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Athos Athletic Wearables-Phase 1
By: Elliot Mar, Ray Ablao, Phillip Lam, Ariana Wong, and Paul Gabriel
For many years, the global populace has become accustomed to eating fast food and
living with what current consensus would deem an unhealthy lifestyle. Processed foods and a
sedentary lifestyle have led to a large increase in obesity, a higher incidence of diabetes, and an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease (“Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes”). In recent
years, a health trend has emerged, with many people choosing crossfit, triathlons, martial arts,
team sports, and many other activities to stay fit. This desire to be fit and healthy has coincided
with the aspiration to get better with every workout. In order to improve, athletes, professionals
and amateurs, have used different metrics to set benchmarks and milestones for improvement.
While some are useful, many metrics simply do not serve as a reliable benchmark between
individuals due to the vast differences in body structure and athletic potential. In 2012, Athos
Athletic Wearables were introduced into the market with an innovative way to measure athletic
performance and encourage improvement for all types of exercise.
With a mission statement striving to “help people train more effectively to reach their
fitness goals,” Athos’ core product features a proprietary electromyography sensor, or EMG
(Dorbian). This technology was only previously accessed by elite sports performance institutes,
research labs, and collegiate/professional athletes due to its high cost (“Athos- Wearable Tech”).
The EMG is worn in smart training apparel, in the form of sweat wicking compression shirts and
shorts. While worn, the Athos EMG monitors your body’s biosignals, and translates the
information gathered into simple, actionable advice. The information is sent to the Athos app for
iOS, where it is analyzed and displayed for the athlete on a simple user interface. This
information is then used by the athlete to tailor their workout to specific muscle groups, or to
shore up asymmetries in muscle strength throughout their bodies (“Athos- Wearable Tech”).
We would assess the current category of wearable technology as early in the Growth
Market Phase. According to the research firm Gartner, the wearables market is set to explode
from 0.1 million shipments in 2015 to a robust 26 million shipments in 2016 (Goode). We
anticipate that Athos will rely on the Bass Diffusion Model to increase product adoption among
users (Exhibit 1). This places great importance on forging strategic partnerships with influential
individuals and organizations, using them as product champions to vouch for the product’s utility
to the masses.
Recently, the Golden State Warriors organization won their first NBA championship in
40 years, largely due to their use and support of wearable technology and advanced analytics. By
monitoring levels of fatigue using wearable technologies in practice, the Warriors were able to
use a preventative approach to stave off injuries late in the season and ultimately raise a
championship trophy for the 2014-2015 season (Leung). In the 2015-2016 season, the Warriors
formed a partnership with Athos to be the primary wearable technology used in practice. The
Warriors first used Athos with their NBA Development league affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors
(Leung). After beta testing the wearables, owner Joe Lacob invested in the B round of Athos, just
before their product rollout (“Athos”). The Warriors’ commitment to wearable technology has
paid dividends once again, as the franchise set an NBA record of wins in a single season with a
record of 73-9.
The Athos product item, product line, and product line length stand at 1, with their only
product as a wearable suit with sensors. Each piece of their product can be ordered separately, in
case athletes wish to purchase an extra EMG, compression shirt, or compression shorts. The
wearable category in which Athos participates is early in the growth market phase of the
Category Life Cycle (Exhibit 2a). More specifically, Athos’ product is currently participating in
the technology adoption life cycle prior to the major traction needed as the product reaches the
mass market in the growth market phase (Exhibit 2b).
According to the Director of Market Strategy, Athos’ value proposition centers around
showing users if they are using the appropriate muscles, to the right extent, and in the correct
sequence to evaluate the user’s performance and suggest improvements. It is different from other
devices because most other products provide different forms of an accelerometer, which display
data without insight or feedback that the user can act on. Athos is different because it provides
answers and insights that each user can apply and incorporate to reach their fitness goals. Athos
wearable suit sets itself apart by focusing on being great workout apparel first and fitting the
technology in second.
Partnerships with professional athletes during offseason training include Karl Anthony-
Towns, Chris Johnson, Eric Hosmer, and Clay Matthews (Favorito). Recently, top NFL
prospects have begun forming partnerships with Athos in order to measure their performance to
improve in the long run. Even some entire sports teams have begun to adopt wearable technology
at private practice sessions, including some European soccer clubs, Australian institutes of sport,
and the previously mentioned NBA champion Golden State Warriors (Favorito).
Athos provides hardware that measures biosignals that its competitors do not, effectively
separating it from its competition. Its proprietary EMG hardware has the distinct ability to
measure muscle exertion by region of major muscle groups in the body, and advises the user to
tailor their workout to either maintain, tone, or build muscle by region based on the intensity of
the current workout (“Athos- Wearable Tech”). Other wearables have historically measured heart
rate, blood pressure, steps, and vO2 levels. None have been able to break down exertion by
muscle group and give information in real time while the athlete is training.
Although Athos is currently differentiated from its competitors as a first mover in EMG
technology, Cityzen Sciences of France has utilized similar technology and formed partnerships
with its own local investment banks, constantly designing new smart fabrics and miniaturizing
sensors to be a leader in the smart fabric industry (“Cityzen Sciences”). Athos will have to speed
up its adoption amongst the global market and scale their manufacturing to meet the rise in
demand. In order for Athos to obtain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, they
must also address the issue of imitability. A few new entrants have started to utilize the same
technology (“Devices”). Although not used in the same manner, the article reveals that the
technology can be imitated or used by competing firms. Therefore, they will have to innovate
constantly to maintain their lead in the market and garner brand awareness. In this light, we
assess their current competitive advantage to be short term and unsustainable, eventually leading
to a competitive parity if proactive steps are not taken to sustain it. Although they don’t currently
possess a sustained competitive advantage, they are on the right path as depicted in our Strategy
Diamond (Exhibit 3). All components of the strategy diamond work in synergy, reinforcing the
cohesiveness of Athos’ overall strategy. For example, their staging is deployed at a slow,
deliberate pace so they can develop internally and really focus on the quality and utility of their
product, which aligns with their economic logic of charging a premium price for better product
features.
Innovation Analysis
Athos is a round C start-up which has raised approximately $50 million since their
creation in 2012 (“Athos”). They are in the smart wearable space, specifically in the biometric
apparel market segment. They currently offer an integrated hardware and software solution to
track biometric signals in real time.
According to the Booz Allen and Hamilton framework, the Athos product would be
categorized as a “New-to-World Product”, since it ranks high in both newness to market and
newness to the company. Athos is a new to world product as they are taking their first product to
market. Though the technology of their EMG and high performance athletic garments are not
new innovations, the incorporation of these two technologies exposes a new market in the smart
wearable space.
Referring to Ansoff’s framework, Athos’ introduction of their product constitutes a
diversification strategy by entering a new market with a new product. The idea of wearable
devices being extended into apparel is one of product diversification with the goal of entering a
much bigger market than what was already penetrated. The market certainly already exists, and
is expected to grow from 0.1 million shipments in 2015 to 26 million shipments in 2016
(Goode).
Though the Athos’ product is categorized as a smart wearable, it does not yet serve as a
substitute or replacement for existing wearables. It simply augments a current market, granting
users the ability to monitor biosignals in real time for athletic improvement. The most innovative
component of Athos’ offering is that they have made state-of-the-art electromyography (EMG)
technology available for mass market consumption, albeit at a premium price.
Utility Analysis
Smart wearable sales (units) worldwide are forecasted to increase by 18.4% from 2015 to
2016 and this market is estimated to be $28.7 billion dollars and poised to grow YoY at an
average of 17% for the next 3 years (“Gartner says Worldwide Wearables”). Competition within
this space is fierce resulting in organizations seeking a sustainable competitive advantage either
through technology or partnerships. Athos has a series of direct and indirect competitors (Exhibit
4). This report will focus on direct competitors OMSignal and Hexoskin, and indirect competitor
UA HealthBox. The buyer’s utility map will illustrate areas where Athos is operating at its best
and where it can improve in order to remain competitive (Exhibit 5a,b).
Athos buyer’s utility position against its direct competitors is favorable in the use stage.
In this area the business dominates competition by providing a reliable, accurate, real-time
fitness metrics which have been proven to improve athletic performance as seen with the Golden
State Warriors (“NBA team adopts”). Areas where Athos can improve are in the pre-purchase,
purchase, and delivery stages. The lack of marketing effort is resulting in low brand awareness.
This is an opportunity for Athos to educate the public about its product, benefits, and how to use
it. Another stage where Athos can improve is in supplementation as it pertains to technology.
Since Athos currently only supports iOS devices, there is an opportunity to capture users of
other mobile devices such as Androids and tablets.
OMSignal
One of Athos’ direct competitors, OMSignal’s mission is “to bring personal wellness into
our daily lives” (“OMSignal About Us”). This organization offers a smart garment that measures
the usual suspects such as distance, calories, cadence, breathing, exertion, and VO2 Max. Unlike
Athos, OMSignal requires hardware other than its garment, namely the box. It is a combination
of these two items and a mobile app that creates their value proposition - A comfortable smart
wearable to bring analytics to your endurance and fitness training regime (“OMSignal Bra”). The
key weakness for this business is their product development life cycle. It spent 3 years and 1633
prototypes to bring the OMSignal bra to the market (“OMSignal Bra”). The key strength for
OMSignal is its growing ecosystem in partnerships, specifically its OEM business. Recently,
OMSignal partnered with Polo apparel to deliver Polo’s first smart t-shirt. A SWOT analysis is
included on OMSignal (Exhibit 6).
HEXOSKIN
Hexoskin, another direct competitor, is an engineering and research focused company.
This is noted by their product line offerings of both the smart wearable hardware and
complementing software in the form of mobile apps, as well as a webapp. Hexoskin further adds
value by developing their product as a platform, offering an open API that enables users to
import and export data logged by the Hexoskin hardware (“Indiegogo”). This allows users and
researchers to process and translate the data in their own data visualization and analysis software.
Their platform is optimized to sync up with third-party fitness apps and wearables on the market
now. This open platform approach gives a huge advantage over competitors, because now they
don't have to develop new software themselves. Look and feel of their interface could drive
users away, and their web design should be catered more toward their target audience. Refer to
Exhibit 7 for SWOT analysis.
Under Armour (UA) HealthBox
Although the UA HealthBox is presently considered an indirect competitor, we believe it
to be a potential primary competitor and a viable threat to Athos (Exhibit 8). This is because UA
is a relatively large brand compared to Athos and its direct competitors, boasting a large quantity
of effective marketing content via their website. Their buyer experience is streamlined, and the
wearables fit well into their current product offerings in other segments.
UA is much larger in terms of revenue, user base, and resources than any of the aforementioned
competitors, including Athos. Presently, UA has yet to release a smart garment to directly
compete with Athos. However, once this product comes to fruition and hits the market, UA’s
competitive advantage will be having all the necessary tools to scale and push rapid adoption.
UA’s buyer utility map reflects it’s clear advantages in the pre-purchase and supplement stages
of the buyer experience (Exhibit 5b). We see UA as a legitimate threat of becoming the go-to
partner for fitness wearables and fitness analytics.
Under Armour HealthBox seems to be the beginning of a comprehensive ecosystem of
products UA plans to develop in this space. Right now they’re focusing on heart rate, sleep,
intake and output monitoring, but they are likely building a foundation for more wearable tech.
With their huge market share of athletic footwear, it’s not hard to imagine that UA will be among
the first to release the newest line of next generation smart wearables including, apparel and
footwear. An in-depth competitive product analysis is included in our exhibits (Exhibit 10).
Opportunities
By analyzing the competitive space of fitness wearables in entirety, we have come up
with a viable opportunity for Athos to change the utility of the product. Our buyer utility maps
reveal those areas in which Athos can innovate. One sweet spot in particular is where the post-
purchase buyer stage intersects the fun/image utility. Athos can target this area by integrating
with their current partners/investors to create a fitness ecosystem that other users can sync to in
order to compare workouts, watch fitness videos, post content, and connect with their favorite
athletes (ie the Golden State Warriors), essentially creating a social media strategy which will
increase brand awareness for their product. Along those lines, Athos can utilize their platform to
personalize the experience. Users could be able to input their specifications including height,
weight, previous workout history, etc. With this information, the app would create specific
workouts to fit each athlete’s fitness goals.
Critical Issues
During the next 12 months of the product’s life cycle, Athos faces critical issues that can
be put into two categories. The first category is comprised of issues that the product marketer
must resolve and the second contains issues that pertain to the product manager. The former is
more intuitive as marketing issues are seemingly easier to detect. The product marketer will need
to place a high importance on scaling their operations first in order to fulfill pre-orders, then
focus on increasing adoption of the products. For the smart wearable industry, education is key.
Since Athos’ target market is all athletes that are concerned with fitness, it is vital that they take
the time to explain the product, namely its uses, how the technology works, and why it is
important as many of these consumers haven’t been fully exposed to the concept.
From a product management standpoint, further refinement and improvement of both the
Athos hardware and software is also necessary. For the next 12 months, they will strive to make
incremental improvements to their garments, namely making them machine washable instead of
hand wash only, while increasing the functionality of the suit. In terms of their software and its
deployment, social media sites and outside bloggers have revealed the importance that Athos’
customers place on the user friendliness of the product and fixing minor tech issues with the app.
To reach the masses for adoption, their ecosystem should be open to allow integration and
exportation of information to third party sources, making Athos products truly IoT compatible.
Other improvements that must be prioritized include increasing comfort, fit, style, and reliability
or durability of the product in order to keep up with the competition. To increase adoption, Athos
should deepen their existing partnerships with professional athletes to create a more engaging
experience with the product.
Exhibits
Exhibit 1: Bass Diffusion Model
Exhibit 2a: Category Life Cycle
Exhibit 2b: Modified Category Life Cycle
Exhibit 3: Strategy Diamond
Exhibit 4: Direct/Indirect Competitors
Exhibit 5a: Buyer Utility Map for Direct Competition
Exhibit 5b: Buyer Utility Map for Indirect Competition
Exhibit 6: SWOT Analysis OMSignal
Strengths● Accurate sensor reading● Partner ecosystem● Durable and comfortable product
Weakness● Customer needs additional appliance
to read sensors (box)● App only supports iOS● Long development cycles
Opportunities● Built OM platform for runners to bring
runners together● Growing smart wearable market
Threats● Large businesses are building
platforms that encompass a variety of fitness metrics
Exhibit 7: SWOT Analysis Hexoskin
Strengths● Provides hardware and platform
solution (Mobile: iOS & Android, WebApp Dashboard, Open API)
● Compatibility with 3rd party consumer hardware & software, visualization & analysis software platform (Apple Watch, Strava, Vivosense)
● Available for purchase through distributor (Best Buy Ca) and e-commerce
Weakness● Outdated & rudimentary design of
consumer software products (iOS & Android)
● Uninspiring, cookie-cutter web design of website (Shopify)
Opportunities● Large target demographic spanning
across multiple verticals (Athletics, Medical Research, Military)
● Sustain user retention and facilitate innovation as not only as a hardware solution, but a software platform.
Threats● Sustaining innovation, many other
competitors are developing software platforms around their wearables
● Poor UI|UX may deter users during the Pre-Purchase and Use Stages (website, mobile apps)
Exhibit 8: SWOT Analysis UA HealthBox
Strengths● Product Depth● Database● Brand name● Resources
Weakness● Slow moving organization
Opportunities● Reliable partner to provide smart
wearables● Large customer segment● Data obtained can be used as tool for
hospitals, insurance companies, and corporate health programs
Threats● Competitor patents● Technology (ever-changing)
Exhibit 9: Channel Structure
Exhibit 10: Competitive Product Analysis
Metrics Competitive Product Analysis
Athos OMSignal Hexoskin UA HealthBox
Price $549 for full body suit + 1 core
$199 for shirt, box, and app $399 for shirt + 1 core $400 for entire healthBox
Product Package
Shirt, Shorts, and 1 EMG core, mobile app
One shirt, one box, and mobile app
Shirts (Men’s, Women’s, Junior’s)
Scale, Wrist Wearable, and Heart Monitor
Product Claims
Improves muscle asymmetry, balance, allows athletes to tailor workout to suit fitness goals, prevents injury
Comfortable wearable to improve fitness through tracking heart rate, cadence, distance, and caloric burn
Measures heart rate, variability, breathing rate, breathing volume, activity, and sleep
Allows you to stay healthy, and live longer.
Target Consumer
All Athletes concerned about fitness
Fitness enthusiast, and Runners
Athletes, Health Researchers, Space Researchers
All people concerned about health
Brand Positioning
Fitness and Training Fitness and Training Health and Fitness Health and Fitness
Hardware EMG-Measures muscle exertion/utilization by region,
Measures vO2, heart rate, breathing rate, breathing
ECG-measures heart rate, respiration rate, VO2 Max,
Measures heart rate, REM cycle (sleep), steps
UA Healthbox
Retailer
Consumer
Retailer
Consumer
Consumer
Consumer
OMSignal
HexoskinAthos
Features (what it measures)
heart rate, respiration rate, calories burned, motion, breathing patterns
volume and balance, activity intensity, calories
activity (steps, cadence, acceleration), calories, sleep patterns
# of sensors Shirt- 12 EMG (muscle), 2 heart rate, 2 breathingShorts- 8 EMG, 4 heart rate
Movement sensor, heart rate sensor, breathing sensor, GPS
3 ECG “cardiac” sensors, 2 breathing sensors, 1 movement sensor
UA Scale: 4, 396 lbs maxUA Heart Rate: 1 on skinUA Band: 1 on skin
Fabric Specs UPF 50, compression fit, 4-way stretch weave, flat stream construction, warp knit
Machine washable Italian fabric, UV protection, machine- washable, lightweight, anti-odor, water resistant
N/A
Mobile Platform
Yes (iOS) iOS Android, iOS Android, iOS
Desktop Web Platform
No No Yes Yes (MyFitnessPal)
SDK (Software Development Kit)
No In Development Yes (iOS/Android) Yes (iOS/Android)
Open API No In Development Yes Yes
Product Line Length
1, can be split (just shirt, or just pants)
1 1 1, 3 if scale, wristband and heart monitor are counted as separate
Battery Life 10 hours (Core) 14-16 hours or one full day 14 hours UA Band: 110 mAh (up to 5 days)UA Scale: 4 x AAUA Heart Rate: 220 mAh (up to 365 hours)
Citation (“Best Fitness Tracker”) “Under Armour HealthBox Fitness Tracking System”