Today Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and the WWE announced they will be relaunching the once popular MMA clothing brand, TapouT. The new partnerships has plans to reposition the clothing line as a “fitness lifestyle brand”.  Which is pretty much what every clothing company in fitness claims to do but only a few are successful at it. Given the platform the WWE has the clothing will certainly get noticed but I’ll be taking a “wait and see” approach to their fitness lifestyle claims, especially with the female audience.
“This is a powerhouse pairing given the synergy between TapouT’s brand promise to be the premier hard-body fitness brand, and WWE’s commitment to training and fitness,” says Nick Woodhouse, President and Chief Marketing Officer of ABG. Anyone who uses the word “synergy” raises a huge red flag and then to claim TapouT’s brand promise is to be the premier “hard-body fitness brand”. Thanks for the chuckle!
There was no mention of what will be the key differentiators in the new TapouT line other than a new logo. The release is mostly fluff and does little to speak to specifics.
The press release stated, “The next generation of TapouT preserves the original brand essence and drives a hard-body, fitness-centric message positioned around motivation, discipline and determination. An all new line of men’s and women’s performance apparel and accessories will launch at retail in Spring 2016. New TapouT branding and packaging will roll out in key categories throughout 2015 starting with beverages, supplements and fitness centers.”
Promoting fitness is great but simply slapping your logo on clothing and aligning with the WWE doesn’t make you a “premier hard-body fitness brand”. TapouT has attempted to be more than a clothing line before. In 2009, TapouT partnered with Champion Nutrition on a supplement line. It failed miserably.  Currently TapouT is schilling a “Lose Weight and Get Ripped in 90 Days. Extreme Home Fitness Program.” on www.tapoutxt.com. A look at the biggest online supplement retailer, Bodybuilding.com and the line no longer is for sale.
Maybe with the focus shifting away from MMA the brand will do better in their attempt to capture the beverage and supplement market but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Image and quotes Via WWE.com
