Marketing Report: Gymshark's External and Internal Analysis

This report delivers a comprehensive marketing analysis of Gymshark, a prominent online gym clothing brand. It begins with an external analysis utilizing PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces to identify political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors, as well as competitive forces shaping the industry. A competitor analysis is conducted, including a competitor map and an evaluation of key competitors like Athleta and Physiq Apparel. The report then analyzes Gymshark's customer base through segmentation, targeting, and positioning, focusing on demographic trends and buyer decision processes. An internal analysis applies the 7Ps and McKinsey 7-S frameworks to assess Gymshark's resources, capabilities, and competitive advantages. Finally, a SWOT analysis summarizes the current internal and external situations, providing insights into Gymshark's strategic position and future prospects in the fitness apparel market.

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Contents
External Analysis..................................................................................................................................2
PESTEL.............................................................................................................................................2
Porter's five forces.............................................................................................................................3
Competitor Analysis..............................................................................................................................4
Competitor’s map..............................................................................................................................4
Competitor Analysis..........................................................................................................................5
Segmentation, targeting, and positioning...........................................................................................6
Positioning map.................................................................................................................................6
Analysis of the different sorts of customers...........................................................................................7
Need identification............................................................................................................................8
Information search.............................................................................................................................8
Evaluation of alternatives..................................................................................................................9
Purchase decision..............................................................................................................................9
Post-purchase evaluation...................................................................................................................9
Internal analysis...................................................................................................................................10
Application of 7Ps framework.........................................................................................................10
Application of McKinsey 7-S framework........................................................................................10
Main resources and capabilities.......................................................................................................11
Summary of the current situation.........................................................................................................12
SWOT analysis................................................................................................................................12
References...........................................................................................................................................15

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Gymshark was established in 2012 by Ben Francis. Currently, Gymshark is led by business
partners. Gymshark is a well-recognized online gym clothing brand in the fitness industry.
The brand offers different gym attires for males and females comprising tank tops, stringers,
pants, t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and leggings. Gymshark is growing and identified as the rapid
mounting and greatest brand in the gym attire in the UK. The company has been successful in
increasing its quality customer base. The company has reached one of the unbelievable
milestones and sent out one million of orders. Gymshark is promoting its brans by sponsoring
to eighteen top worldwide YouTubers, bloggers and Instagrammers with the mutual social
median following of twenty million. The company concentrates on retaining ambassadors
having large social media followers. The company not only sponsors the athletes but also
common people who can influence others in a positive manner.
External Analysis
PESTEL
Political factors: Gymshark runs in the fitness industry and obey with political strategies to
make sure that the corporate is functioning in a permissible manner. The company operates in
the UK industry and has good relations with US. The UK government is conscious of fair and
stable nation with plenty of opportunities for the brands operating. For instance, in 2015, the
local government designed a campaign identified as ‘change for life’ to upsurge the number
of persons having a lively and vigorous lifestyle completely (Hammer and Plugor, 2016). The
UK government is proactive and dynamically indorsing a healthy living lifestyle which is a
decent prospect for Gymshark to conduct operations in the fitness industry.
Economic factors: The Fixed investment made in the UK economy has been a major driver
of growth. The local government has even robust economic position as compared to other
nations. As per the production side, companies like Gymshark contribute positively to the
GDP growth of the UK. The nation claims of high per capita GDP with a favorable
investment climate.
Social factors: The healthcare system in the UK is identified as one of the most effective
social endeavors. There have been several free public services in UK such as national health
services. It has been made possible through the existence of advanced healthcare
infrastructure and with the contribution of the private sector. The populations in UK relish a
high standard of living which creates opportunities for Gymshark to cover every age of
people (Gereffi and Lee, 2016).

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Technological factors: The people in UK have access to the technology and sufficient
internal competition to inspire growth. UK is having 38 million social media operators which
accounts for almost 60% of the nation’s population. Midst all the social media networks,
Facebook is the maximum cast-off channel. Gymshark can make use of the Facebook
platform in order to grasp target customers in a more efficient manner.
Legal factors: The legal system is more planned, translucent and competent. The legislation
passed in the nation keeps the major concern of the stakeholders in mind. The national
minimum wage has combat discrimination in the nation. The cloth manufacturing industries
in the UK are necessitated to contribute to the manufacturing procedure by undertaking some
considerations like wages to be comparable with the local standards with environmentally
friendly practices (Oka, 2016).
Environmental factors: The UK government has great role in the advancement of European
environmental standards. The environmental factors have attained significance in the last few
years. The consumers in the UK seem to be spending more on ecologically friendly products.
In such a manner, Gymshark is necessitated to evade heavy metals and environmentally
friendly raw material.
Porter's five forces
Porter’s five forces are a significant means for assessing Gymshark’s industry structure in
strategic procedures.
The threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants is modest to high for the gym specific
apparel retailers. The growth in social media to promote products in the last years has caused
the arrival of gym clothing retailers.
Competitive rivalry: The competition is quite high in the case of Gymshark. The market
leaders like Adidas, Nike and Under Armour are having the popular of market share and it
has become required for the minor companies to pursue niches in the market for exploitation.
Gymshark has established itself as a dense foundation in the market but is required to be
conscious of the rivalry from the rivalries who deliver the same products with scomparable
branding (Larsen, 2017).
The threat of substitution: The threat of substitution is high in the case of Gymshark due to
the creation of new and innovative products from the rivalries. Such products grab the
attention of the customers. In the saturated market, there are several options accessible where

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style, pricing, and fashion tendencies denote to the swap of one brand for another (Huberman,
Meissner and Oosterlinck, 2017).
Power of customers: The customers in the concerning industry are known to have a high
power because there is an extensive variety of choices along with the capability to simply
find alternatives for the cheaper price. So, it becomes essential for Gymshark to produce
products which can be identified by the customers along with the brand association and
recognition.
Power of suppliers: The power of the suppliers is deliberated low in the clothing industry.
There is a great number of suppliers which lessens the influence of specific supplier
demands. The attire industry is considered to be saturated, when the suppliers demand higher
prices than they can be easily replaced without any loss of the quality (Styles, 2016).
Competitor Analysis
It is virtuous to know the brand positioning of Gymshark in the marketplace. Comprehensive
competitor analysis is a quite significant tool to recognize whether it’s decent opportunities
and threats.
Competitor’s map
The competitor map assists in finding out the same offerings provided by the companies. The
center rings linked to the Gymshark offers sports apparel, online communities, and social
media marketing. The companies in the range of center ring are Adidas, Nike, Puma, H&M,
Under Armour, Rebook and New Balance. On the other side, the first outer ring associates to
the direct contestant which are The Upside, Physiq Apparel, FP Movement, Lorna Jane,
Athleta, Aesthetis Revolution and Style Runner (Seth, 2018).

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Competitor Analysis
Competitor List of products Strengths
Athleta For males- No options for
males clothing
For women- Yoga, gym and
training, travel, run, tennis,
hike, and golf
Market targeting- Targets
barely in the clothing
market. A niche marketing
strategy is used to appeal to
only women customers
Divergence- The product
variation is used in order to
expand the market size
Physiq Apparel For men- Hoodies and
Jackets, tank tops, shorts,
and t-shirt
For females- Hoodies,
seamless, t-shirts, tank tops,
athletic crops, bottoms
Design- Physiq Apparel is
having exclusive stretch-fit
fabric and vigor pocket with
the trivial zippers
Pricing- The prices of
Physiq Attire are lower as
compared to the competitors
Segmentation, targeting, and positioning
Segmentation, targeting, and positioning is a context that précises and evaluates the
procedure of market division. It assists in finding out the specific buyers within the market.

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Such buyers are categorized and summarized as per the range of the variables. It helps in
determining the market characteristics.
Segmentation (Demographics): Gymshark makes use of demographic segmentation in the
marketing strategy. The segmentation undertakes some measures like gender, age, income,
family size, profession and more. The company targets to the persons within the age 18-25,
who are more fitness conscious and orbits around music and fashion. In order to exemplify
this influence, millennial cohort experience on specific things and emotions is more
significant (Tsarenko and Lo, 2017). For example, the targeted market re-elects the
characteristics as mentioned below.
Targeting (Differentiated):
Consumer behaviour Explanation
Gender Male and female
Age 18-25
Income bracket Yearly income SGD 25,000-$45,000
Occupation White-collar, senior/junior administrative
and administrative position
Consumer values Relishing life
Freedom
Focus on work-life balance
Technology forward of elder colleagues
The grouping customers are stated to their features is significant evidence for organizations to
efficiently target a market segment.
Positioning map
The brand positioning is a significant strategic decision with the brand assessing of the
product. The brand pricing is deliberated to have an impact on the positioning. According to
the position map given, Gymshark designed contented workout attire and enabled customers
for decisive performance. The company will be able to appeal to more customers through an
extensive range for men and women.

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Analysis of the different sorts of customers
The analysis of the different types of customers will concentrate on the investigation of
fitness consumers. The requirements and wants of the consumers should be content as
customers tend to play a significant part in influencing the fitness industry. There are majorly
four kinds of influences which stimulate consumer behavior:
 Social factors
 Cultural factors
 Personal factors
 Psychological factors
Almost 52% of international purchasers prefer to research purchases online. There are 28% of
the international purchasers do most of the shopping online for their clothing and footwear. In
order to illustrate the purchasing behavior, research has been made on the way millennial
shops in this era. The millennium persons are born between between1982 and 1996,
currently, they are 21-35 years old. Most Millennials follow brands on minimum one of the
social media like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The millennials are deliberated
to have the reputation of doing everything from smartphones. They are tending to experience
technology, social media, advertising, socialization and special awareness as virtually
impeccably cohesive. Gen Y wellness states that relaxation and work should be particularly

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gratifying and community and conservational health is regarded as a team struggle (Meredith,
2016). The wellness is assisted by one’s employer and association are significant to personal
well-being. Gen Y is embracing improved and well-balanced life with the increasing healthy
lifestyle awareness.
Need identification
The strategy for making an active decision is finding out the result which causes consumer
tautness and prompts them to purchase. It is significant for Gymshark to search out the
motive which triggers customers to acquire.
Market persuaded: New strategy and product range launching in Gymshark. The customers
can follow the trend and merely like the cloth design.
Marketer induced: Marketer persuaded the customer through the features, robustness and
apparel style.
Dissatisfaction: The customers initially owning sports apparel but not satisfied with the
current brand causes customers to switch to another brand. Increased demand for sports
apparel has boosted sales for clothing manufacturers and retailers (Harris, Roby and Dibb,
2016).
Information search
The information search is a procedure in which customers go through when they search for
information contains internal and external factors.
External resource: The external resource consists of:
Friends and family: A stimulus from a friend or family member who purchased from
Gymshark will affect the consumer buying behavior. The feedback attained from the friend or
family can be a reliable source for the customer.
Social media: The customers can attain review and feedback by browsing and reading from
different websites. This way customers can attain a better understanding.
Corporate website: The customers can attain better product information with the reviews by
browsing the website of the Gymshark official website. The official website of the company
has offered entire information concerning the product.
Internal resource: The customers can be subconsciously associate with the product after
reading and comprehending the product capability. Customers can decide whether the

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product is good or bad. Eventually, the customers rely on their perception and awareness to
research the concerned brand and product (Sinha, Muthu, and Dissanayake, 2016).
Evaluation of alternatives
It is the 3rd step of consumer decision procedures to appraise alternatives. As soon as the
information is searched, customers can start comparing the brands and products which is
understood by them as a benchmark. The customers assess alternative products in the form of
the product range. The customers assess the alternatives in standings of functionality and
inner assistances provided by Gymshark. Eventually, the customers should be capable
enough to successfully appraise the value of the product before moving to the subsequent step
in the decision procedure.
Purchase decision
The 4th step in the consumer decision procedure is identified as ‘making a procurement
decision’. The customers make a decision on the basis of their needs or what is wanted by
them. The types of purchasing decisions are mentioned below:
First trial purchase: After appraisal, customers decide to purchase the gym cloth which is
appropriate for them.
Brand constancy: Brand loyalty can be attained by inferring a form of repeat purchases.
Committed purchases: A trial purchase is not possible when durable goods are purchased.
There are some additional factors that influence the customers while they are purchasing like
material, functionality, price and inclusive superiority.
Post-purchase evaluation
The consumer gratification will suggestively influence and they endure acquiring or
deliberate other products within the brand series. The customers dealing with cognitive
conflict are:
Product return: The manufacturer offers a cooling-off period for the customers to return
specifically customers paying for a costly product (Kalantaridis, Vassilev and Fallon, 2016).
Be rational: A customer can have two or more choices in normal conditions while selecting
products and services. Rational thinking can be helpful to the customers in averting the
possibility of discontented.
The manufacturers have to deal with the cognitive dissonance:

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Post-purchase communication: It has been observed that customers are confused with the
decision made by them. The company cam engages customers with post-purchase
communication in order to influence compassion about the product.
Cash-back guarantees: The cashback guarantees can be offered by the company to augment
post-purchase communications between the organizations and customers.
Internal analysis
Application of 7Ps framework
The elements of the marketing mix are helpful in forming and implementing successful
marketing strategies.
Product: The core products of Gymshark are gym attire for the gym passionate. The actual
product category of the company comprises the exclusive material and functionality of the
product. On the other side, the augmented product category encompasses delivery and return
assistance along with the proposal and branding of the product (Goworek, Perry and Kent,
2016).
Price: Gymshark makes use of market penetration strategy which can be accepted by the
majority.
Place: Gymshark opts for the selective distribution.
Promotion: The promotion is made by the company through the pop-up stores in the Paris
and Black Friday watchlist.
People: Gymshark is having almost fifty personnel in the organization which is assisted by
the key management leader.
Process: The company conducts an online order and purchase.
Physical environment: The physical environment of Gymshark encompasses sports business,
fitness industry and social media marketing (Dadzie, et al. 2017).
Application of McKinsey 7-S framework
Strategy The strategy is an organized and inclusive
plan of deed intended to make sure the
accomplishment of the association in

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conducts that are manageable and
justifiable.
Staff The company is having key persons who are
maintaining internal operations. Externally,
Gymshark concentrates on retaining
ambassadors with the greater social
following.
System Gymshark concentrates on an online
ordering system with customer assistance.
Skill Gymshark is an expert in online selling and
social media communication.
Structure The top management is having the authority
to regulate the project decisions. The tight
control is ensured by the top management
over the decisions to make sure that the
system execution is reliable (Roos, et al.
2016).
Share values Gymshark focuses on the eagerness and
visionary for future planning. Everyone is
involved by the company. The core values
to be focused by the company are family,
evolution, and vision.
Style A young and active atmosphere which is
made possible by the organizational leader
having clear goals.
Main resources and capabilities
Gymshark is having a strong value chain. The motive behind the value chain investigation is
that the company should deliberate a peripheral emphasis in the comprehension. The value
chain analysis comprises the procedure of disintegrating the procedure from the dealers to
concluding clienteles into deliberately pertinent activity as a mode of sustaining costs. The
value chain is having two components, main activity, and sustenance activity.

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In order to preserve healthy conditions in the organization, supporting activities comprise
technology advancement, HRM, firm infrastructure, and procurement ongoing at all the time.
Add on, the prime activities in the gym comprise inbound logistics, outbound logistics,
processes, marketing and sales, and services. For example, a company runs a pop-up store in
Paris in 2017. Gymshark has a decent exercise to discover an innovative place with running a
major event. It assisted the company in inducing internal operations.
Summary of the current situation
SWOT analysis
Strength
 High bargaining power
 Favorable political conditions
 Reasonable prices
Weaknesses
 Additional import cost
 Additional investment for the
research and development
 Availability of substitutes in the
market
Opportunities
 Healthy conditions for senior people
 Active on social media
 A healthier lifestyle
Threats
 Companies offering similar products
 Number of competitors offering the
same product range
Strengths
High bargaining power: Gymshark outsources from China so it has attained a high
negotiating power to discover a supplier.
Favorable political conditions: The company enjoys the stability of the UK. The political
conditions are quite favorable when it comes to operating in the nation.
Reasonable prices: Gymshark charges reasonable prices as compared to the competitors
(Hiemenz, et al. 2019).
Weaknesses
Additional import cost: Gymshark manufacturers in China which results in suffering from the
additional import cost.

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Extra investment: The company necessitates investing a specific amount of funds for the
research and development to innovate new products. The company also has to discover new
products in order to safeguard itself from the threat of new contestants in the same industry.
Availability of substitutes: The substitutes of the gym and brand are easily available in the
market. It has identified by the threat of substitutes in the market (Styles, 2016).
Opportunities
More awareness of health: The people with old age are increasing mainly in the UK and such
a segment of people are becoming more conscious to keep themselves healthy. So, Gymshark
has attained the opportunity to expand itself and fulfill the demand of mainly the older
segment.
Online presence: Gymshark can create its online presence on social media networks like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The persons between 20-40 are active on one of
the social media channels at least. The company can even create online videos and charge for
monthly or annual subscriptions.
A healthier lifestyle by the government: The UK government is promoting a healthier
lifestyle. It has identified to be a decent prospect to impulse the product in the market.
Threats
Similar function: The similar products offered by the companies have become a menace to
Gymshark. The competitors proposal the same or substitute products to appeal to customers.
The number of competitors: The competitors of Gymshark offers the same product range
offered by the company. The competitors also target the same niche market.
Gymshark is undergoing the product advancement and overview period. In order to sustain
high-level performance in the rising stage, Gymshark has implemented an appropriate plan.

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