What customers really value, isn't always what you think.

Blick believed their market-leading technical expertise set them apart, but customer insight revealed this wasn’t the whole story. That realisation became the foundation for a strategy that aligned the team and sharpened how they deliver value on both sides of the Tasman.

Client: Blick Group

Industry: Drilling Fluids / B2B

Team size: ~10

Scope: Customer strategy, research, positioning

Timeline: 2-3 months.

Location: NZ + Australia

The challenge

Blick Group is New Zealand’s largest drilling fluids provider and has also expanded into Australia.  They support infrastructure, construction, utilities, and mining projects. Following a period of internal change, Blick was ready to accelerate growth from the much larger Australian market, they just needed to know how.

Blick's Head Quarters in Hamilton, New Zealand

Shaun Tubb, GM Operations, had recently taken on responsibility for marketing and could see the need for change.

“We were doing a lot of marketing activity but didn’t really know why. It felt piecemeal and lacking cohesion, rather than laddering up to something bigger.”

Beyond marketing, Shaun noticed something broader:

“We were always really busy, but it didn’t feel like we were working together as well as we could be or moving forward towards a shared goal. I wanted a clear, aligned strategy that gave our people a strong sense of what the business is, and where it needs to go.”

With a lean team and the pressure of day-to-day operations, Shaun knew they couldn’t do it alone.

A strategy with focus

A practical, customer-led strategy was proposed that would be co-developed with the team, not imposed from outside.

Through research, workshops, and customer interviews, the work would define Blick’s purpose and goals and identify the key market segments to focus on, and, just as importantly, where not to. The strategy would uncover what truly mattered to customers and shape a distinctive, relevant positioning to help Blick stand out and grow.

Workshops uncovered insights from across the business and helped the wider team to feel heard and part of the strategy.  And leadership workshops provided an opportunity for the General Managers to step away from the day-to-day, discuss, debate, and agree on the future of the company, and the path to getting there – ensuring they showed up in alignment to the wider business.

“Even though I saw the need for it, and had advocated for this internally, I was still initially apprehensive. What if it didn’t add value, or wasn’t the right fit for our culture? But in the first leadership workshop, the value became clear. You asked the right questions, and we aligned on things we’d been disagreeing about for years.”

Research that challenged assumptions

The strategy included market sizing, and assessments of both the Australia and New Zealand drilling sectors.  It found Blick couldn’t simply rely on their winning formula in New Zealand to replicate success in Australia.  The market dynamics were too different.

• New Zealand’s smaller market combined with Blick’s larger market share necessitated a strategy of broad appeal and wide reach. 

• In Australia, the opposite was true. The sheer scale and diversity of the market demanded real focus. 

  
  

Customer interviews also challenged long-held beliefs. The team had assumed that technical expertise was their key differentiator, especially in New Zealand, and wanted to know if that would translate to growth in Australia. But research told a different story.

Across both countries, technical expertise rarely topped customer’s wish-lists, instead what mattered most was having a trusted partner by their side.  Customers valued a partner who understood the pressures of the job, helped them deliver it well, and could be counted on when things got tough. Technical capability was important, but as a means to an end, not the end itself.

A new positioning

This insight shifted the narrative. The strategy moved Blick away from chemical formulas and complex language, toward something more powerful: enabling success for their customers. No more “thixotropic suspension polymers”, instead, it's about being the team beside you when it counts and driving improved outcomes for customers.

“What surprised us most? How much our customers valued having someone in their corner. It wasn't about formulas. It was about trust and being there for them, helping them to do a good job"

From vision to action

The new strategy created clarity, alignment, and momentum across the business, and concrete changes are already visible.  

• A 90-day planning cycle has been implemented to maintain momentum and ensure delivery of the plan

• The new Blick Fluids range launched successfully with simple, customer-led messaging

• Stronger alignment between teams

• Greater confidence in saying no to off-strategy work.

An embedded partner

Shaun says what made the process work wasn't just the output, it was the partnership.

“Consultants often disappear and then return delivering a pretty pack with surface-level insights. That was my fear. But this was the opposite. You worked collaboratively with our team and delivered a detailed strategy with loads of insights and direction. And you rolled it up to a clear plan on a page with all the key messages, priorities and purpose in one easy to read slide. You weren't just a consultant, it really felt like you cared about Blick's success. It felt like we had an evangelist in the team, pushing us forward."

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