Winning models

Fast and bold, that's how challengers attack big brands

Emerging brands and start-ups change marketing codes by focusing on bold ideas, creativity and speed of execution

by Giampaolo Colletti

8 November 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Bold ideas
The value of speed

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

So much for the fitness of the last century. Everything we do today is to prepare for tomorrow. This is the value manifesto of Gymshark, a British company that has climbed the market, turnover, interest and attention in just a few years. It defines itself as a conditioning brand, i.e. a brand that proactively acts on its community, suggesting the right path to wellness. A broader concept to prepare people to face life's challenges: physical, mental and social. In short, a lot of stuff.

It all started in 2012 from the intuition of Ben Francis, a 19-year-old who was printing gym shirts at the time. Thirteen years later his brand is worth more than a billion pounds, producing technical clothing that intercepts micro-influencers and youtubers, overturning the way of marketing in fitness. It competes on the value ground of the giants with a winning strategy of differentiation: while many brands talk about lifestyle, Gymshark leverages the community in the gym as a distinctive element.

The omnichannel approach has an aspirational but accessible tone, typical of contemporary brand challengers. No billionaire testimonials. Just people recounting their real day. Today, 40 % of sales come from the US, while the London flagship has become an experiential hub. So this anti-Nike from next door has also landed in America a few months ago with a social club gym. Growth revolves around a direct-to-consumer digital ecosystem, bypassing intermediaries and speaking to its audience in person.

Courageous ideas

These are the challenger brands, those small ones that have become big and scare off the even bigger ones. These are realities that are not yet market leaders, but which adopt mindsets and strategies aimed at challenging the status quo of the category in which they operate. The growth is exponential, the structure light, the processes smart. Not having the size or budgets of giants, they leverage creativity, digital first, direct-to-consumer models and rapid distribution.

On the other hand, digital technologies lower the barriers to entry and amplify visibility and speed of growth. The challengers show that you don't need to be the biggest to make an impact: it is more important to become relevant, fast, consistent. In today's interconnected and unstable marketplace, the small can annoy the big. More so. They scare them off. Thus the brand challengers - expressions of the startups that have become big with innovative propositions, agile processes, scalable technologies and continuous customer relations - are creeping into known markets.

It is a questioning of established leadership that is strengthened by evolved marketing campaigns and bold messages. This was highlighted a few days ago by the Marketing Association, the American association of reference, in a report with the very explicit title: 'Why Challenging Brands Win with Bold Ideas'. From actions to narratives. Many challengers build their advantage not only with product innovation, but on strong narrative positioning.

"Today, storytelling is part of the product. The challengers do not just sell goods, but visions. In a saturated market, storytelling becomes a competitive technology, it serves to create identity, build community and stand out where technical innovation alone is not enough," says Giulio Buciuni, professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Trinity College Dublin and author of "Innovatori outsider" for il Mulino.

The value of speed

What counts is the speed of execution (and experimentation) compared to the slower, more paludatory giants. "Speed is the new barrier to entry. The challengers experiment in real time, changing message, channel and tone before the big boys have finished a meeting. The brave idea is not just creative but organisational and stems from lean teams, short decision cycles and culture of risk. But the real advantage of challengers is relational. They transform the customer into part of the company, building trust and belonging.

While the big ones defend market shares, the outsiders cultivate communities. This is how relationships become capital and engagement a strategic asset,' says Buciuni.

The room for manoeuvre in Italy

But in a market like the Italian one, where historic brands have a very strong heritage, what room is left for those who want to establish themselves as novelties? "There is room to make tradition and technology dialogue. The new winning brands don't break with the manufacturing heritage, they update it and turn savoir-faire into know-how. It is in this space that tradition becomes a platform, not an obstacle,' Buciuni concludes.

Jay Samit, a pioneer of digital transformation and one of the world's foremost experts on innovation, also argues this: in the history of mankind, it has never been as easy as it is today to achieve success. We are all just one click away from almost eight billion potential customers.