6 APRIL 6, 2020 |^ ADWEEK
®A
s the coronavirus has forced
people indoors, fitness brands
are trying to keep the sweat
flowing, even if doors to their
gyms are closed.
Both traditional and boutique
studio fitness brands have turned to streaming
platforms to shift their audiences away from the
squat rack and toward their televisions and lap-
tops. Although it isn’t enough to replace the lost
revenue, workout platforms have kept maintain-
ing their brands top of mind during the crisis.
Orangetheory Fitness, an interval training
workout studio with franchises nationwide,
announced on March 16 that it would be clos-
ing its studios. Within two days, it pivoted
to YouTube, publishing new Orangetheory
At-Home Workouts daily.
“We’ve completely done a 180,” said Kevin
Keith, Orangetheory’s chief brand officer.
“We’re not driving people to our studios, but
what can we do right now to help people?”
The at-home workouts feature the exercis-
es that customers have come to expect from
the studio, adapted for an at-home setting.
Orangetheory’s workouts usually involve a
treadmill, rowing machine and barbell, but
the at-home versions replace free weights
with items users can find around the house,
such as a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle
Soup or even a French bulldog.
Within a week of launching its first work-
out video on March 18, the brand has seen
engagement across social platforms increase
366%, with the first seven videos averagingover 110,ooo views and viewers watching for
an average of 7:19 minutes.
As customers shift their behaviors, brands
can take advantage of these changes.
“Some of the work that people do at the gym
could have been done at home,” said Joshua
Swartz, a consultant at Kearney. “If that’s
proven, it could change the way people exercise,
work out and engage with fitness professionals.”
Orangetheory chose YouTube as itsWorking Out in the
Time of Coronavirus
WELLNESS
HOW FITNESS BRANDS ARE ADAPTING THEIR MARKETING
EFFORTS TO KEEP EVERYONE MOVING. BY RYAN BARWICKpreferred platform, meeting users where
they already were. The fitness brand has also
pulled back on its lead generation marketing
strategy, investing on social channels like
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to promote
the at-home workouts.
“For those people discovering and looking
for at-home solutions who might not be an
Orangetheory member, YouTube is a great
chance to capture them,” he said. “The work-
out is the marketing.”
Planet Fitness, a chain gym with almost
2,000 locations across the U.S., has also been
offering “home work-ins” on the brand’s Face-
book page and YouTube channel. It has also
loaded its app with workouts. Planet Fitness
said that subscribers to its YouTube channel
have grown 58% since March 18.
Equinox, which also closed its gyms world-
wide on March 16, has hosted meditations and
workouts on its Instagram page and has sent
its members daily workouts and fitness chal-
lenges. Earlier this month, Equinox announced
the rollout of its own fitness platform called
Variis, initially only available to select Equinox
members before its full launch later this year.
To aid members stuck in quarantine, the brand
has released the content on Instagram.
Since the start of the outbreak, Crunch
Fitness has closed all of its 300-plus locations
worldwide. With every locked door, its mem-
bers have gotten an email notification to tell
them about Crunch Live, the brand’s streaming
platform where members can find workouts.
According to Chad Waetzig, Crunch’s evp
of marketing and branding, visitors to the
site’s daily sessions are up 6,000% over the
past 10 days.
The digital platform boosts Crunch’s pres-
ence in a time when the company has had to
pull back on its marketing. Crunch has gone
dark across all of its media channels, with its
only ongoing marketing being paid search.
Although originally only available to a spe-
cific tier of membership, Crunch has opened
the platform to all members and offered a 45-
day free trial. By offering it for free, Crunch
is staying relevant to both its own audience
and future members at a time when the brand
can’t afford to market itself any other way.
“Even during a severe retraction, we want
to have opportunities to engage with our
members,” said Waetzig.
Although the revenue generated from the
platform is “negligible,” that’s not the point,
he continued. “This is not a time to monetize
our video platform, it’s a time for us to remain
a hopefully important part of our members’
lives,” said Waetzig.
For the immediate future and until the
crisis abates, fitness brands are banking on
remaining relevant.
“When things get back to normal, we’ll be
top of mind,” said Keith. “We were there for
them when they needed a solution.”VIRTUAL-ONLY WORKOUTS
ALSO SEE A BOOM
Of course, if your entire business exists only on
a platform and without a physical gym, there’s a
market opportunity.
Beachbody, a fitness company created
in 1998 and known for its P90X and Insanity
workouts, has seen a spike in subscribers. Since
most gyms nationwide closed in early March,
Beachbody has seen its new daily subscribers
leap from 2,000 to more than 13,000. Although,
as of publication, it’s still too soon to see how
many will last longer than the 14-day free trial.
“We’ve been very careful not to exploit the
situation,” said Carl Daikeler, Beachbody’s CEO.
“We’re going to stay in our lane and focus on
how we can serve people.”RYAN BARWICK IS ADWEEK’S BRANDS
REPORTER COVERING TRAVEL, MOBILITY
AND SPORTS MARKETING. @RYANBARWICK