Why work at Spark New Zealand

Customer Segments

Spark offers a diverse range of products and solutions for a varied client base that comprises individual consumers and commercial operators. The Company’s customers can be organised broadly into the following categories:

• Consumers, including individual users across multiple demographics to whom the Company sells a range of telecommunications products, devices, services, and platforms;
• Small Businesses, including professional sole traders, small accounting firms, retail businesses, tradespeople, hospitality businesses, law firms, and medical practices; and
• Medium and Large Enterprises, comprising large-scale commercial enterprises across a range of industries, including technology companies, government bodies, travel and hospitality companies, engineering firms, manufacturers, healthcare providers, energy companies, and contractors.

Spark names a number of its clients on its website. This includes government bodies such as Wanganui District Council and Taranaki District Health Board, as well as companies such as Z Energy, Grayson Engineering, McKechnie Aluminium, and House of Travel.

Spark is based in New Zealand, which remains its principal market. The Company does not appear to maintain any significant international operations.

Value Propositions

Spark provides value to its clients in the following ways:

• Its brand strength and reputation, with the Company established as a leading provider of telecommunications services and communications products, maintaining a popular and recognisable brand in its domestic market of New Zealand;
• Its broad range of products and services, with the Company offering a broad portfolio of products and solutions to consumers and businesses, including smartphones, call plans, cloud and connectivity solutions, and IT services;
• Its accessibility and flexibility, with the Company’s products and services easily accessed by clients through the Company’s network of retail outlets across New Zealand, as well as through its online store;
• Its domestic reach, with the Company serving a broad client base across its home market of New Zealand, with the Company operating 14 retail locations across the Company’s major cities and towns; and
• Its industry expertise and experience, with the Company employing specialist telecommunications professionals led by a team of experienced industry executives.

Channels

Spark operates a website at www.sparkdigital.co.nz, through which it provides information on its various products, services, solutions, and locations. The Company operates an online sales portal for general consumers, through which customers can purchase phones and mobile plans directly.

Spark makes the bulk of its sales to consumers through a direct retail sales force.  These sales personnel operate out of the Company’s network of 14 retail outlets across New Zealand’s major cities, including locations in Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, Napier, Tauranga, Dunedin, Christchurch, and Hamilton.

Spark additionally maintains a separate direct sales force through which it sells IT and communications products and solutions to large commercial entities. These sales personnel operate out of the Company’s offices and deal closely with the Company’s clients across multiple industries.

Customer Relationships

Spark provides products and solutions to consumers on a self-service basis through its online store, which enables customers to purchase products, subscribe to mobile phone plans, and pay bills without interacting with members of the Company’s sales and service personnel. The Company offers a more personalised service through its network of retail outlets, with sales person able to deal with customer enquiries and questions in person and ensure that they receive appropriate services.

Spark additionally makes sales to commercial entities through a dedicated direct sales force, the members of which consult closely with clients in order to ensure that the Company’s solutions meet the individual needs of each client. The Company seeks to establish long-term, ongoing relationship with its enterprise clients, aiming to establish its service offerings as a key component of its clients’ It and communications systems.

Spark offers ongoing customer support to its clients, with larger commercial operators having their own account management teams. Customers are able to contact the Company’s dedicated support personnel over the phone, through the Spark mobile app, or via an online chat service in order to access personalised assistance. The Company also offers a range of online support resources, such as FAQs and service updates, that can be accessed independently.

Spark maintains an active social media presence, operating accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, through which it interacts directly with customers and publishes company updates.

Key Activities

Spark is a New Zealand-based telecommunications and IT services providers. It offers an extensive portfolio of mobile communications, fixed line, internet, data network, and wireless services to a diverse customer base.

The Company offers a range of telecommunications and internet products to consumers – including smartphones, talk plans, and mobile network services – as well as more complex commercial network and communications solutions to small, medium, and large businesses across multiple industries, including the healthcare, retail, government, travel, hospitality, engineering, and energy sectors. Spark serves customers across New Zealand, maintaining a presence in the country’s major cities, including Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Tauranga, Hamilton, and Christchurch.

Key Partners

Spark works closely with a range of partners that provide services and products in support of the Company’s core operations. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of services, equipment, and technologies that are utilised in support of the Company’s core retail and distribution operations;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, including a network of technology companies, distribution partners and retail partners that assist in marketing and delivering the Company’s products and solutions across New Zealand;
• Technology and Network Partners, including various technology companies and network service operators that assist in developing and maintaining the Company’s mobile and wireless network solutions; and
• Strategic and Alliance Partners, including a range of market leading companies across various industries, with which the Company collaborates on joint projects, including in marketing, branding, and development.

Spark lists a number of its key partners on its website. This includes high-profile technology companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, VMWare, Dell EMC, Trend Micro, and CommVault.

Key Resources

Spark’s key resources are its products and solutions, its suppliers and supply chain, its online sales channel, its IT and communications infrastructure, its physical telecommunications network infrastructure, its network of retail outlets, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Spark owns and or leases a number of physical properties across New Zealand that comprise its retail and office network. The Company also owns certain physical assets that comprise its communications network.

Cost Structure

Spark incurs costs in relation to the development of its solutions, the procurement of supplies and products, the management of its supply chain, the operation of its online and physical retail channels, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the operation and maintenance of its telecommunications network assets, the procurement of services, the implementation of advertising and marketing campaigns, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2016 Spark recorded total operating expenses in the amount of NZD 2.51 billion. This included payments to telecommunication operators amounting to NZD 694 million, procurement of IT services in the amount of NZD 809 million, direct network costs in the amount of NZD 69 million, computer costs in the amount of NZD 74 million, and advertising costs in the amount of NZD 77 million.

Revenue Streams

Spark generates revenue through the provision of telecommunications, wireless, and digital network services, as well as the sale of telecommunications devices and products, such as mobile phones. The Company devices revenue in the form of physical sales, as well as under sales and service contracts with commercial entities across multiple sectors.

In 2016 Spark generated revenue for the year in the amount of NZD 3.50 billion, down slightly on the NZD 3.53 billion recorded by the Company in 2015.