Lululemon and the FitFluencer

Scroll down on any teen or twenty-something year old’s feed. Among various posts of their friends and family, you’ll be sure to find some content promoting a good or service. Today’s Instagram—a far cry from the simple photo-posting app launched in October 2010—has transformed the way many companies market their products. With a single post by an influential and popular account, companies can obtain immediate exposure that would have previously taken hundreds of word-of-mouth interactions. This concept is not rare. In fact, the sheer number of businesses attempting to take advantage of social media advertising is astonishing; at press time, there were 10.2 million posts tagged with #ad. However, though general Instagram advertisements of products remain effective, the dilution of sincere endorsements have prompted some companies to shift their strategy.

Lululemon, in contrast to its fellow competitors in the athleisure industry, focuses on a bottom-up approach to marketing by connecting its audience directly with local fitness instructors. These ambassadors represent ordinary people with whom customers can actively engage through social media, in keeping with the company’s community-based approach.

“Millennials are the generation with the largest purchasing power, and most of their marketing is consumed through alternative methods (i.e. social media). Every brand is seemingly harnessing the power of influencers and social media advertisements—some, however, do it on a more grassroots scale.”

According to MarketWatch, the global activewear market is expected to reach $567 billion by 2024. With the explosion of boutique fitness and popularity of healthy lifestyles has arrived a consumer obsession with athleisure and many more retailers have angled for a share of the profits. The historic athletic giants of Nike, UnderArmour, Puma, Reebok and Adidas have been forced to contend with small pop-up cult favorites like BeyondYoga, Alo, and OutdoorVoices, while continuously battling the newer yet still commanding forces of Lululemon and Athleta. The clash of activewear brands is uniquely rooted in company culture, and the most competitive have shifted their branding and advertising strategy to stay on top. Traditionally, athletic brands have relied on celebrity endorsements to hawk their products. Nike famously used Michael Jordan to promote sneakers; Adidas did the same with David Beckham and cleats. Yet (though most of the top players still utilize famous backing in advertisements) in the age of social media other branding is necessitated. Millennials are the generation with the largest purchasing power, and most of their marketing is consumed through alternative methods (i.e. social media). Every brand is seemingly harnessing the power of influencers and social media advertisements—some, however, do it on a more grassroots scale. In jockeying for a position at the top of the athleisure market, Lululemon uniquely uses distinctive and creative strategy to expand their reach into small communities for a more personal control of the trade.

In a turn against celebrity endorsement, Lululemon outsources much of their advertisements to their ambassadors; in their words, “inspiring leaders, storytellers, and doers from around the world.” This wording is seemingly intentionally vague—for the most part, ambassadors seem to be fitness instructors of some capacity, usually yoga, cycle, barre, or boxing. In exchange for “development tools and experiences, products to try out [and] a network of like-minded people” (essentially free clothes and networking opportunities), Lululemon ambassadors share their products on social media, during their classes, and in their daily life. Small scale, this type of branding seems ineffective—a sort of David to Nike’s Serena Williams billboard Goliath. But the success of the Lululemon strategy is not the simple number of people reached; instead, it is the maintenance of a customer base that lives, eats, and breathes the lifestyle that Lululemon and its ambassadors sell.

“[T]he success of the Lululemon strategy is not the simple number of people reached; instead, it is the maintenance of a customer base that lives, eats, and breathes the lifestyle that Lululemon and its ambassadors sell.”

Anyone who has taken a Soulcycle or Flywheel class can explain that what makes the studio special is not the complementary hair ties or the luxurious showers. It is the instructors—the lifeblood of the company—that prompt people to spend upwards of $40 on a single exercise class. With their unicorn-like combinations of peppy, relatable popularity and friendship, instructors of all kinds easily become celebrities in their communities and online. Lululemon’s effort to capture the instructor's personal connection to their clients breaks the barrier that other forms of advertisement (even that of other influencers on social media) fail to leap. Sure, having Tiger Woods promote Nike is beneficial; but a customer can’t ask Tiger Woods how comfortable his golf shirt really is. In contrast, clients are easily able to reach out and communicate with their local “celebrities.” Lululemon’s ambassadors are, truly, ambassadors.

The symbiotic nature of the ambassador program allows for a give-and-take, giving Lululemon a chance to harvest profits from the personal relationships painstakingly built by instructors, and giving instructors a larger platform to teach upon (in addition to the free clothing perk, of course). Ambassadors’ photos hang on canvases throughout their local Lululemon store, offering an advertisement of their own classes. Ambassadors are also asked to lead free “pop-up workouts” on the sales floor, further driving in clients to their classes and to the retailer. In this age of disconnected advertisement, Lululemon’s clever utilization of local community leaders stands out among large-scale brand campaigns. When clients feel connected, they return again and again—as Lululemon has seen. Despite the declining profits of brick-and-mortar stores, Lululemon’s stores have maintained productivity (while still gaining from online retail). Cultivating an international brand that somehow feels homegrown has been key to Lululemon’s success amongst an incredible competitive activewear market.