Its backers include former Wimbledon champ Murray, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the brothers that own supermarket Asda.
In 2022, Castore’s valuation hit $960 million and in the same year it found itself on The Times’ list of Britain’s fastest growing businesses, ranking in the top 10 alongside Au Vodka and Freemarket. They have firmly shelved the idea of an IPO, having watched others including Deliveroo and THG struggle to thrive after floating on the U.K. stock exchange.
The bulk of Castore’s revenue comes from the sales of its clothing, such as $200 hoodies and $50 running shorts, but its growth has been accelerated by supply deals with high-profile teams including Scottish soccer club Rangers F.C. and the England cricket team.
The ethos of “Better Never Stops” was established as the guiding brand principle three months after conception and guides everything it does today. It hired former Puma staffer Saffron Milligan as its first head of global marketing in April 2023 to help it write its next chapter.
A self-declared “digital-first” brand which was buoyed by a Covid-19 sportswear boost, Beahon said one of the challenges of launching an OOH campaign lay in how to integrate it with an approach to brand that has historically been data-led.
“We’ll be doing some guerrilla marketing around the events that the OOH is tied to and we’ll have teams on the ground collecting data, giving away products and interacting with customers,” Beahon said. “”We want to drive that physical interaction beyond the visual engagement.”
On-site QR codes will play a significant role in tying the brand’s above the line efforts with its digital efforts. The creative work tentatively went live in the week prior to Wimbledon and drove a significant “triple digit” percentage increase in website traffic driven by email sign-ups.
“We’re actively engaged in these physical events as a sports brand and it would be remiss of us not to capitalize on that,” added Beahon.
A speedboat in a sea of oil tankers
Moving forward, Beahon is adamant that athlete partnerships will still be a cornerstone in Castore’s marketing strategy.
For his team, these collaborations are about much more than slapping the logo on as many shirts as possible, rather they’re about forging the right relationships with the right athletes to amplify their voices.