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Slazenger Hockey
A brand with a rich heritage, Slazenger Hockey is moving in new directions to appeal to a much broader player base. Hockey Product Manager Graham Joyce and Nick Fox, Team Promotions Manager, discussed the upward curve the brand hopes to be enjoying soon.
SGB: Where does Slazenger Hockey fit in to the hockey market?
Graham Joyce: In terms of volume I think we're one of the biggest hockey manufacturers out there; we are a big name within the UK hockey market. For us, one of the key disadvantages is the brand is perceived to be a School/introduction brand and not a brand that is producing credible top end hockey products.
SGB: So how will the brand change that perception? How do you take those steps?
GJ: We have a considerable product range, and I think that's spiralled out of control a little bit. For us it's getting back to basics and doing the things that we've done well in the past. If you think back to '88, '84 Olympics, Slazenger was one of the most popular brands used by the British players, as it is was predominantly a UK brand, it had a great range of products used by phenomenal British hockey players.
The introduction of composite technology dented the aspirations of the company because we focused predominantly on wood. The belief was that composite technology wouldn't capture the market, obviously it has - and the company struggled to keep up with the developments of other leading hockey manufacturers. So we're trying to move forward with some clever technologies that will help position the brand much higher up the ladder. We'll go back to core strengths and to manufacture products that we feel we need to do very, very well, We feel it's about offering hockey products that match market/consumer expectations not just at the introductory/school level but also at the elite end of the spectrum.
SGB: How do you market into sports stores, and also in the UK to what is going to be your end user?
NF: With school kids, this is where the brand is extremely strong in that the volume is very significant. Most of the major suppliers into the education market list four or five Slazenger sticks, so most youngsters at an early age are exposed to Slazenger as a brand. And that then becomes our downfall because as these young players proceed to play for clubs and further on, they look to buy their own stick, and they think, well I had a Slazenger at school which was given to me free, it was probably in a poor state, so I'll look to another brand. And that's where we tend to lose our customer. The key for Graham and I is to then make the product more desirable so when they leave school after using a Slazenger product, they'll continue to use a Slazenger product. At the moment that's where the brand has struggled - it's struggled from its strength, its strength has also become a weakness.
When we go and see a retailer at the moment retailers will buy hand over fist on entry level products, and it then will taper off as you move up the price points. That again is the key area that Graham and I have spotted that we need to work on.
GJ: So far, we haven't really been marketing our products effectively; it's been a little bit of a scatter gun approach, something here, something there. We do trade and consumer publication advertising that myself and Nick feel doesn't really give us a suitable return. We realise we need to be much more effective and work smarter linking in marketing opportunities to our retailers. We need to create more buzz around the brand. Ideally we would like to do more roadshows, get in to the clubs more, more product testing, increase our stable of international players, club players and coaches linking these to local retailers. As a brand we need to work smart.
NF: Our recent deal with the England hockey team and the English hockey league has lifted the brand in terms of its profile within the hockey market. We're getting good exposure in England from the Under-16s all the way through to senior. That has helped the brand and has been a significant investment for Dunlop Slazenger International. However, we recognise that we are a UK-wide brand so it's important that we look at all opportunities in each of the home countries. Europe is also on the horizon.
SGB: Are there any key endorsements for you - is there hockey's answer to David Beckham out there?
GJ: There is. Unfortunately we don't endorse them. However, we do have two top England and GB players who have been fantastic for the brand. Their on field efforts have also boosted the credibility of the brand. Overall, the UK market doesn't offer the same marketing opportunities as Holland, Germany or Spain, so it really comes down to brand appeal. It's difficult competing with brands like say adidas. The perceptions of the adidas brand are much higher than that of Slazenger. It would be very easy for us to go into Germany or Holland and pay over the odds for top players but we feel strongly that we need to first support British players. Britain has many talented hockey players and supporting these players is our main strategy within the UK. So there are players out there, but for us I think it's key that before we go splashing the cash around, it's vital that we get the products right.
SGB: You have some exciting new technology coming out soon though...
GJ: We're introducing two new technologies into our top-end ranges. We're introducing our Nano-technology that has been used with great success in our tennis rackets. The Nano process enhances the quality of the stick at a molecular level. It increases the uniformity between the resin and the carbon fibres producing a more consistent and stable bond. This also ensures a much more consistent and precise resin flow during stick production. It has allowed us to refine the composite design on each stick so that it ensures optimum usage of all the fibres that are used in constructing the stick shaft. Basically we now have a top end performance stick that performs.
Our second technology offering is Multifibre Technology. Through considerable play testing and prototyping we've identified that sticks manufactured with a synthesis of composite materials far outperformed pure carbon sticks in terms of comfort and feel. A combination or Carbon, Kevlar and Fibreglass strategically placed at various locations of the stick has enabled us to significantly enhance the playability of our sticks, Studies into fibre placement have ensured optimum fibre placement according to shaft profile and function. We use more layers in the key strength areas as well as more durable materials such as Kevlar in the high impact zones of the stick.
These technologies combined create a stick that is stiff and responsive, yet has excellent dampening characteristics and vibration control, specific to the needs of elite and club players.
In the past Slazenger has been very good at developing hockey technologies, some of which have heavily influenced the hockey market. We are now also able to tap into the tennis technologies which is extremely advantageous for us as tennis technologies update and evolve at such a rapid rate. This will hopefully allow us to eventually position ourselves as market leaders in technology development within hockey.
SGB: When is the new technology going to be available?
GJ: It'll be available to key retailers to stock by early summer. Our international players have started using it already. We've been player testing since November 2007 and have just completed the final phase of product testing. Our official launch took place at the start of March, our sales team are now on the road visiting all of our retailers.
SGB: How are you going to educate retailer and player about the new technology?
NF: With retail, it's down to the sales force, but that will be supplemented with myself going along a hockey specialist. Not as a salesman, just to assist in the process. This is something we've done with tennis and cricket, it's having somebody that's played the sport and is trying to explain the scientific details behind the technology, but also how that translates into playability, because that's the key really. It's no good if this technology is the best thing since sliced bread if you can't convey the message to the retailer in a clear and concise manner, they can't obviously then pass it on to the end user. It's partly selling, but also packed around that will be a marketing campaign explaining the ins and outs of the technology. And also creating a buzz by not just explaining the technology, but the marketing that Graham and I are looking to do is going to be a little bit different, something a bit more edgy. Something that we hope the hockey market will be receptive to. And again that will start to filter through, so we're not going to say too much about that, but people will start to pick that up.
GJ: Slazenger has always dictated to the market what products they get and how they should sell the products, but this time around we felt we needed to change that strategy, so we now have a more open door policy. This is the first time we've done this, product managers visiting retailers, getting involved with them, getting feedback from them trying to better understand their specific market and the general hockey market. At the end of the day they're the specialists, they're the ones that deal with the public on a daily basis so we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn't listen.
SGB: What's the effect on price of the new technology? Is there going to be a significant price shift on the new sticks?
GJ: To compete in the hockey market you're faced with a number of challenges: Brand perceptions, value of the brand to the end user, performance/cosmetic look and of course, price. If a child takes his mum to a shop, and his mum knows very little about hockey, she may use price as an indicator of quality. So Slazenger sticks have to match each price point of our key competitors. This is only a small part of the overall picture. For us a price increase isn't just about competing. It is offset against our technology developments and what we feel these technologies are worth to the end user.
SGB: How do you as a brand support and work with independent retailers in a general sense, and how - in the light of everything you've said - might that change? Are you involved with retail merchandising?
NF: We'll be retail merchandising and the company is now just entering into a new policy that some customers will be aware of with cricket, the 'shop within shop' concept, which is Slazenger branded. We will work with the retailer to come up with a unique proposition for them in their store. This is something we'll be looking to roll out with hockey as well, and that's not setting a standard because each retail premises is different. We have to work very closely with specialist retailers by giving them as much support in terms of sell in and sell out, marketing support, promotions on a local level, and all this is a package that's driven through by the sales team, through team promotion, and also with the product managers as well.
The market for independent retailers I would say is polarising in that the number of stores is decreasing, and the ones that remain are getting bigger and more specialised.
GJ: With the internet becoming more and more popular as a purchasing tool, many specialists are telling us that the majority of their business is via the internet. For us, supporting the retailer with below the line advertising, (trade and consumer), is still very important, but we're also looking at doing more online activity in the near future. As we said earlier we have to be much smarter with our promotions and we feel the internet offers some exciting brand building tools, not just for us but also for the retailer. Not only does it offer a big clear window to display our wares but it also gives us the chance to interact with potential customers during their search for a new hockey product. Perhaps it won't sway them to change this time round but for future purchases they may start considering the Slazenger brand.
