Notes

Explain the extended marketing mix (7Ps)

Using these facts about the sportswear market, and decreal gear:

Market analyst Kayla Marci stated that in 2020 there was an increase in purchases of
sportswear for relaxing or exercising at home, for instance jogging bottoms, t-shirts,
hooded sweatshirts and leggings. In the first quarter of 2020 the sales of men’s
sportswear grew by 18% while women’s was up 43% in comparison to the same quarter
of 2019. According to Pi Datametrics, the top 10 most popular online searches related to
sportswear were loungewear, women’s tracksuits, men’s tracksuits, running shoes, sports
bras, pyjamas for women, joggers, loungewear sets and gym leggings.

6 W73174A
In 2020 people became more interested in choosing exercise linked to improving
wellbeing to help manage their stress and anxiety. An impact of this was an overall 36%
increase year on year in the sale of yoga sportswear, with a 45% increase in yoga-wear
for men.
2021 saw an increase in people buying sportswear for the outdoors, with sports jackets
and running clothes being very popular. Retailers are stocking 14% more loungewear
products in 2021 compared to 2020.
The most popular sports clothing brands in the UK in 2021 were Nike, Adidas, Puma,
Reebok, Slazenger, Lacoste and Fred Perry, with a large number of other branded
competitors in the sportswear industry. These brands ranged from high street to luxury
brands as well as sustainable sportswear businesses such as BAM, Contur, Olly Olly & Co,
SOS Activewear and Tala, who use recycled and/or sustainable materials.
Some of the 2021 trends in the sportswear industry were:
• Collaborating with fashion designers. Japanese designer Nigo has designed a range
called “Human Wear” for Adidas. Victoria Beckham designs sportswear for Reebok.
• Collaborating with celebrities and influencers. Alo Yoga associates with supermodels
Candice Swanepoel and the Hadid sisters. Supermodel Kate Moss and her daughter
Lila are fans of PRISM Squared. PE Nation is worn by the Jenners and the Hadids.
• Creating unisex sportswear items which can be worn by either male or female as
designed by Spirit Jersey and Zoezi Sport.
• A focus on black and white colours, as favoured by brands such as Kith and Rick
Owens, or a focus on pastel colours, used by brands such as FP Movement.
• Using colour blocks in the design, as used by brands like Port De Bras and
Outdoor Voices.
• The use of technology such as special fabrics that absorb sweat and odours or
3D knitting.

Retailers offered bigger discounts in Spring 2020 than in the previous year, with average
discounts of between 32–42% off the full price.

In 2020, some brands including Nike and Gymshark adapted their marketing messages
towards supporting customers through the first Covid-19 lockdown. Nike created a social
media campaign called “Play inside, play for the world”, encouraging people to stay at
home. Nike also gave free access to Nike Training Club apps, with hundreds of home
workouts and health advice. Gymshark temporarily changed its brand name on Twitter
to Homeshark, to remind everyone to stay at home and continued to build relationships
with customers by providing online access to home workouts, healthy recipes and tips to
support mental health.

In 2021 sportswear marketing messages have evolved to promote both outdoor
exercise and home exercise. Some brands have also used themes of diversity in their
advertising. Many brands have introduced a more inclusive range of product sizing and
used models of different shapes and sizes to reinforce the message that exercise is for
everyone. Brands such as Nike have promoted their maternity range of exercise clothing,
using images of heavily pregnant females participating in exercise. Further examples
of diversity in sportswear advertising comes from Sweaty Betty’s “#RespectYourSweat”
campaign, which shows images of a boxer wearing a hijab, sports people with disabilities
and an older person on roller skates.

Research on media selection
Decreal Gear has researched the following options for increasing revenue through
increased brand awareness and loyalty for their sportswear products.
1 Influencers
• Cost – varies depending on influencer – typically £110 per post.
• Typically generates between 3 000–15 000 new followers per month depending
on the influencer.
2 TikTok ads
• Tik Tok has 100 million European users/community,
• TikTok has 3.7 million active users in the UK who engage with the app for an
average of 41 minutes a day. This is lower than the global average TikTok user,
who spends 52 minutes actively using the app.
• In 2019, 26% of TikTok users were aged 18–24 and 9.3% were 25–34 in the UK,
accessing TikTok from smartphones.
3 Google ads: Pay per click – with spend cap
• Monthly budget cap which you can vary month by month.
• Budget of £102 /month will generate estimated clicks or calls of 140–235
• Google ads allows you to do your own demographic targeting, e.g. age, gender,
household income, parental status.
4 YouTube
• Allows you to set a budget – daily budget from £6 dependent on
exposure needed.
• More than 35.6 million adults in the UK use the platform.
• 35% of the UK population are active users of YouTube.
• 46% of women use YouTube in the UK vs 54% of men.
• YouTube use is growing the fastest amongst Baby Boomers and Gen-X-ers.
• The most active demographic is aged 25–44, accounting for 44% of all users.
• The most popular YouTube channel in the UK was Ed Sheeran with 43 million
subscribers. The channel also boasted around 18.78 billion views.
5 Trade/consumer fairs
• There are many trade and consumer exhibitions that showcase health and fitness
products, some of which are focused on particular areas of fitness, such as weight
training, cardio classes, running or yoga.
• International Fitness Showcase – Blackpool
• Elevate – London

W73174A 11
• Bodypower Experience – Birmingham
• Run Fit Expo – Liverpool
• National Running Show – Birmingham and Farnborough
• OM Yoga Show – London and Manchester
• A stand at an exhibition in the UK typically costs £300–£350 per square metre, so
even a small exhibition stand is likely to cost around £3 000.
• This is a direct route to the UK gym and fitness market – connect directly with
hundreds of thousands of consumers, influencers and trade buyers.
• Create brand awareness and showcase your products alongside the latest trends
in health and fitness.
• Source fresh leads from an industry guest-list packed full of the leading
professionals from across the UK.
6 Print media
• Flyers – A5 premium glossy 1 000 – £30.51; 5 000 – £79.62
• Business cards – 100 from £12.65
7 Billboards
• Billboard rental costs in the UK vary according to the size and location of the
billboard. Typically, a standard billboard costs £500–£600 for two weeks and
smaller advertising panels like bus stop shelter advertisements cost £240–£270
for two weeks.
8 Other
• Video production – £500 – £10 000
• Animation – from £1 000
• Voice over – from £500
• Motion graphics – from £3 000
• Filming – from £2 000 min
• Stock images/video £500




then:



Start with the marketing message (what do you want the campaign to communicate to the customer, you could even make up a slogan). Include a separate paragraph for each of the top 4. The bottom 3 can be written about in 1 paragraph…


Product
Place
Price
Promotion
People
Processes
Physical environment



Link your explanations of these specifically to the scenario, the information and the marketing message