Photo Credit: Gymshark
Need new gym kit? We’re betting Gymshark is on your list. The Brit fitness wear and accessories brand was founded just over a decade ago and has used a combination of influencer marketing, user-generated content, social media and community creation to build its brand.
Gymshark was founded in 2012 by teenager Ben Francis, from his parents’ garage in Birmingham and is now a global brand worth over $1.4 billion, selling to consumers in 180 countries.
Gymshark Instagram Ads
The best way to sell activewear? Show influencers for your target audience wearing it. It’s an easy tactic to maximise that marketing budget and it was the original way that – as a fledgling company – Gymshark made its mark.
Gymshark are highly selective in the influencers they use; you can’t apply to be an ambassador, you have to be invited to be one. Their earliest partners were YouTube body builders Nikki Blackketter and Lex Griffin.
This approach means that the brand has not only fostered a significant following across all the digital platforms, but also built a community of like-minded people; it’s more than just a fashion line, it’s a space for people who share common values and a serious interest in fitness.
The influencers create a wealth of content for the brand by posting and tagging regularly. Their interactive marketing campaigns, such as the 66 Days, Change your Life challenge where people posted before and after photos, which debuted in 2018, has led to it being an ongoing campaign.
The brand are huge on Instagram with over 10 million followers. They max out their engagement every year with their two exclusive sales: one for Black Friday, and one during their birthday month in July.
Blackout for Black Friday
Blackout for Black Friday saw Gymshark working with the Facebook Creative Shop to devise a campaign; they decided to switch up their tactics, using blacked-out pictures rather than their usual emphasis on bright images. The campaign, featuring user generated content, Instagram Stories and carousel ads, reached over 16 million people.
Gymshark’s Chief Creative Officer Noel Mack told Marketing Week that, ‘Instagram is a huge part of our story because of the communities we create, but the challenge is always how to stand out among so many online businesses vying for consumers’ attention. We’ve been building our following organically, since day one of the brand. We like to think a Gymshark Instagram post is very recognisable because of our unique photography style, almost over-exposing pictures to create a really aspirational look, drawing particular attention to the athlete and our product.’
Their ‘Big Deal Energy’ Black Friday ad was certainly a standout, featuring KSI, Behzinga, Munya Chawawa and Calfreezy and with a soundtrack that’s as fast as its edits:
Go behind the scenes of the incredibly high energy spot, as KSI shows off his new games room, Behzinga destroys things and Calfreezy goes full Ron Burgundy.
Gymshark Advertising
Gymshark position themselves as an aspirational brand, and their content reflects that. Gymshark campaigns are often built around a sense of community – we’re all joining together in working out. ‘United We Sweat’ definitely focuses on this aspect of sharing in highs and lows, pains and losses.
It’s framed as exercise being a way to fight against the world ‘trying to pull us apart – spreading bad news, never good news’. Workouts – whether in a park or a gym, the weights room or a rugby pitch – can be a way to ‘drown out the noise’ and where ‘we don’t have to look the same’.
The ad celebrates diversity and choosing to take part in whatever sport or activity you want to – and share in the friends and ‘family’ that surrounds it.
Habit Forming
Gymshark’s ethos in their campaigns is to show people striving to be their best. They say it takes 66 days to build a habit – that’s the premise of this ad, which follows gym-goer Elliot on the first 66 days of his journey, with daily 6.00am starts and workouts involving weights and treadmill running, cross-trainers and rowing machines.
The soundtrack is ‘Fear’ by Andrew Judah, which is gently uplifting and inspiring.
The campaign has evolved, with 2021’s ad featuring comedian Munya Chawawa bringing a more lighthearted spin, and a wider range of exercises.
Alternatively, the ‘strongest man in the universe’, Hafthor Bjornsson (Game of Thrones) and his mini-me, Half-Hafthor are here to tell you about the daily steps that can take you to your overall goal.
Build Your Legacy
The Legacy collection features the original Gymshark logo and a fit that’s specially created for a bodybuilder’s physique.
Want to know how a legend is made? Look to this ad, which has a voiceover from Dorian Yates, six-time winner of Mr Olympia from 1992-1997, who was recorded in Marbella during a quick turnaround 24-hour trip; the speech was created by one of Gymshark’s copywriters, Harry Foley:
‘It’s the glamour of success that receives all the attention and respect, but we really wanted to promote the idea that it should go to the aspiration of “The Journey”. Those early steps you’re taking are the same ones your idols took when they began, so keep following.’
Go behind the scenes to see the ad’s filming techniques, 3D-modelling and the inspiration provided by classical sculptures:
The man behind ‘Build Your Legacy’ is Ash Evans, who created all the motion graphics. His idea was that, ‘the original Gymshark athletes, Lex, Ogus and Lavado, were immortalised as statues, whilst David is still building his legacy training in the gym.’
The soundtrack has an ethereal vocal which bolsters the mythical Greek/Mount Olympus feel that’s generated by the statues.
Look Good, Lift Ugly
This campaign used a billboard in New York’s Times Square, challenging the perfect image of gym-goers. The ads featured TikTok fitness influencer Dave Olesinski, personal trainer Oyinda Okunowo and Gymshark community member Jada O’Neill.
‘We had a word with ourselves and decided we wanted to do something to tackle this stereotype. We also wanted to lean on our heritage of encouraging and backing no-nonsense hard workers in the gym,’ Gymshark chief brand officer Noel Mack told Marketing Beat.
‘And we wanted to have a bit of a laugh with it at the same time. So, to all those people who worry about their facial expressions or how they look when working out, we’re here to say: “We got you”, but at least your outfit will look exceptional!’
Gymshark Workouts
Gymshark post hundreds of workouts on their YouTube channel, including the Strength Test series and Humans of Conditioning, a series that celebrates the trials and triumphs of ‘some of the most extraordinary people on the planet’.
The Train for Life series takes you into the gym and into the mindset of a Gymshark athlete, such as Whitney Simmons:
Or try one of their ‘Follow Along’ workouts:
Does Gymshark Have Gyms?
Currently, there’s just one, the Gymshark Lifting Club (GSLC), located in the Blythe Valley Business park in Solihull, close to the company’s Head Quarters.
Music for Fitness Content
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