P16 Linebreak:SGBGolf_NEW_template 24/04/2009 11:46 Page 17
Brand Profile
the whole kit; it's hard to compete with raw financial muscle sometimes. commit to a brand that they may not have
Having spoken to some of the athletes individually though, they will still be had before, in financial times that are quite
wearing LineBreak as well! difficult.
Also quite recently, Manchester City were playing away against FC With that in mind, we have entered into
Copenhagen, and the most expensive footballer in the world was playing in an agreement with ProStar. ProStar have
his LineBreak recovery tights. Robinho spent the whole game playing in his always carried their own range, but
LineBreak tights – so the back page of the Daily Mail had a lovely photo of LineBreak is the first brand that they are
him running down the line with the LineBreak logo showing. You can’t pay going to take in their catalogue, which
for that kind of marketing! came out at the end of March. They
We supply half the Premiership football clubs – half the clubs buy looked at the marketplace, realised
LineBreak for their recovery. Manchester United have bought LineBreak for that while they do do a base layer
the last three years, Manchester City have bought 250 pairs of tights this line, they don’t do a technical base
year. West Ham, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Brom – half the clubs layer. They approached us to see if
are buying LineBreak for their recovery purposes. we could work together. ProStar
has a wide market penetration,
SGB: What are the cornerstone products of the LineBreak range? they have sales teams out on the
MG: It is quite a tight range. We do two colour options in male or female road – we are very pleased that
lines. The core options are in the upper body; a long-sleeve top, a short- LineBreak and ProStar will be
sleeve top or a sleeveless top, that’s male or female. In the bottoms, you working together now, moving
have full tights, three-quarter length tights, long shorts or shorts, for male forward to take the product out to get
and female. Then we do a unisex product, which is widely used, a calf a wider distribution to and broader
compression sock. And that's it – two colours, three upper body options, market penetration.
four lower body options, plus a calf support. It is a very tight, very specific It is great for us. There are a lot of
range that does everything that is required by all our athletes – it covers all base layers in the marketplace, and it is
their demands. For the retailer it’s not ten different colour options and X going to be tough time for the next six
amount of different styles – it is a very specific line that seems to have to twelve months. We’re a lean company
worked. – I don’t have the overheads or the costs
of some of the larger brands. I am lean
SGB: How do you get the message across to the retailer, about how good enough to be able to maximise
your gear is? opportunities in these times. LineBreak
MG: Historically, we have either had a sales team or a team of agents that broke its sales records in the last two
we have worked with. We have done a lot of advertising, we do a lot of months, in the middle of a recession. We
mailing to retailers. We keep them updated on what we are doing through carry lots of stock; we have always got
email and various other routes. It is an interesting time at the moment, stock we can supply to retailers and some
trying to get to all the retailers and make them confident in the brand and of the other suppliers aren’t able to do
that at the moment. We
have picked up a lot
of business in the
last two months,
and hopefully with this announcement,
moving forward with ProStar, we will be
a serious player over the next twelve months.
SGB: Why should retailers come to you? As you say, times
are hard – what do you offer retailers?
MG: We have low opening orders with retailers and we have
no minimum order top-ups, so a retailer can order one piece
and we will deliver it the following day and just charge
delivery at cost. We are lean and we are agile in attitude with
new retailers that want to try the brand and don’t want to
take a wide range – we will support them by giving them an
entry range of product that we know will sell. If someone
then comes in and asks for a product they don’t carry, then
we can supply it the following day at cost on postage.
We also offer all new retailers sale or substitution. If they
take a first order in and take a punt on a few lines, if after
two months it has not sold out, or a certain line is not selling,
then we will swap it for what is selling. They have a bit of
security in knowing that they are taking on a new line but if
something just doesn’t move, then we will swap it for
something that is moving at no extra cost. It’s just making
sure that the retailer is confident that when they take on the
brand they won’t be left with something that is still going to
be there in six months time.
APRIL 2009 SGB SPORT 17
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