Not all sportsmen make the transition from success on the field to success in business, in fact, it is something of a rarity. One exception is Bob Skinstad, the former rugby hero and South African heart-throb is now the Chief Marketing Office of Seartec. Bob and CEO of Seartec, Mark McChlery joined Alec Hogg on CNBC Africa's Power Lunch to discuss redeveloping the Sharp brand in South Africa, Seartec's relationship with Seardel and its connections to Marcel Golding and Johnny Copeland. Can historic success and determination stitch together a win for the team? – LF.ALEC HOGG: Welcome back to Power Lunch. Bob Skinstad is a retired pro-rugby player turned broadcaster and the Chief Marketing Officer of Seartec. He's with us in the studio with his boss, Seartec's Chief Executive Mark McChlery. They are a company Mark, – they were telling me off-air – that is part of the Marcel Golding/Johnny Copeland Empire..MARK McCHLERY: By way of ownership through Seardel – yes, absolutely..ALEC HOGG: And Seartec was once separately listed..MARK McCHLERY: Yes, that's correct..ALEC HOGG: Are you a similar company? In those days, you had the Sharp Franchise in South Africa..MARK McCHLERY: Yes, Seartec primarily is the Sharp brand. We're obviously making some big changes in terms of diversifying our current product offering. Back then, when it was listed it included the likes of the toy distribution through Prima etcetera. They separated and now still operates within Seardel, but within that branded product segment..ALEC HOGG: It must be interesting because I've known Bob for a long time and I know he's some kind of a genius at marketing. Everybody would suggest though, that you've employed him for his good looks and his rugby prowess. What's the real story there?.MARK McCHLERY: Genius loves company. The 'good looks' thing is a kind of spice..ALEC HOGG: Well, the eye candy we were told about…do you still get that, Bob? You're getting on, now. You're married with four kids..BOB SKINSTAD: Married with four kids, over the hill, but the view's fantastic..ALEC HOGG: And Seartec: why did you decide to come with this business?.BOB SKINSTAD: Alec, it's been a road. Mark and I actually got into business together in a similar type of business – office automation and business solutions etcetera – that have been branded. It's similar to used-car salesmen stuck in the corner and it's moved on over the last five or six years. People who haven't stuck to their knitting and understood their business have fallen away. Flashy cars and smart suits can only make so many sales until a customer's disappointed with you. We got into a situation where we worked together at a similar business and we actually competed with Seartec, and Seartec, obviously competing with the Sharp brand. For Mark and me in particular, their product was fantastic, but what they were doing with the product… Their rental options were terrible. Service was iffy. The sales force wasn't necessarily out there and driven as they could be, so we pushed against them in one business and they came looking for us..It was a marriage that happened because the group got an appetite to grow the branded product segment and to look in the technology sector for new businesses. Mark and I both sit on various panels where we're either consulting to or part of, entrepreneurial groups with start-up types of backgrounds, so we have a nice eye into what little businesses were interesting. In fact, Mark pressed 'go' on a purchase within Seartec very quickly, so we have a little ecommerce play going at the same time, which diversifies us a bit. It's no secret that we want to take the Sharp brand back up to where it was, but within a portfolio of products..ALEC HOGG: You're saying 'we'. When did you guys start working together?.BOB SKINSTAD: We actually worked together at I-Tech. I got an opportunity to take up an office in Cape Town. Mark ran a rival office in Cape Town. We butted heads a number of times on similar customers and then actually said 'we're far better on the same side of the fence' and we've worked together for three years now – very, very well. We have different skill-sets, but Mark has been in the industry a lot longer than I have. He's built rental books. He's looked after customers from a solutions point of view – integrating solutions across a business. In the old days, it was 'here's my copier. Cheerio'. Now, Sharp birngs in screens. There's obviously the consumer electronics side, which has fallen away a little bit over the years – not ourselves, but before we arrived – , which is there to be harvested and built on. We've also integrated with businesses that were in and around the HCI Group: security-based businesses where you can have an integrated product solution..ALEC HOGG: A nice story – it really is. Are you thinking of coming back to the JSE…listing separately?.MARK McCHLERY: Down the line, I think that if the opportunity exists, it's definitely something we'd be looking to do. We wouldn't be looking to grow our business just to be a well-positioned business. There's an endgame in play..ALEC HOGG: Is that the endgame?.MARK McCHLERY: It has to be. To be in a position where, as a market leader and innovator, you're renowned as such… What we have within Seartec obviously, with Seardel and HCI's backing is a platform where we can leverage all of the assets and the skills that exist within our infrastructure and look to taking to the market, a product that makes sense on not just one aspect of a solution..ALEC HOGG: I understand the story. The two of you were in business. You were in competition. You saw that Sharp was a great brand and that it wasn't performing. That's one thing. How did you in fact go to the next level? Did Marcel Golding pick up the phone…Johnny Copeland…was it at that level?.MARK McCHLERY: No, it was at a similar level, but within Seardel. Seardel's CEO and CFO were talking to us..ALEC HOGG: Seardel's now owned by trade unionists. Doesn't that make it a little difficult for you to perhaps incentivise yourselves and your staff?.MARK McCHLERY: No, I'm highly unemotional about who owns whom, just as long as it makes sense and it adds value..ALEC HOGG: And from your side Bob, we still see you're pretty involved in the broadcasting area. Is that all part-time?.BOB SKINSTAD: Yes, it's all part-time. I have a fantastic role with SuperSport. I've limited the number of engagements per months. As you said, I have a growing family and Saturdays with kids are – from the first kid arriving – starting to slip away, so I've decided to only work two weekends per month. I do have a show on alternate weeks on SuperSport, but the rest of the time, those are all after work hours, anyway. I've always kept myself relatively busy and for me, this is a great opportunity. I spent a lot of time at agencies in a marketing role in the businesses I was involved with, and this one has been… I think Mark sums it up best. It's akin to a playground where we can re-launch a technology company into a fun space, but with adult supervision. We're not entrepreneurs burning our cash and not understanding where it's going..We've got guys who run very solid businesses, into billions of rands and their cheques and balances are outstanding. We've had that great 'hand on the shoulder' and the guidance. We've brought a bit of energy and enthusiasm. The brand is unquestionably one of the leaders in innovation in the world. We've had great trips to Dubai (where we get our product from) and Japan, and Sharp's history is just absolutely fascinating. That gives us a great Trojan horse, if you will. We can go back into that market, fill up the demand for what is a great product, and then look around and grow. My role is to look and learn from Mark on the finance, rental, and general management principle, and then create the excitement and fulfil it..ALEC HOGG: Bob, it was good to see you again. Mark, it's very nice meeting you. Well done, guys. We look forward to maybe having you in the same studio in a few years' time (when they list Seartec on the market). Certainly, with Johnny Copeland and Marcel Golding, and what they've done with that whole HCI Group, you wouldn't be surprised to see that happening. That was Seartec's CEO Mark McChlery and the Chief Marketing Officer, Bob Skinstad.
