Thought Leader

Activewear Brands:
Your ads suck, and your customers are running to your competitors

 

Picture this: you’re watching a cheesy action movie, the hero has just selflessly sacrificed his life in an explosion, you’re losing hope. 

And then a silhouette appears, and out of the smoke and flames comes the hero, not limping nor walking but sprinting triumphantly. 

The explosion is the pandemic, and the hero is the sportswear industry. 

All the signs are there; yoga wear sales have increased by 55% YoY, fast-fashion retailers are investing in the sector more than ever, and activewear is now the new “homewear.” 

So, you have a great product, excellent service, and great potential. Your business should be going wild… Gymshark style. 

And yet your brand is wandering around, crying like a little boy left in the store by his mom when he was seven (not based on me at all). 

 

So what the f*** is going on?

Well, with increased demand comes increased competition. 

In an already viciously competitive market, this is very bad news for a little fish in a big pond of (gym)sharks.

The big brands can crush your production, marketing, and indie offices with ping-pong tables in the boardroom. 

The only way you will stand out is by forcing people to see you. 

You need to metaphorically (and literally, if times are really tough) pick up a billboard and smack unsuspecting passers-by in the face with it. 

However, smacking people in the face with billboards requires a lot of effort and, I would assume, can be somewhat damaging to your brand image. 

The next best thing is to create some kick-ass adverts designed to go disgustingly viral. Then hire a huge Lithuanian ad buyer who loves nothing more than dropping millions on Facebook ads for massive ROAS and take your business to the moon yourself. 

You may ask, “How do I create viral ads?” or “Where do I find large Lithuanian men?” Shh, hush now, young Padawan, all in good time. 

 

Going viral isn’t luck

It’s easy to look at other brands and drool over their viral videos and TikTok accounts with more views than the Super Bowl and think, “If only I could get views like that, they’re so lucky.” 

Well, I hate to break it to ya; they aren’t lucky. Their ads just don’t suck. 

A viral ad goes viral by design, not by luck. Viral ads follow specific rules to take advantage of the most basic human instincts and typically have massive creative and media buying teams behind them. 

If you’re reading this in your warehouse surrounded by bags of yoga pants while feeling hopeless, now is the time for hero #2 to come sprinting out of the smoke. 

 

Out of the ashes and into cashes 

(It sounded cooler in my head.) 

I forgot to mention earlier that someone rescued the hypothetical, totally not me, little boy who got lost in the store. 

So, if you’re feeling like that scared boy, don’t fret. We’re here to rescue you and your business and help you take advantage of this boom in the activewear industry. 

At Sugatan, we possess a huge Lithuanian man who oversees our media buying team; his name is Matas and he’s very nice.

We also have a massive team that creates ads designed to go disgustingly viral. And we love nothing more than scaling the sh** out of businesses. 

 

Take Stronger, par exemple

Stronger was a well-known Swedish athletic brand that wanted to expand outside of Europe using mainly Facebook advertising. 

Stronger’s problem was that they could not surpass $30K in monthly ad spend without their ROAS tanking. They reached out to Sugatan to optimize their existing funnels and take their business to new heights. 

The first step was to create viral ads that showcased the benefits of their products and what their customers could expect. 

Up to this point, their advertising had focused mainly on brand values which resulted in poor engagement. 

We optimized their funnels and utilized our international team of designers, copywriters, strategists, and ad buyers to begin scaling while tracking numerous metrics and making data-based decisions. 

Within six months, we grew from $30K in monthly ad spend to over $250K and maintained a ROAS of between 3.5x and 4x.

Impressive right? Read the full case study here.

 

That’s all, folks

If your story sounds like Stronger’s, share a wireless fist-bump with them and reach out to us. 

We can tailor packages to suit your needs and turn your business into a shark in the pond. 

Fill out this Business Overview form, and we’ll be in touch shortly to discuss how your brand can stand out. 

Or, if you’re only interested in viral ad creatives and have your own media buyers at the ready, apply for our Creatives Only Package. 

As some small brand says, “Just do it” or something like that…