My biggest mistake: Brad Johnson, co-founder of Zena Sport

As a former Western Bulldogs captain and current media commentator, AFL legend Brad Johnson knows his way around the MCG.

But when it came to switching a jersey for a business suit, it was a whole new playing field Johnson and his wife Donna found themselves in.

The couple behind Zena Sport have been building their business off the back of an idea Donna had to develop a ground-breaking concept in sporting protection wear for women.

While you might think the product development phase would be the ripest territory for making mistakes, Johnson said the biggest one came from left field, in an area they least anticipated: marketing. 

The mistake

While the couple got through those early challenges by “not pretending to know everything” and outsourcing many of the processes to experts in different fields, one of skillsets they had the most difficulty aligning the company with was marketing.

“Because we’re majority an online business and sporting brand, the biggest mistake and challenge was getting the social media advertising right from the outset,” Johnson told SmartCompany Plus.

“It has been an area we wasted a lot of time, effort and finances in trying to find the right company that would take us to the level we were after through ad spend,’ he said.

“That’s been the biggest challenge for us. It’s literally taken two and a half to three years to find the right person.”

The context

Although the couple started Zena Sport five years ago, Johnson says, in essence it was still a startup because of the multiple challenges they had to meet along the way.

“Starting from scratch in an area where our knowledge was extremely limited meant we spent the first three years of the business doing research, projects and designs, things that go with learning about manufacturing, learning about IP, and all challenges that come with that.”

The couple also hadn’t run a company before, which meant that on top of the product development, they were also learning the very basics of business.

“Cashflow, setting up the right structure to try and succeed and scale, all those things that go with running a business have been challenges.”

Johnson says having the right people involved from the outset meant most of the processes were able to flow through smoothly while the couple educated themselves along the way.

“The patent was tricky but we were introduced to the right person from the outset which enabled us to get that part of things right. Because we mostly had the right people helping us it’s been quite smooth but we had to be patient in terms of the vest’s release.

“Making sure it was the right fit for athletes at all levels was crucial. Our research and trials put into the vest and time spent with Deakin University to validate it was all important in our set up. When the girls put it on, it fitted and was comfortable. The feedback is they don’t even realise they have it on, which is great for us.”

The impact

While the product itself was a winner, the inability to get it out there into the world quickly and efficiently through social media channels has cost the Johnsons time and money.

“Getting that marketing side of things right was important to get the brand out there and inform people of the vest’s capabilities and the benefits of wearing them. That’s taken a bit of time but it’s good to finally get that right,” Johnson said.

“We’re in a really good, sweet spot right now.”

The fix

Ultimately, the fix came down to finding the right person.

And although Johnson wouldn’t disclose the finer details about the great fit the couple found, he did say Zena Sport can now understand exactly where things are and how to spend in the right places.

“They’re assisting with content creation marketing of our vests through all the socials — YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram. Everything is adjusted on the run, as it’s happening.”

Johnson says  after all the energy, resources, test phases, lost time spent on marketing, they can now put that behind them and focus on other areas of the business.

“We loved every step as hard and challenging as it was learning all the aspects of running a business and bringing a product to life, it’s been a lot of fun. Now we have the right marketing consultant on board it’s a huge weight off the shoulders and everything just flows.”

The lesson

Johnson believes the lesson here is to be patient, and to not settle for something that doesn’t feel right.

“We had to try various agencies, various individuals, that basically could go to certain levels with our products. You trust that but ultimately it wasn’t where we wanted to go with the vest and what we needed at different stages, so it was important for us to learn from that.

“Now after two years of feedback and trials and selling the vest the response has been amazing. Donna and I and the team are in that position where we can spend the next period of Zena scaling it as much as we can so we’re going full steam ahead to get it out there.”