• by Les Luchter , January 17, 2024

Four decades ago, Jane Fonda popularized the workout motto, “No Pain, No Gain” through her enormously popular aerobics videos.

Now, not only is pain desired but failure too, at least according to the new tagline “Fail With Us” from Solidcore, whose studio-based strength-training workouts have been described as “Pilates on steroids.”

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s the foundation for it,” declares the female voiceover of a new spot from creative agency Farrynheight.

The spot is part of a national campaign that’s running across paid media like programmatic radio, Google search, Meta social and retargeting, and native ads.

In earned media, Solidcore is using email, SMS and push marketing, social (Instagram, TikTok, X), its website and app, and posters inside and outside its studios.

"We know that nothing incredible is accomplished in life without a healthy dose of failure along the way,” Bryan Myers, Solidcore president & CEO, said in announcing the campaign, adding that the brand’s mission is “to empower those seeking to push their limits in and out of studio.”

And, while Solidcore may be saying “Fail With Us” to consumers, the workout company itself has been anything but a failure.

Last year, a decade after its 2013 launch, founder Anne Mahlum sold all her shares in Solidcore to private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Price was not officially disclosed (CNBC reported it as $88.4 million ),but millions of dollars were said to be distributed among all full-time employees who had been with the company for at least a year.

Concurrent with the new campaign, Solidcore is rolling out a new beginner class format called Starter 50, which introduces the elements of the brand’s signature 50-minute workout, while including demos and moving “at a more accessible pace.”

Solidcore says that customers who take Starter 50 are 15% more likely to commit to program goals.

Solidcore now has more than 110 U.S. locations.