GYMSHARK: A BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANY BUILT BY INFLUENCERS

In 2012, Ben Francis was merely a University Student, who delivered Pizza for extra money and went to the gym in his spare time. By 2020, Ben was the Founder and Chief Brand Officer of a Billion - yes BILLION - dollar company, that had just secured an investment from General Atlantic - a growth equity firm with over $50 Billion of assets under management.

That Billion Dollar Company in question? Gymshark

If you don't know Gymshark, it’s a fitness apparel brand which began in the UK but quickly grew to become a big player on the global scene. Now, I could spend all day talking you through how great Gymshark’s apparel is, but let’s be honest… it isn’t some crazy revolutionary clothing. It’s simply just some good looking, comfy gym gear.

So, what is so great and revolutionary about Gymshark if not their product?

Answer: their marketing

Gymshark was marketed in a way no one else had marketed before. They harnessed the power of social media and became one of the first ever brand to use influencer marketing online.

In 2021, influencer marketing is part of our daily lives. All the big brands and companies have people of influence - “influencers” - pushing their product or service. But in 2012 this was something that had never been done before.

Gymshark’s Influencer Marketing

Gymshark’s influencer marketing journey started at the beginning of 2013, Ben had just spent all his savings in order to get a coveted spot at the BodyPower Expo - an exhibition, fitness icons of the time would attend. Ben knew that if he could get famous body builders in Gymshark gear, there was a good chance the common gym goers would follow.

At the BodyPower Expo, Ben and the Gymshark team showcased their Luxe tracksuit which the entire Gymshark team had worked on for months. During the event, they talked with as many fitness icons as they could, gave them Gymshark gear and tried to covert them to fans of the brand.

As soon as the team got home from the event they immediately posted the new products and the Luxe tracksuit on their online web page. Within 30 minutes they had sold out of all their stock and made more sales than they had in the entire Gymshark history.

Ben quickly realized what he had done and the effect these fitness influencers had on sales. He doubled down. Over the following months Gymshark began recruiting a small number of social media stars and laid the foundations for what is now known as the Gymshark ‘athlete’ community.

These social media stars were treat like royalty by Gymshark. The Gymshark team understood that they weren't trying to sponsor athletes like the likes of Nike and Adidas were doing. They wanted to build a community - hence the name Gymshark athlete community.

They made sure the athletes gained from being apart of the community. One way they did this was allowing them to earn commission on sales made through their social channels. This was a game changer for bodybuilders, who earned next to nothing in their sport and was another revolutionary idea brought to the table by Gymshark.

The first Gymshark athletes, of course, began with some small fitness influencers. Although, as time went on more and more people knew about Gymshark and more and more influencers saw how Gymshark were treating their athletes. Gymshark was bringing bigger and bigger influencers into their community and as their athlete community grew so did their sales. It was a snowball effect, like never before (see below graph showing Gymshark sales growth from 2014-2018).

Like I said… a snowball effect, like never before.

Fast forward to today and the Gymshark athlete community consists of the likes of Professional boxer Ryan Garcia (8.8M followers on Instagram), Steve Cook (2.5M followers), Nikki Blackketter (1.7M followers), David Laid (1.6M followers) and so many more.

Why you should use influencer marketing

There are multiple benefits you get from influencer marketing:

1. Branding - If the best in the business are shown to be using your products or service, people immediately associate your product or service as the best. It’s that simple. Cristiano Ronaldo uses Nike boots? They must be the best boots. That’s the logic and it works!

2. Exposure - A huge factor in influencer marketing is the exposure you get. At the end of the day, if someone is promoting your product on their socials, their audience becomes your audience. You may only have 1000 followers on Instagram; if you have 10 ambassadors with 100k followers each though, your audience is 1M people. It’s crazy when you think of it like that.

3. Virtually Free - There are various different ways to bring influencers in. You can give them discount codes or free products in return for promoting. The only thing it costs you is the loss you’ll make on the products - which you can write off for tax purposes anyway. Is there a cheaper way to get your product or service in front of thousands of people? Absolutely not!

How you can implement influencer marketing

You’ve got to start by mapping out what you’re going to offer and what you want in return.

• Are you going to give them a discount code or send products for free?

• Are you going to set it out so that have KPI’s and have to post a certain amount of times or will they be able to post freely?

• Are you going to give them commission on sales they make?

• Will they have to add @yourusername to their bio?

This will all depend on your size, structure, stock on hand, personal preference, etc.

Once you’ve decided what your offer is going to look like, it’s time to begin reaching out. Start by reaching out to the smaller influencers, just as Gymshark did. Maybe, aim for 10-20k followers.

Remember to be human when you do this. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to be over professional, be friendly and build a relationship with them - a good first impression is essential!

Some things to remember:

• It’s important that the audience your ambassador is align with your target audience. If you product/service is aimed at teenagers, make sure your potential ambassador has lot’s of teenage followers.

• Make sure to take a good look over a potential prospects social media. Are they posting regularly? Is their content high quality?

• An ambassador represents your brand. So make sure they align with your brand morals and won’t cause any negative press to fall upon your brand.

• Creating a team is a great way to bring ambassadors into a community. Rather than just simply having a business relationship.

• Remember, this is a relationship. You have to stay in contact, keep up to date with what they’re doing, etc. If you forget about them, they’ll forget about you!

• If you want a plant to blossom, you have to water it. Remember to thank them when they create an awesome post. Drop a comment on it when they do. Praise them a little and they’ll give you a lot in return!

Reading this was the first step. Now, take the leap into influencer marketing and give it a go!

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