In March 2023, I created a piece of content that thoroughly examined the UK-only limited time offer branded pre-workout supplement that Gymshark created earlier that year by basically partnering with UK sports nutrition brand Applied Nutrition. And at the very end of that content, I mentioned that “I didn't think we'd be seeing Gymshark create a permanent supplement line or even tons of these LTO launches...at least in the short-term.” But since we're well past that timeframe mentioned, Gymshark just created another LTO supplement, and the activewear categorical boundaries have been decimated lately by investment decisions from ALO Yoga, NOBULL, and Reebok...I thought it was time to relook at my previous consideration if Gymshark should launch a line of sports nutrition supplements. And "from Nike to lululemon to Alo, these activewear brands aren’t just selling apparel…they’re selling a lifestyle.” Essentially, it’s my belief that in today’s marketplace, younger consumers (especially) are increasingly looking for visionary brands that are radically and bravely changing both our individual and global cultures with exciting and bold new lifestyle choices. So, if you weren’t picking up what I was putting down…strategic narrative boldness is attractive and brand distinctiveness is highly defensible from a competitive landscape perspective but has become increasingly rare and difficult to achieve, as it requires both an artistic and scientific approach to create a unifying, central idea with the right combination and orchestration of all brand elements. Yet, as I mentioned earlier, several activewear brands have recently made strategic investments that sought to innovate around their consumer’s specific lifestyles (and altered legacy categorical boundaries). But what about Gymshark? Why hasn’t the activewear brand evolved past traditional product category constraints to own a larger slice of its customers’ identity? And before anyone points towards company size (based on annual revenue), Gymshark reported growing 9% YoY and generated just over $800 million in revenue during its latest fiscal year…a number that exceeds or puts it in relatively close proximity to those previously mentioned activewear brands. Instead, I think Gymshark struggled to continually show up as its unmistakable self, as the activewear brand attempted to gain more acceptance across the adoption curve. Said another way…Gymshark got lost during its pursuit of more customers. And I think that became a major factor into why founder Ben Francis returned as CEO in August 2021, despite Gymshark successfully scaling from a smaller brand. So, after embarking on an almost four-year journey…there seems to be singularity and focus once again with the marketing and brand building strategy. And its revived brand distinctiveness harkens back to why Ben Francis originally founded Gymshark in the first place…realizing “no one really made clothes for the bodybuilding scene.” So, even though launching “Gymshark Nutrition” would undoubtedly create a loss of focus on the core business…and the current landscape is arguably even more challenging (and uncertain) for the apparel industry, I’m convinced Gymshark could successfully evolve past traditional product category constraints to own a larger slice of its customers’ identity.

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