenda of the 1997 IPENZ Board members. History tells us this identity issue will not go away so let's resolve it now, before
we travel too far down the road with the branding of IPENZ, only to realise that all along we had "the cart before the
horse". Glyn Struthers Invercargill |
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