Gymshark's Market Positioning and Competitive Analysis

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A MARKETING PLAN FOR GYMSHARK
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Executive Summary
This report discusses about developing and implementing a proper and appropriate marketing
plan for Gymshark based on thoroughly conducted research. Being a self-manufacturer as well as
fitness apparel and accessories brand, which is completely online, based, Gymshark encountered
various environmental and competitive factors, which are analysed and justified through the
PESTLE analysis and Porter’s Five Forces. Apart from that, the concerned organization also has
quite serious internal issues adjoined with their internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. To mitigate the negative factors certain objectives are also undertaken. All these factors
are analyzed and supported with SWOT analysis and SMART criteria. However later on, a
marketing strategy has been proposed for Gymshark based on segmentation targeting and
positioning. Finally, to improve the organizational growth and market share of Gymshark,
Marketing Mix (4ps) and BCG matrix have been considered. All of these clarifications helped in
creating, developing, measuring and evaluating the accurate marketing plan for Gymshark,
which will be long lasting and cater to all the needs of the organization. This marketing mix will
help Gymshark to inscribe an influential mark in the global market.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
2. Environmental and Competitor Analysis.....................................................................................5
3. A SWOT Analysis of Gymshark...............................................................................................10
3.1 SMART Marketing Objectives................................................................................................11
4. Marketing Strategy....................................................................................................................14
5. Utilising the Marketing Mix to Improve Growth and Market Share.........................................16
6. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................20
7. List of References......................................................................................................................21
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1. Introduction
Gymshark is widely accepted as a fitness apparel and accessories brand, which is also a self-
manufacturer (Gymshark EUR, 2019). The organization is considered as an online retailer based
on United Kingdom and endorsed by many social media followers and customers. A marketing
plan has been conducted upon Gymshark with the purpose of setting specific course for the
organization along with aligning the marketing objectives and strategies with it. There are also
various other purposes of conducting this marketing plans which are respectively; to increase the
customer base as well customer awareness, earning market shares, setting the target market,
making a segmentation and channelling the company product. It is considered important for
Gymshark, as they will be able to grow and improve their organizational performance and
organizational operations. Apart from that they will also become able to inscribe their name in
the global market along with enhancing their market share. Gymshark will also be capable of
developing an understanding of their competitors alongside expanding their brand and
popularity. The present report focuses upon the environmental, competitive and internal factors
of Gymshark along with the development of a marketing strategy, which is supported and
analysed by various models, theories and tables.
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2. Environmental and Competitor Analysis
In order to prepare an environmental analysis, PESTLE model is conducted in reference to
Gymshark.
Political Factors Explanation
● The Brexit issue of United Kingdom
● Certain political interest for improving
the health of the citizens of the country
● Various international trade restrictions
and tariffs
● Nominal currency conversion rates
and approved custom duties by UK
government.
Brexit left a significant impact on importing
products for Gymshark. The compliance of
trade restrictions, conversion rates, tariffs and
custom duties assisted Gymshark to conduct
their business more formally and in a
corporate fashion.
Economic Factors Explanation
● Strong economic condition of the
country
● Increased amount of cash flow in the
citizen’s hands
Strong economy and increased cash flow
maximized the gym membership and sales of
gym apparel (Haemers, 2016).
Social Factors Explanation
● The citizens are interested in the
brands through the means of social
media.
● Sponsorship providence from the
The improved lifestyle, increased interest in
sports brands along with sponsorship
providence through social media enhanced the
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social media influencers and athletes
of the country
● Balanced demographics and improved
lifestyle.
● A good amount of average income in
the hands of the citizens
sales and revenue of Gymshark.
Technological Factors Explanation
● Various technological improvements
in the country such as artificial
intelligence, machine learning and
Smartphone commerce
● Various technological clothing
integration
Technological clothing integration and
improvements smoothened out the production
and distribution process of Gymshark.
Legal Factors Explanation
● Intellectual property rights
● Contractual relationship with
sponsored athletes of UK
● Knowledge about the design patents of
the competitors
● Fair labour and safety standards
Fair labour and safety standards encouraged
more employees in Gymshark. Besides, the
facility of competitor design patents and
contractual relationships reduced the
competition of Gymshark (Hermansen, 2018).
Environmental Factors Explanation
● Waste disposal facility The provided environmental benefits
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● Environmental friendly packaging
system
● Utilization of eco manufacturers and
organic products in the country
increased the popularity of Gymshark
products amongst UK citizens.
Table 1: PESTLE Analysis
(Source: Created by Learner)
In order to prepare a competitor analysis of Gymshark, Porter’s five forces is conducted below;
Competitive Rivalry
Because of the sports and gym apparel, industry saturation in UK the competitive is very high
from the market leaders like Adidas and Nike, but the identified niche by Gymshark is very
popular. Therefore, they need to be aware of the rival companies who produce similar products.
Threats of New Entrants
As online gym apparel Retail Company, the threats of new entrants is high as the product
promotion increment in social media caused a major inflow of new online clothing retailers. New
entrants are able discover the niche which helps them in capturing certain market segments
(Islam, 2017).
Threat of Substitution
The brand new innovative products designed by the competitors are rapidly increasing thus the
threat of substitution is high (Amelia et al., 2019). Varying price, style and fashion leads to
substitution of brands, therefore Gymshark should focus on delivering the customer requirement
and reasonable pricing to reduce the concerned threats.
Power of Customers
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Customers possess a high power, as there are a wide variety of choices available online in a
cheaper price that is why Gymshark should focus on building customer-identifiable product to
spread their brand recognition and association.
Power of Suppliers
The power of suppliers is very low as well insignificant as there is a large population of suppliers
in the apparel and clothing industry thus Gymshark can replace any supplier at any time if he or
she is demanding excessive price.
Figure 1: Porter’s Five Forces Model of Gymshark
(Source: Amelia et al., 2019)
Internal Issues
A brief analysis can be conducted upon the internal environment, systems and technology of
Gymshark, which is needed to be improved and enhanced to progress the business strategies and
smoothen out as well as facilitate the current activities of the organization. Various tools and
techniques can be applied to meliorate the internal business environment, which are respectively;
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● Usage of a balanced scorecard
● In depth understanding of the critical success factors of Gymshark.
● Maintaining the financial perspectives such as; revenue growth and business value
strengthening.
● Sustain the customer perspective such as; customer retention and attracting new
customers (Juhlin and Soini, 2018).
● Implementation of learning processes and innovations
● Carrying forward the v\internal process perspectives such as; supply chain cost reduction,
website availability etc.
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3. A SWOT Analysis of Gymshark
To identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Gymshark, a detailed SWOT
analysis has been conducted upon the concerned organisation.
The analysis has been conducted to make an understanding of the internal strengths and
weaknesses along with the external opportunities for growth an improvement of Gymshark (Bull
et al., 2016). The findings are presented below;
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
● Gymshark is a recognizable and
popular brand name for the target
demographic of UK.
● According to the statistics of 2016,
Gymshark is the fastest growing UK
organization in terms of the total
amount of sales.
● Availability of outsourced
manufacturing in a much lower cost
● The financial transactions of
Gymshark are very fast and efficient
as it is performed by electronic fund
transfer
● Providence of online advertisements,
which are conducted by social media
influencers
● Influential social media presence
● Absence of mobile phone application
● Immature team
● Higher delivery costs.
● Organizational presence in only online
retailing
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OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
● Artificial intelligence assistance
● Chat bots
● Emergence of new markets
● Sooner inauguration of physical stores
● Production of wearable technology
● Brexit, causing the economic
uncertainty
● Presence of various competitors as
many similar businesses are exploring
their footmark
Table 2: SWOT Analysis of Gymshark
(Source: Created by Learner)
3.1 SMART Marketing Objectives
Depending upon the SWOT Analysis, three clear and transparent marketing objectives can be
determined to help the market share of Gymshark grow and improve. Those are stated below
following the SMART criteria (Ogbeiwi, 2017).
Objective 1 - Creating and introducing mobile phone application.
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time
Creating and
introducing
mobile phone
application can
be considered as
an objective for
Gymshark,
which will help
them to grow
Yes, it can be
measurable with
estimated
quantity of
outcome, which
will be obtained.
Ii is attainable,
as it only needs
some good
software
engineers and
designers.
The objective is
realistic as many
organizations
use the mode of
mobile phone
application.
It can be attained
within six to
eight months.
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and improve in
their respective
domains of
performance,
management and
operations.
Table 3: SMART Objective 1
(Source: Created by Learner)
Objective 2 - Minimizing the delivery cost.
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time
Minimizing the
delivery cost can
be undertaken as
an objective as
Gymshark will
be benefitted by
the increased
amount of sales
and profit
through this.
It can be
measurable with
the amount of
cost reduction in
delivery.
It can be
attainable by
properly
margining,
monitoring and
controlling the
production and
delivery.
It is realistic as
many companies
provide their
customers with
minimum
delivery cost.
It can be
accomplished
within two
working weeks.
Table 4: SMART Objective 2
(Source: Created by Learner)
Objective 3 - Developing maturity inside the team.
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time
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