This Simple Gymshark Brand Strategy Will Help Your Startup Become More Beloved

Photo: ChatGPT (2026)

Nearly every great brand that you’ve ever come across is a mere fantasy. A faculty of the imagination conceptualized by images and experiences. That doesn’t just include brands whose products are tangible like: Apple, Coca-Cola, and Walmart; it also goes for brands that provide intangible value like: Actors, music artists, and even influencers. 

Perhaps what most separates ordinary brands from great brands is simply  intentionality. Whereas ordinary brands create perception by happenstance—the truly great brands methodically etch imprints in the minds of their audience through concerted efforts.

Founded in Britain in 2012, global athletic apparel retailer Gymshark exemplifies the intentionality shared by every great brand that we have come to know. 

From the brand’s image, to its reputation, and particularly its target customers, Gymshark isn’t just a billion-dollar brand—in the best ways possible—it is an absolute fantasy.

And the company’s founder designed it to be that way. 

The wonderful world of Gymshark

After fantasizing of ways to break into the fitness space he loved so much, and also growing frustrated with his job delivering pizzas, in 2012, and 19 years old at the time, Ben Francis officially founded and incorporated Gymshark as a means to enter the world he so coveted to become a part of. 

Like all recurring fantasies, great brands become sort of a way of life for the audiences they aim to align with. It’s important to remember this: In order to build a brand that could truly be considered amongst the greats—there has to be a specific group of people who identify so much with the brand—they view it as a reflection of themselves. 

As a brand, Gymshark has most certainly attracted an enormous collective of gym-going customers who see themselves as part of the Gymshark family. 

If you’re currently an active gymgoer, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve seen a certain archetype at your gym wearing Gymshark apparel. But Gymshark isn’t just a sexy form-fitting clothing brand that—let’s be honest, is typically worn by the absolute most conditioned, fit, and sexy people in the gym—the brand also represents a community. 

And that community consists of millions of Gymshark customers—all of whom emotionally identify with the Gymshark way of life. 

The branding strategy

Say it with me now, marketing is the process of creating concepts to connect with customers. And although there are multiple branches that extend from the trunk of marketing, at the end of the day, in one way or another—every branch on the tree involves creating concepts to connect with consumers. 

Whether it’s advertising, branding, customer service, digital marketing, public relations, etc.—essentially, every component of marketing all boils down to creating concepts with the intent to connect with consumers (that’ll be my last reminder in this post, I promise). 

Understanding the assignment of connection, in the mid-2010s, shortly after founding the company, Francis began vlogging his daily activities at the company as a way to bring his audience closer to his brand. 

Although it is slightly more common today, a startup founder and CEO sharing their story by filming day-to-day activities at their company office—therefore, lifting the proverbial curtains of their business, was unheard of a decade ago. But Francis was a pioneer in that regard as well as in the fitness apparel industry.

“I love the fact of people being able to take something away from the Gymshark story and create something cool on their own.” Said Francis in an interview on The Diary Of a CEO. 

Francis went on to explain the problems CEOs face when choosing to remain out of the public eye despite operating public-facing brands, “In the early days of Gymshark, I didn’t want to be clustering myself on social media by the way… it was only when people started asking for that that I began to do it. So I also do understand the idea of just knuckling down on what you’re good at.”

“The problem that comes with—is that other people get to control the rhetoric or the language or the description of yourself.” 

By revealing intimate and behind the scenes details about Gymshark as well as himself via vlogging on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—Francis humanized Gymshark. Therefore, building a bridge that has helped bring his audience closer to his brand. 

Although great brands are mere fantasies, by becoming such an open book founder and CEO, through Ben Francis' transparent social media branding strategy—the Gymshark world and its ideology is far more palpable and therefore beloved by the Gymshark family than that of its competitors in the marketplace.

Let’s bring consumers closer to your brand

Your startup is only one brand strategy away from being far more beloved by its target audience as well. And we’d love to be the marketing firm to create that winning strategy for you. Schedule a client consultation with us today and together—we’ll help your startup connect via culture!