Speedo Brand

The brand Speedo is the global market leader in swimwear, distributing in over 170 countries around the world. It was first established in 1914 by Alexander MacRae, who set up his own underwear manufacture business in Australia. With the heightening beach culture there, MacRae saw the opportunity to expand his business within the beachwear area and include swimwear in his range of products. It was not until 1928 when the name we recognise today, ‘Speedo’, came to light after the introduction of the classic ‘Racerback’ costume. ‘Speed on in your Speedos’ was the slogan inspired by the latest costume development, which allowed you to swim faster because of a better fit, meaning a decrease in the water resistance.

The recently groundbreaking development of the Speedo LZR Racer in 2008 saw the world’s fastest swimsuit. Statistics of the performance of swimmers wearing the latest design in the Beijing Olympics 2008 show that 94% of all gold medals and 89% of all the swimming medals were won by athletes wearing the Speedo LZR Racer. (Speedo Pentland (2009) - Home - Our Brands - Speedo [online] (2009)).

One of the latest products to be launched is Speedo’s Shapeline - a revolutionary swimsuit made to fit a variety of female body shapes and boost confidence by providing something that fits perfectly. From a study of 5,400 women they found that 95% of them fell into one of three categories in terms of body shape: bottom hourglass, hourglass and top hourglass. A spokesman for Speedo said: 'It's the nearest thing to made-to-measure swimsuits.' (Mail Online (2nd March 2010) Mail Online - Making a splash, the swimming costumes that suit all shapes (2010)).



Speedo successfully communicates the brand values to it’s target audience through clear concise and clean presentation via their online website. With good communication of the values, the audience has a better understanding of the brand. Through the sponsorship of world class swimmers like Michael Phelps, Speedo globally raises its profile with its performance costumes like the LZR Racer, which again is a strength.


In terms of future strategies, Speedo should certainly continue in their extensive research and development of new and innovative designs for products suited to performance as well as more for fashion such as the new ‘Shapeline’ product recently launched. By doing this they will continue to be the best and remain at the top of the market.