Some partnerships last a season. Some last a decade. And then there are those rare and great ones that grow alongside the companies themselves. Our relationship with Viking Kayaks sits firmly in that last camp. Fifteen years and counting, and it still feels like we’re just getting started.
Viking Kayaks is one of those classic New Zealand stories. A brand built on sandbanks, estuaries, boat ramps, and back sheds. The early Viking crew were anglers first, builders second. The thinking was simple. If a feature didn’t make your day on the water better, it didn’t belong on the kayak.
And that mindset is what’s carried the company through everything that’s been thrown at it — including moments most businesses would simply never recover from.
In 2022, a fire tore through Viking’s Matamata factory, wiping out moulds, machinery, and years of hard-earned momentum. It was the kind of event that forces a brand to either fold or fight. Viking chose to fight. The team picked themselves up, rebuilt moulds, upgraded materials, and partnered with the Galloway Group — a family-owned manufacturing powerhouse with more than 45 years of rotational moulding expertise. That move didn’t just get Viking back on the water; it made the brand stronger than before.
A fire at the Viking factory in Matamata guts the factory.
Branding a kayak is essential
Kayaks get dragged over rocks, strapped to trailers, stacked on beaches, and pounded with UV. If a graphic can survive all that with its dignity intact, then it’s earned the right to represent the brand. Viking knows this better than most.
For more than 15 years, they’ve relied on PSI Brand graphics to keep their identity sharp, consistent, and durable — both nationwide and in growing export markets. When your product spends its life being scratched, scoured, and sprayed with saltwater, “good enough” isn’t good enough. Viking wants graphics that stay put, stay bright, and stay proud. And we’re more than happy to deliver that.
Enter Pedro Campos
In our catch up with Pedro Campos, who leads Marine Sales at Viking we unpack how Pedro is the perfect person to front this story because he was a Viking fan long before he was a Viking employee.
Pedro has only been in the job a couple of years, but he talks about Viking the way someone talks about a family member they want the best for and he knows exactly what stronger branding means as Viking gears up for domestic expansion and larger international opportunities.
Thank You Viking Kayaks
Fifteen years together, and we’re proud to have played a small part in your journey, and here’s to the next 15 years.
