Taking the challenge of export success to a new level is an ongoing process for Peter and Nicole Lander. They talk to Nukte Ogun about capturing a niche in a market many thought was dead and buried
Fighting through rough terrain to defuse a bomb and rescue a group of hostages is not an everyday occurrence, unless you’re in the armed forces or playing a computer game. Or at least, that was the case. Through the world of military simulation (milsim), anyone can wage a warehouse war to protect an internationally renowned VIP.Peter Lander has always loved games, and spent most of his youth playing everything from Dungeons and Dragons to live action role-playing (LARP). With a background in computer science he began his own software company, but dreamed of creating a live gaming experience. Finally, in 1999, the necessary technology was created, and with it came Battlefield Sports.Lander developed a pilot battlefield in his hometown of Cairns, Queensland, for gamers to play Battlefield Live, like an outdoor version of laser tag. Within a year, it was time to expand. “It became clear pretty quickly that there were a lot of people around the world wanting to do the same as we do,” says Lander. So with its own line of original equipment, Battlefield Sports joined the export skirmish, shipping its technology internationally, and throughout Australia.Lander admits the business really took off after the creation of their website, for which he credits his co-founder and wife, Nicole. With representatives in 27 countries, Battlefield Sports has won numerous export awards and, more recently, Nicole was named a finalist at Queensland Business Review’s inaugural women in business awards.The result of successful company marketing and communication was a sales increase from $1.6 million to $2.1 million during the last financial year. Now with 87 percent of their business coming from export, Lander is sure they’re on the right track. “Australia only represents a small percentage of the global market. If we weren’t exporting as a high percentage, we’d be doing something wrong.”
Defining Markets
The road to export was not immediately smooth. Lander negotiated some rough territory before realising Americans are less willing to buy from an Australian website than Australians are from an American site. “That was a little thing, but that was important,” says Lander. So they quickly created a website with Americanised English.They also needed to revise the original name of Laser Skirmish. “Americans don’t use the term skirmish, so they don’t know what it means. If you have a word you don’t actually understand, you tend to blank it out or skip it. So all they ever read was laser,” says Lander. “A lot of the time they thought it was indoor laser tag, or that we used real lasers, and neither one of those things is accurate. So it was important to find a whole new name.” Using the name Battlefield Live exclusively for export resulted in a product that was understood in a major market.
For critics who believe Battlefield Live really is just another version of the sci-fi themed laser tag, Lander explains there are many differences. “This was about creating a genuine combat game. Indoor laser tag was never about that, it was about plastic phasers and trying to score an individual high score, and no one ever really died.” Gamers who ‘die’ leave the game. “Gaming has moved on quite a bit over the last 20 years and is now about a more realistic simulation. With Battlefield Live, you actually use tactics and stuff that a real military unit would use.”
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