Five minutes with: Premax

This month, BikeBiz catches up with Premax founder and CEO Randall Cooper as the brand looks to expand its UK presence

Can you give us a short introduction to Premax?
Premax was established in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. I noticed that athletes would complain about the greasy sports creams available on the market at the time, so I decided to tackle the issue. Initially, we started with only a couple of massage creams. However, after a few years and some fantastic feedback from athletes, we started an athlete range with a core focus on cycling and triathlon. 

Where is Premax available?
Premax is available in the UK and Australia. We do have limited distribution in Europe and Asia, however, we’re focusing on making sure we service our core markets well before we look to expand and become a true international brand. Our products are available online and in cycling, running and triathlon stores.

What is your distribution model, and why does that suit Premax?
We take a customer-centric approach and ensure that Premax is available both online and in store. Premax has an office and company registration in both Australia and the UK, and being ‘local’ in each country certainly helps us maintain strong relationships with our customers and trade partners. 

What’s new this year?
It’s a big year for Premax. We’re launching a brand new look, including an updated logo and packaging. We’ve moved away from white and clinical, to a sophisticated but sports-orientated aesthetic. Our new packaging also includes some new innovations. For example, our Anti Friction Balms are now in a slender tube with a slanted tip applicator allowing mess-free, highly specific application to body regions that get chafed.

We’re also launching a brand new Warm Up Cream, with sodium bicarbonate, caffeine and magnesium in a skin conditioning based formula. There’s nothing like it so it’s pretty exciting. We also have another three products to launch before the end of the year so it’s a really significant time for Premax.

What does Premax offer that its competitors perhaps do not?
Authenticity is a big one. We’re one of the only true innovators in sports skincare, and we take a fresh approach to formulating every one of our products. We work with a large number of elite athletes and teams to ensure they’re the new benchmark. We pride ourselves on developing formulas that are not only effective, but a fantastic experience, nourishing and conditioning the skin. Our catchphrase is where ‘skin science meets athlete performance’.

What is the target audience of the brand?
We’re focusing on three key sports, cycling, running and swimming, and triathlon is the obvious fallout. We have some swim-specific products that we’re launching later this year, so we’re excited to build a complete performance skincare offering for these sports. 

How is consumer and IBD feedback for the current crop of Premax products?
The feedback has been outstanding. Any product that is applied to the skin is personal, so it usually takes strong word of mouth and/or experience to have people try and change to our brand. However, when they do we’re finding the overwhelming majority of both IBD’s and end customers stick with Premax. 

What are your plans beyond 2020?
We feel sports skincare is a young and developing market and we look to continue to captain the category, working in with our elite team partners and bring new, innovative products to market.

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