Punt for global branding kicks off

By DITA DE BONI

It was out with the old and in with the very old when Canterbury International launched a new range of rugby glad rags at Auckland's Eden Park last night and detailed ambitious global expansion plans.

Chief executive Hap Klopp said the Christchurch sportswear producer would be heavily riding its 104-year rugby heritage into an international retail future despite the loss of the All Blacks' account.

The firm, which now places its distinctive logo on the chests of the Wallabies, the three Australian Super 12 teams, the Scottish, Irish, Fijian and Japanese national sides, and seven New Zealand NPC sides, plans to open a "store within a store" in London's Harrod's and push into North America.

He said Canterbury's goal was to be the No 1 sports brand in the world.

In a speech littered with quotes from Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain and old-world philosophers, Mr Klopp outlined a desire to rectify past problems and start building a global brand.

"We are the largest global sports apparel company dedicated to rugby and we are intent on consolidating and building our presence."

He implored the company to avoid focusing on the loss of the All Blacks' account - "focus on the fact we are backing the winners."

Using rugby apparel as its spearhead, Canterbury aims to increase its European turnover by 70 per cent in the next 12 months, and to build North American sales from nothing to parallel New Zealand's by June 2002.

Global sales for the company now total $160 million and despite stockpiling problems and other inventory woes, Canterbury has lifted forward British orders from $1 million to $11 million for the June year.

It expects a few problems before it hits the global big time. Mr Klopp alluded to a state of "chaos" in the company before it was privatised last year by investment consortium CHL New Zealand, headed by millionaire David Teece.

"When we [took over] we found the company stagnant, falling behind the competition. It was not customer focused, and [then] management swept problems under the carpet.

"But we will have the company back on track by July 1, just like we promised at the beginning of the year. We've cut our workforce by 400, outsourced things we weren't good at, and we're cutting [product ranges] by 60 per cent."

Before the strains of Led Zepplin announced the new season's range, Canterbury also revealed it had standardised 20 logo designs into one, consolidated subsidiary brands and hired a new chief executive officer, expat and former Nike top staffer Peter Garbett.