Insights and Analysis

As a new Planet Fitness franchisee prepared to open two new gyms, there was a need to establish and maintain a positive reputation for the brand among residents leading up to their openings. There was opportunity to create hype about the new facilities, however, there was also a challenge in bringing a national franchise into communities that heavily prided themselves on their traditional, small-town, local characters. Our team designed a strategic and localized community outreach plan to support the business goals of driving membership and establishing the new gyms as strong community partners.

 

Planning

Our plan focused on the news gyms as local neighbors who care about fellow residents’ success. The Planet Fitness brand is known for high personal engagement, and we focused on generating authentic opportunities for audiences to interact with us through experiences, giveaways and challenges. Our strategy was to create personal, shareable moments and connections through various tactics that focused on the brand’s reputation for inclusivity, positivity and kindness.

 

Execution

• The “Kindness Car” was a branded vehicle with drivers wearing logo-ed shirts who were tasked with spreading random acts of kindness throughout the communities.

• Creation of kindness-related events included a surprise cash giveaway on National Kindness Day to a family who demonstrated incredible kindness to others in need.

• Collaboration with the local chamber of commerce resulted in a new branded workplace wellness challenge for chamber members.

• A community-wide signage tactic blanketed the community with lightly branded, positive messages to pique curiosity and encourage kindness and positivity around town.

• Multiple school and business partnerships allowed for key messages to be carried far and wide.

 

Evaluation

• Both gyms exceeded their membership goals on opening day.

• The north location had one of the strongest openings in franchise history.

• The client received an outpour of positive feedback from the residents of the community and from local partners engaged in this work.

• The campaign earned a national spotlight in Planet Fitness’s internal newsletter for its innovation, success and positive community impact.

• The client received various inquiries from other franchisees interested in replicating aspects of the campaign in other areas across the country.

 

The campaign was awarded a national Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for its success in reputation and brand management. The community relations efforts were recognized with a national PRSA Award of Excellence.