• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 18, 2013

Few things can match mobile devices for reach, frequency, and engagement among young, well-heeled professionals nowadays -- but the screens on personal fitness equipment have to be up there. With that in mind, Zoom Media has partnered with NetPulse, which provides the software that runs most cardio fitness machines, to deliver advertising and content to digital displays on equipment in health clubs in Zoom’s ClubCom network of over 4,000 venues.

Under the terms of the deal, Zoom is the exclusive advertising representative for NetPulse’s network of interactive equipment displays, as well as NetPulse’s associated Web and mobile channels.

In addition to personal workout stats, the NetPulse platform already provides some entertainment content to cardio equipment displays, but the Zoom partnership holds out the potential for a much wider range of ad-supported on-demand viewing options, according to Zoom CEO François de Gaspé Beaubien. Advertisers will be able to offer fitness equipment users personalized channels and long-form programming, accompanied or preceded by pre-roll video, interstitials, and display advertising, among other options.

De Gaspé Beaubien noted that advertising delivered to displays on health club cardio fitness equipment can be coordinated with messages on Zoom’s other channels reaching the same venues, including TVs and digital signage in lobby and workout areas, ambient audio, static signage in locker rooms, mobile, online, and sampling, as well as experiential and event marketing. For example, ads on overhead TVs could direct viewers who are interested in a particular product to find out more on their personal display, which in turn can guide users to a mobile site for more information once they have left the gym.

The Zoom-NetPulse partnership is already active in Town Sports health clubs, which make up a large part of the ClubCom network on the U.S. East Coast. Cardio equipment in other ClubCom venues may require retrofits, but de Gaspé Beaubien expressed confidence that club owners in will opt in, since they can use the personal displays to deliver customized marketing messages and promotions for their businesses.