“Say we ask you amazing

athletes what you need from

us to feel totally invincible
on the field, move as though
you have almost nothing
on and look really cool.
“Say we’re a bunch of guys
from the arse end of the
world who are prepared
to take risks because
challenging assumptions
leads to crazy, better things.
“Say we’re OBO.”

the
by robert tighe

BUSINESS
of sport This is OBO’s philosophy. It is spelled out in bright,
colourful letters on their website which carries the tagline
– Good Shit That Really Works. Irreverent and edgy it may be,
but OBO’s philosophy and commitment to producing ‘good
shit’ has helped the Palmerston North company become a
player in the global marketplace.
OBO manufactures protective equipment for field hockey
and currently to 61 countries with an estimated market share
of more than 60 per cent.
Napier is home to blueseventy, a company that is trying to
compete with swimwear giants Speedo in the controversial,
but lucrative swim suit market while Nzo is a Rotorua
company that manufactures clothing and accessories for
cyclists and mountain bikers in particular.
All three companies are at different stages of their
development and all three have different perspectives on the
challenges of running a global business from the “arse end
of the world”. Yet all three are distinctly and uniquely New
Zealand companies.

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 t h e busin e ss of sport t h e busin e ss of sport

OBO’s home page features a hockey goalkeeper, wearing

full protective gear, straddling a sheep. Simon Barnett,
founder and managing director of OBO, says the cheeky
image reflects the company’s willingness to be a bit different
and a bit daring. It also highlights the fact that OBO is a New
Zealand company.
“For the first few years we didn’t say where we were from,
because people generally don’t care,” says Barnett.
“But New Zealand has a reputation overseas for making
good products and for people who are easy to deal with. So
we are keen to promote our New Zealand-ness as another
reason to buy our products.”
Barnett, a lecturer in marketing at Massey University, was
watching hockey at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when
some hockey-playing friends started discussing the poor
standard of protective equipment for goalkeepers.
Barnett was already running a small hockey importing
business and decided he could do better. Together with a
local company, Current Craft Perception, they developed
a unique process for thermo-bonding closed cell foam.
In simple terms it enabled them to manufacture lighter,
stronger and more flexible protective equipment for
hockey goalkeepers.
As niche markets go, it was a pretty obscure one but
Barnett felt he could make it work.
“We decided to go global with it from day one. Focusing on
“If I had not got that fax, you
one thing and putting our eggs in one basket would appear
to be risky, but we saw it as a huge opportunity. To succeed
and I would not be having this
anywhere in the world today, you’ve got to be the best at what conversation. This company
you do and you’ve got to have a remarkable product.
“If you try to do too many things and try to get too big you would not exist,” says Barnett.
won’t end up with a remarkable product.”

Having the confidence to think big and take on the world
has paid dividends and today the New Zealand market
accounts for just six per cent of sales, with the Netherlands
the biggest market for OBO products with more than 20 per
cent of sales.
Most of the world’s best goalkeepers wear OBO but if
Barnett had listened to the naysayers his company might
never have got off the ground. People advised him that
launching a global brand was a huge risk.
So he approached a German company and they agreed
to sell his product under their brand. But before they had
“consummated the relationship” as Barnett puts it, he
received a fax from the Germans demanding free samples,
outrageous credit terms and a 20 per cent drop in price.
“If I had not got that fax, you and I would not be having
this conversation. This company would not exist,” says Barnett
who told the German company what they could do with their
fax and decided to go it alone. Lying in bed one night he
came up with the name for his new company.
“OBO is a completely meaningless name. We needed a
brand name that was easy to say in any language and it
needed to be short. It also needed to be a memorable and
attractive word and OBO just popped into my head.
“We did an internet search and were relieved to find it
didn’t mean anything rude in Spanish or Japanese and it
hadn’t been registered by anyone else.”
More important than a catchy name was the branding and
the design of the product, something that has been crucial
to OBO’s success.
“We decided goalkeepers were amazing people and we
needed to be amazing as well. Goalkeepers are a little bit out
there and we decided we needed to be as well.”
The “out there” approach worked. The company established
a warehouse and distribution centre in the Netherlands,
sponsored some of the leading players in Europe and pretty
much let word of mouth do the rest.
“The most fundamental point is that our products work well,”
says Barnett. “It is good shit that works well.”
In 1996, just four years after the company was founded, the
goalkeepers in the men’s and women’s gold medal winning
teams at the Atlanta Olympics wore OBO pads. At the 2000
Sydney Olympics, over half of the goalkeepers were using
OBO equipment while in Athens in 2004, the figure had
jumped to 77%. It was down to 65% in Beijing but it is still a
ringing endorsement for what OBO does.
“You’ve got to see the world
as your market and operate
accordingly. If you have a
truly remarkable product,
people tend to find you.”
The company employs 20 people in Palmerston North
where the manufacturing plant works around the clock, 24
hours a day. Unlike many New Zealand companies, OBO has
resisted the temptation to shift their manufacturing operation
to China.
“If we manufactured a complex product like ours in
China we would have to share our manufacturing expertise
with someone else and once you do that you lose control.
There would be quality issues and we have such a good
reputation for quality we can control it better with an in-house
manufacturing operation.
“We can respond to any problems really quickly and
develop new products very quickly.”
Barnett is a very positive advocate of doing business
with the rest of the world from New Zealand. While he
admits there are some disadvantages to being based here,
in particular the freight costs, he is a glass half-full kind
of guy.
“You’ve got to see the world as your market and operate
accordingly. If you have a truly remarkable product, people
tend to find you.”
OBO’s turnover is close to $4m per year but Barnett doesn’t
expect to become a multi-millionaire from what he does.
“Dealing in the sports market and in such a niche market
will never buy me a helicopter but we all lead a good life here.
We’ve never lost money, even at the start-up stage.”
As for the future, the plan is to keep on doing what they
are doing.
“There is no particular end goal. We want to be a strong
New Zealand company and we truly value being based here
and employing New Zealanders and we want to stay that way.”

58 59
 t h e busin e ss of sport
Nzo couldn’t be more explicit about where it is from.
“We wear our heart on our sleeve with our name,” says Gary
Sullivan, a mountain biking junkie who started the company
with his partner, Glen Anderson, a little over 10 years ago. It
has been a rocky road for Nzo but despite the ups and downs
of the business, Sullivan’s love for the sport still
shines through.
“I go for a ride three times a week or more. That is one
of the main reasons we are doing this, because we are
interested in the sport. Mountain biking is like surfing or golf
in that you can always improve.
“Then there is the technology. You can always get a new bike
or a shiny bit. And there is always somewhere new to go for a
ride, somewhere to have a new experience.”
Sullivan explains that the New Zealand mountain bike
experience is special.
“New Zealand has its own style of mountain biking and
people around the world aspire to come here. The way we
do mountain biking is different to other countries. New
Zealanders go hard at mountain biking, much like they go
hard at anything.
60
“New Zealand has its own style of
mountain biking and people around
the world aspire to come here. New
Zealanders go hard at mountain biking,
much like they go hard at anything.”
Graeme Murray (2)
t h e busin e ss of sport
“Some international bike companies give new bikes to New
Zealanders to see how long they will last. The number of bikes
that get busted over here in comparison to other countries is
off the charts because when someone buys a bike over here
they tend to flog the shit out of it.”
That go hard attitude has influenced Nzo’s approach to
the business.
“We try to make products that last a long time,” says
Sullivan. “The product we are famous for is our mountain
bike shorts. We make a lot of other products but people are
prepared to pay a premium for our bike shorts.
“A lot of big brands, their product looks great and has fancy
logos and fantastic detailing but doesn’t really fit. The stuff
should fit you like a glove; not piss you off when you are
using it.”
Where OBO’s hockey goalkeeping gear is brash and bright,
Nzo has taken the opposite approach to its bike wear.
“I guess our stuff is low key. We don’t have big logos on it.
The branding is small and the style is simple. We are focused
on comfort, durability and simplicity.”
Nzo started out focusing on the mountain bike market but
a few years ago they made the mistake of branching into
road cycling. Sullivan says the key now for the company is to
follow the OBO philosophy and concentrate on making and
marketing a few remarkable products instead of following
the herd.
“We want to refocus our range on the parts that we are
really good at, which is mountain bike shorts and other
mountain bike accessories, and market it at a thin layer of
people around the world, rather than try to be all things to
all people.”
In 2007, Nzo decided the way to achieve that was to focus
exclusively on online sales. The company had been selling to
retailers in Australia and New Zealand but they weren’t getting
the returns they expected. Sales were good but the bottom
line wasn’t.
“It was very tough to make any money,” says Sullivan. “The
cost of sales was incredibly high. The retailer takes half, the
distributor takes a chunk and shipping and customs takes
a chunk.”
Nzo started their online business with no customers and a
small database of 2000 people - mountain bike enthusiasts
who received Sullivan’s regular email newsletter about the customers and there are a bunch of things we need to do
sport. The newsletter gets a good response but Sullivan better to tap into those markets.
admits that doesn’t always translate to sales. “The German market is huge so it would help if were able to
Still turnover has remained reasonably steady at $NZ1m do business in Germany but we haven’t got around to
per year and while sales have taken a hit since the company that yet.”
went online, Sullivan says the actual return per transaction Still, the potential for the sport and for Nzo’s products
is better. is huge.
For now, Nzo is focusing on the New Zealand and Australian “Just look at the facilities – just over 10 years ago one of
markets but Sullivan knows that if the company is to survive the only places in New Zealand with purpose built trails was
he will have given the international market a serious push. Rotorua. Now there are mountain bike trails close to every
“Our international market is small but it is growing. We sell major town in New Zealand.
to the US, the UK, Germany and Switzerland but it is tiny “You have ski resorts using their chair lifts in the summer for
volumes. We haven’t tried that hard with our international mountain biking. It is partly driven by global warming. In the
lower Alps in Switzerland and Italy there are ski resorts that
have more or less turned into mountain bike resorts.”
Despite the huge potential overseas, Sullivan is under no
illusion about how difficult it will be to crack the
“It was very tough to make any money,” global market.
“Basically, Nzo is a failed wholesale company. We are an
says Sullivan. “The cost of sales was iconic brand in mountain biking with a reputation for unique
incredibly high. The retailer takes half, products that are really well made. But as a business we’ve
just about survived, which a lot of people tell me is a success
the distributor takes a chunk and in its own right.
“In five years I’d like to have a solid customer base in two or
shipping and customs takes a chunk.” three countries in Europe and on the west coast of America.
And I’d still like to be emailing our customers about life and
mountain biking. I’d just like to be sending those messages to
more customers.”
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 t h e busin e ss of sport t h e busin e ss of sport

Sullivan’s passion “People said our suits improved buoyancy because

for mountain biking is swimmers are higher in the water. But FINA approved our
mirrored in Steve Nicholls’
passion for swimming. “The world is a big place and there suits and we have a product we think is great for swimming,”
says Nicholls.
Nicholls’ is a classic
rags to riches story. He are opportunities everywhere and FINA discussed changes to its regulations governing the use
of swim suits last month in Dubai and any changes will be
started out working in the
storeroom and is now CEO Kiwis shouldn’t be frightened voted on at the sport’s world congress in July.
“That will have a huge impact on how people perceive swim
of blueseventy. A qualified
physiotherapist, Nicholls
by those opportunities.” skins. FINA may decide to say ‘we don’t care, do what you
want.’ Or they may decide it has to be this thick and can only
worked as a bike courier cover this much of the body. But we will support whatever
while he tried to make it as FINA decides.”
a triathlete. The company employs 15 people, with five fulltime staff
He was semi-professional, same time and blueseventy found itself up against this global based at the company headquarters in
“a top age grouper and a giant. Undeterred, Nicholls headed to the Beijing Olympics Napier. The suits are produced in China
rubbish professional”, as with a suitcase full of suits and was stunned by the response. with a distribution office in Hong Kong and
he puts it, when he wrote “When swimmers swam in our suit they really liked it. representatives in the US and the UK but
a letter to a company We weren’t allowed into the village because we didn’t have Nicholls says they may need to hire some
called Ironman Wetsuits, accreditation so I remember fitting half the Brazilian team more bodies if the company continues to
looking for sponsorship. out on the street. On the first day at the pool we gave away grow at its current rate.
The company liked his letter free suits and it was like a lolly scramble. Swimmers were just “Twelve months ago race suits were not
and they offered him a free grabbing them,” Nicholls says. commercially viable because nobody was
wetsuit and some part-time Despite the interest in the blueseventy suit, the Beijing racing in them. Now everyone is and we have
work. His first job was Olympics belonged to Speedo with 94% of the winners in a suit that is cheaper and more durable
sorting through boxes of old the pool wearing a LZR suit and 23 of the 25 world records than other brands out there. From day one
wetsuits in a warehouse in broken in Speedo suits. this company thought ‘why shouldn’t we be
Ponsonby, Auckland. Maarten van der Weijden won the men’s 10km open water able to make the best ironman wetsuit in the
“I saw it as a means swim in a blueseventy suit and the company also had a few world’? And now it is ‘why shouldn’t we be
of earning some pocket finalists in the pool. Then at the end of last year swimmers able to compete with Speedo or Arena’?”
money to fund my training,” wearing blueseventy suits broke six world records in the space That is exactly the type of “can do” attitude
says Nicholls. of the month and the company couldn’t make the suits fast that more New Zealand companies need,
Soon after that Nicholls enough to meet the demand. says Simon Barnett of OBO.
did his first Ironman and “I was speaking to a supplier in the US who said ‘get as “I don’t consider this to be an overly
“pretty much toasted much stock as you can over here’. We’ve had retailers telling difficult business. The odd day I think
myself” and couldn’t train us they have full swim teams looking to use our suits and it ‘wouldn’t it be nice to run a dairy where
for two or three months. is the same in Australia. In 12 months time we’d love to be you simply open your doors and people
So he got more and more competing with Speedo as a race suit.” come to you rather than trying to solve a
involved with the company. He helped organise events and he event in Kona, wetsuits were illegal because of the However, the backlash had already begun. Speedo got complex design or manufacturing or
managed the factory store. water temperature. So we had this idea for a swim skin blasted by the media for ruining the sport. The suit became distribution problem’.
“At the end of 2003 the designer left and Nicholls took on and we made some suits and we gave one of them to known as the “Speedo surfboard” or “doping on a hangar”. “But the business is bigger and more
the job of designing wetsuits. It seems a big leap to go from Normann Stadler. Not surprisingly, the swimmers themselves had no complaints. fun than I imagined it would be when we
the store room to designing the suits? “He had a personal best swim and that was it, he was gone. “Some athletes were wearing three suits at the European started. It is a dream job. We are dealing with
“It was and it wasn’t. I had helped out with testing the suits He won the event and he got up on stage after the race and Championships, layering them on, one on top of the other. sportspeople who are interesting and fun people.
so I knew what was required. I had learned about the rubber said ‘what about that swim suit!’ Twelve months later at Kona, So it got a bit crazy. It also started to get a bit cynical and “The world is a big place and there are opportunities
and I had been up to Hong Kong to see our manufacturers. 600 people were wearing our suits and last year half of the some swim federations who are backed by the big swimwear everywhere and Kiwis shouldn’t be frightened by
Plus, there are advantages to being new to something 1500 strong field was in blueseventy suits.” companies got P very
M 0vocal
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particular. Pa ge 1 9 / 3 / 0 9 , 3 : 3 1 P M those opportunities.”
because I wasn’t tied to a particular way of doing things and I The success at Kona prompted a change of direction for the
wasn’t afraid to try new things.” company. The Ironman Wetsuits brand had worked well up to
One of the new products the company developed was a a point but it was also very limiting.
swim skin for the world Ironman championships in Kona, “People saw us as a suit for 40-year-old business people
Hawaii, in 2006. competing in Ironman. We weren’t a cool brand. We had ideas
“One of the things that frustrated us was that we were the for other products that we couldn’t run with because we were
official Ironman sponsors and yet at the flagship Ironman restricted by the Ironman brand.”
In 2005, Nicholls and the then CEO, Tim Moxey, were in a
coffee shop in Seattle in the US when they first came up with
the idea for the name blueseventy.
“We started talking about how much of the earth’s surface
“We started talking about how much was under water. We Googled it and one website suggested it
was 69 per cent and we thought that wouldn’t go down well
of the earth’s surface was under at all, a company called blue69.
“So another website said 70.3 per cent so we rounded it off
water. We Googled it and one website to 70. And that was it, blueseventy was born.”

suggested it was 69 per cent and we They made some adjustments to the Kona swim suit and
submitted it to FINA, the international swimming federation,

thought that wouldn’t go down well for approval in 2007. That same year they sponsored FINA’s
new 10km open water swimming series which gave them

at all, a company called blue69.”

brendon o’hagan (2)

some real traction in the swimming market.

In early 2008, the company did some tests with swimmers
in Australia and the feedback was very positive. The only
problem was that Speedo released its LZR suit around the

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