• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 10, 2024

Orangetheory Fitness, the gym company, is rolling out a new campaign called “Every reason is the right reason.” The effort builds on the varied motivations people have for flocking to the chain’s 1,500 studios, which use a science-backed, technology-tracked group fitness approach, balancing strength and cardio. David Chriswick, senior vice president of brand and communications, tells Marketing Daily what’s behind the new splash.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Marketing Daily: Gyms always run new campaigns heading into fitness resolution season. Any other reason behind the timing of this new work?

David Chriswick: Yes, it’s the silly season for fitness. And we do a campaign every year, too. But this is something bigger.  We’ve been working on transforming the brand and developing a company-wide operating system that transcends marketing. We’re focusing on brand identity, too -- what we stand for and how we show up differently. We’ve been around for 14 years, and in fitness, staying fresh and relevant is critical. People are always looking for a shiny new thing. It’s the right moment to reenergize the brand. And the fitness landscape has changed so much since COVID.

Marketing Daily: How so?

Chriswick: It’s bounced back, but differently. There are so many alternatives, and many are brought about by tech.

Consumer expectations have shifted. We've evolved, too, and our experience has never been better. In addition to our core Orange 60 classes, which focus on strength and cardio in one hour, we’ve begun offering Strength 50 and Treadmill 50, which are more specialized.

And our app does more now. Besides booking a class, you can set mini goals and challenges.

Marketing Daily: For many people, COVID revealed they needed group fitness. Others learned they could do fine on their own. Orangetheory is very social, yet you’ve also worked at Strava, the running and cycling app, which is all about individual effort, and connecting virtually. Are most people one or the other?

Chriswick: Hopefully, people will find their way. As long as people are moving and being active, that's what matters most. But there's nothing to replace that kind of in-person togetherness of doing hard things within a community.

Post-COVID, people are doing a bit of everything. There are Orangetheory diehards who come four or five times a week. But plenty of others mix it up with running or home workouts.

Marketing Daily: OK, we’ve become fitness omnivores. Who is your core audience?

Chriswick: We’re about 70% female, with the bullseye around a 35- to 36-year-old. But we’ve got people from 18 to 80. We wanted this campaign, which we created in-house, to reflect that diversity-- from the grandpa working on his “revenge bod” to the new mom to the ice cream lover. Our brand promise is to energize people to live longer, more vibrant lives.

People have all different kinds of motivation – some small and some quite sentimental and serious. We feel like we’ve got a big idea with this and hope to keep the campaign fresh with new stories and vignettes.

Marketing Daily: Campaigns like this have to do two things -- attract new customers and remind existing members why they shouldn’t switch gyms. Is that hard?

Chriswick: For January, it is all about acquisition. That’s our biggest drive period, and fitness brands are more or less defined in Quarter One. This campaign works at the top of the funnel with emotional storytelling and member engagement. We’ve got 1,500 studios and a franchisee model, so while this is a national campaign, we can make it feel local.

As far as existing members, we’ve already got one of the best retention rates in the industry, but we never want to rest on our laurels. We're always looking to make things interesting with variety and events to keep members engaged and motivated.

Marketing Daily: What’s the media plan?

Chriswick: This is a full-funnel campaign with connected TV, digital video channels, Meta, Google and TikTok. Outside of paid media, we also have our own active, organic social channels nationally, as well as at every studio. We’ll spend about 30% more on this than we have in the past.