Rebel swimwear and shoe sales surge as Aussies get active

Rebel’s recent campaign has bolstered sales as the sports retailer embraces an agnostic approach to customer marketing.

Rebel's sport is calling campaign delivered a surge in sales of swimwear

Swimwear sales at Rebel hit double-digit growth in August as the impact of the Olympic Games and the brand’s inspirational Sport Is Calling campaign drove Australians in store.

The campaign, which launched in July, featured two adverts focused on swimming and running, telling the inspirational stories of outback grazier Brendan Cullen and Olympian Sinead Diver.

Rebel general manager of e-commerce & marketing Rosemary Martin told The Growth Agenda the business had already seen strong results from the campaign.

“We’ve seen a good take up of running and swimming, in particular, in our stores,” said Martin.

“Swimwear sales were in double digit growth in August, compared to the same time last year, and we are also seeing good annual growth in running footwear and apparel.”

The campaign was timed to coincide with the Olympic Games and aimed to tap into an associated increased interest in sport, however, Ms Martin said the brand had also implemented testing to ensure its effectiveness.

“We had confidence taking it to market because we knew it had scored above benchmarks on bonding and attention, but it’s definitely translated to the results we’ve seen in our stores. It was a timely campaign for us.”

Ms Martin said the campaign aimed to drive business growth by demonstrating the transformative power of sport and help inspire Australians to make time in their lives for exercise and activity.

“Sport is definitely in the DNA of Australians and we’re absolutely a sporting nation, but we know how challenging it can be to make time for physical activity and sport. The research shows that participation in sport and physical activity is falling back to pre- covid levels. That was the genesis for this latest campaign and we wanted it to serve as a call for action for Aussies.”

It comes as Rebel, like most retailers, moves to create greater customer experiences with omnichannel strategies to create consistent and seamless experiences across online and physical stores.

Ms Martin said Rebel was embracing an agnostic approach to its customer experience strategy as well as its marketing investment strategies.

“From a business standpoint we are looking at how we become truly agnostic, so that it shouldn’t matter where our customers want to shop, whether that be online or in store,” she said.

“So we’re focused on trying to get to that profit clarity across channels.

“I have a relatively channel agnostic view of the way that we invest our marketing dollars, because the customer is truly everywhere. It’s not a linear path to purchase and the phenomenon of people doing research online, and then buying in store is absolutely a thing, too. “

Ms Martin said the company invested in their brand and in brand engagement when they saw a need to do so, which led to the Sport is Calling campaign.

This is “versus when we’re choosing to invest in more tactical retail moments by letting people know that we’ve got a special offer for Father’s Day, for example”.

“I think there can be a temptation to put your dollars where you can easily spell out the return on investment of short-term sales,” Ms Martin said.

“That’s where commercial mixed modelling has become quite an important tool for us as it provides a holistic view over all of our investments, whether it be brand sponsorships, above the line, below the line and taking all of that into consideration in terms of a likely return on spend.

“I am a big believer in — and all the literature supports — the need to continue to invest in brands for the long-term health of your business.”

Rebel is also investing in customer loyalty after relaunching its Rebel Active loyalty program in October. The program provides benefits and offers to members who can also earn and redeem points on purchases.

Rebel’s loyalty program boasts 3.9 million members who contributed 77 per cent of Rebel sales claims in the last financial year.

According to Rebel, 84 per cent of club members have earned loyalty points in the new program and are spending more per customer than ever before.

While Rebel’s total sales fell by 1 per cent to $1.29bn for the year ending June 29, 2024, online sales grew 12 per cent to reach $222m and represented 17 per cent of total sales.

Ms Martin said one of the business challenges for Rebel was that the breadth and depth of its range meant it competed against a growing competitive set.

“Rebel has a very strong brand presence across Australia and Rebel is very much your one-stop-shop across all sports, all level of expertise, all price ranges. But we’re out there competing not just with other general sports retailers, but also specialty retailers and brands. It is quite a competitive market,” she said.

She said there was also a plethora of brands online.

The Rebel campaign was created by The Monkeys and directed by FINCH’s Christopher Nelius, also featured media by OMD and PR by Porter Novelli.