Abstract
The second largest swimwear brand in the world, Arena was founded as a spin-off of Adidas, yet was subsequently purchased and managed by numerous investment funds. Maintaining the prime foundational focus on swimwear and swim equipment, the brand has since expanded into a rapidly growing market of sportswear. Though Arena is well known all over the world as a single brand, its ownership and management is split between two companies: an investment fund, Capvis (for 108 Western countries, from Europe to Middle East, to Americas), and a Japanese group, Descente (for 24 Asian markets). The two operate independently in terms of production and distribution in their respective markets and cooperate for product innovation and sports sponsorships. Having introduced the very first racing swimsuit made with carbon fibers, Arena can be considered a true trendsetter in product innovation. In addition, it has gained considerable expertise also in process innovation when it comes to organization, production, logistics, IT management, distribution, and corporate communication. Merging innovative spirit with strategic market-driven outlook, the brand boasts cutting-edge product lines all united by the notion of “water”—the foundational element for Arena’s consumers, stakeholders, partners, and brand ambassadors (i.e., professional athletes).
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- 1.
Mark Spitz, nicknamed “Mark the Shark” is a famous American competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. His record of winning seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was surpassed only in 2008, by an American swimmer Michael Phelps.
- 2.
Capvis (http://www.capvis.com) is the leading private equity firm in Switzerland and one of the most active investors in Europe. With over 25 years of experience and over 55 investments made since 1990, Capvis has reached an investment volume of over five billion euros. Capvis’ main investment interest is in leading medium-sized companies.
- 3.
Descente Ltd. (株式会社デサント, http://www.descente.co.jp/en/) is a Japanese sports clothing and accessories company. It owns a portfolio of 16 in-house, purchased, and licensed brands, among them Descente, Shiseist, Arena (for Japan and the Far East), Marmot, and Srixon.
- 4.
For instance, they collaborated to launch the Cobra Ultra goggles (Capvis-owned Arena for R&D and Descente-owned Arena for resourcing), which resulted in more than 2 million euros in sales up until today (compared to a total of 16 million euros in this product category).
- 5.
“Water is the beginning. It is where everything starts, it has no boundaries, no end. Arena is with you from the start, when you first break the surface, when you experience your body floating, and water is your playground. Arena is there when water is your land, when you train to get better and better, stronger and stronger, faster and faster. When water is your battlefield, when it becomes a part of who you are you grow obsessed with the ‘black line’, time becomes history, and water turns into gold. Arena’s DNA is forged in water, generation after generation of swimmers, designed by champions for champions. And for everybody who loves water sports” (Arena 2018b).
- 6.
Decathlon (https://www.decathlon-united.com) is a French sporting goods retailer and one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world with turnover of 11 billion euros (as of the end of 2017).
- 7.
There is a two-level quality control for merchandise produced by third-party manufacturers for Arena. First, a third-party quality control (run by companies such as Intertek and SGS) is carried at the supplier’s premises. Second, additional quality controls are managed internally when the goods arrive at the Italian headquarters’ warehouse.
- 8.
The fall/winter 2018 collection was Arena’s first global collection. A single unified product catalog was presented to all international buyers despite full awareness of regional differences in the selection process.
- 9.
Centric management system (https://www.centricsoftware.com) provides software specific for retail, fashion, footwear, luxury, and consumer goods companies in the field of product development and related processes (collections’ planning, technical dossiers’ development, global sourcing, calendar, materials, and quality management).
- 10.
Relex software (https://www.relexsolutions.com) is a unified retail planning solution that helps carry out a range of data-based planning from forecasting to assortment, space, and workforce planning. At Arena, the Relex management system is run from the Italian headquarters based on data collected from all international offices overnight.
- 11.
Full and updated list of Arena Elite Team athletes can be found at https://www.arenawaterinstinct.com/en_uk/team/elite-team/.
- 12.
Gregorio Paltrinieri is an Italian competitive swimmer specializing in freestyle. He is the Olympic, world champion and European champion both in long-course and short-course events. He currently holds the European record in long tub and the world record in short tub for 1500 m freestyle event.
- 13.
Adam Peaty is a competitive swimmer from England. Specializing in breaststroke, he is the 2016 Olympic Champion, a five-time World Champion, a twelve-time European Champion, and a three-time Commonwealth Champion.
- 14.
Tania Cagnotto is an Italian diver and the first Italian female diver to win a medal in a World Championship. A five-time Olympian and the most decorated European diver, she won medals in both individual and synchronized springboard diving in her final appearance at the Olympics in 2016.
- 15.
The market research was carried out in 2013 on a database of 4000 people who bought a swim racing product. The final sample consisted of 1000 of usable answers. The findings identify a consumer profile of a young (often underage) consumer, who buys at least two–three swimsuits a year. The brand considers them a highly profitable segment with a high rate of brand loyalty (Giampieri, interview, December 4, 2017b).
- 16.
The sales funnel (also known as a revenue funnel or sales process) refers to the buying process that companies lead customers through when purchasing products.
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Cedrola, E., Silchenko, K., Masè, S. (2019). Arena Water Instinct: Process Innovation Built-in the Company DNA. In: Jin, B., Cedrola, E. (eds) Process Innovation in the Global Fashion Industry. Palgrave Studies in Practice: Global Fashion Brand Management . Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52352-5_4
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