The club industry's most successful public-outreach effort ever . . . is about to get better!
by Patricia Amend
Let us be blunt about this: Get Active America! is simply the largest and most successful public-outreach campaign that the health and fitness club industry has ever conducted.
There, we've said it!
Last May, during the initiative's inaugural run, some 1,650 IHRSA member facilities, representing all 50 states, took part, inducing more than 150,000 consumers to give health clubs a try.
Fully 96 percent of the clubs that participated said that they intended to do so again.
Next year, come May 16-22, the results will undoubtedly be even more impressive-we guarantee it-for a variety of reasons: Epidemic obesity is still with us. The public's appreciation for the value of regular exercise has grown. Clubs remain one of the clearest, surest, paths to a fit and healthy lifestyle.
Never before have Americans more desperately needed to Get Active! and never before have IHRSA providers been better prepared to help them do so. The 2004 campaign not only produced a major buy-in on the part of clubs and a huge public response, but endorsements by venerable organizations and cities, coast to coast, and invaluable support and coverage by the press.
Get Active America! (GAA!) was embraced by, among others, the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA), which includes the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The mayors of seven major metros-Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.-proclaimed the designated period in May 'Get Active! (name of city) Week.' And the print and electronic media blanketed the nation with GAA!-related news, both before and after the event, generating well over 68 million individual impressions. Among the principal outlets were The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times, and Reader's Digest, Self, Health, Fitness, and Organic Style magazines, and radio and TV stations in Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Oakland, California.
'I'm extremely proud of Get Active America! and all the industry professionals who worked so hard to bring so many Americans into their local clubs,' observes John McCarthy, the executive director of IHRSA. 'It's essential that our industry continue to showcase-on both a local and national level-the enormously important role that clubs can play in promoting physical activity, and helping to disarm the alarming trends associated with obesity and inactivity.'
The 2005 GAA! campaign will retain the basic structure and inherent strengths of the core program, but will leverage the expertise acquired last year to build on that success.
During the first four days of the week, the 'Bring a Friend for Free' component of GAA! will encourage club members to bring friends, family, coworkers, and colleagues to the club to sample a free workout and take part in other special activities. The following three days, reserved for a weekend Open House, will give the public at large a chance to sample the same free offerings. Many clubs will also stage health fairs to reinforce their status as an authoritative source of information about health, fitness, and, especially, weight loss.
The GAA! experience that clubs enjoyed last year provides a tantalizing preview of exciting things to come:
ClubSport San Ramon
San Ramon, California
One of the highlights of this club's GAA! initiative was a fitness challenge that pitted two mayors against one another, ensuring significant press exposure. 'We have a close relationship with H. Abram Wilson, the mayor of San Ramon, and challenged him to participate in a month-long competition with the mayor of Danville, Newell Arnerich,' explains Kari Gardella, the club's membership sales director.
Each mayor headed up a celebrity team of 10 prominent individuals, who received a free one-month pass and earned points each time they made use of the club. 'That helped create some momentum,' notes Gardella.
The club promoted the matches between the two teams via handouts, an insert in a member billing, and photographs and bios of the participants posted in the pro shop window. To make the head-to-heads more interesting, the club incorporated ideas from past corporate challenges-e.g., blanket volleyball, and relays on exercise bikes and, in the pool, on rafts. A local catering company contributed a 'victory barbecue.'
'We had 50-100 people at each event,' reports Gardella. The challenge was covered by four local newspapers, some of which featured it on the front page, and a local community TV station. 'Though the Danville team had some younger, fitter people, the San Ramon team won . . . We've created a real, but friendly, rivalry between the two towns, and the Challenge cup will be passed along to next year's winner.'
The French Riviera Clubs
New Orleans
Memphis, Tennessee
Birmingham, Alabama
A number of the French Riviera Clubs-five coed facilities in New Orleans and four in Memphis, and five women-only facilities in Birmingham-made a major impression when they climbed onto the GAA! bandwagon. 'It was easy to jump on board, to get going with this program,' says Tracy Childress, the owner and area manager for the New Orleans and Birmingham clubs. 'IHRSA had the theme pinned down and the basic components in place. All we had to do was put our promotional skills to work . . . We put up IHRSA's GAA! posters in our clubs and distributed flyers to local businesses that invited the general public to work out free for the week.'
Childress's ad agency, Schollnick Advertising, developed a public-service announcement, which was broadcast by area radio and TV stations. It read: 'Forty percent of Americans are sedentary, and more than 129 million are overweight.
Let's Get Active America! and combat inactivity, obesity, and rising healthcare costs. From May 21 to May 23, over 1,600 health clubs across America will be open to the public free-of-charge. Americans of all ages can get started on an exercise program that's designed specifically for their personal needs, by professionals, in a supportive, safe environment. For a participating IHRSA health club near you, go to www.getactiveamerica.com.'
Determined not to overlook any opportunity, Childress also employed GAA! as a member-retention tool. He had staff call members to advise them about the campaign. 'We explained that GAA! was a national program, informed them about IHRSA, and encouraged them to bring a friend to the club for a week . . . They knew we weren't trying to sell them anything.'
GAA! produced 75 new members, representing $35,000 in annual revenues, for the New Orleans clubs alone, but, as far as Childress was concerned, that was an added, incidental benefit. His principal goal was to get involved, in a serious way, in public outreach. 'I'd always wanted to do things in the community, but, inevitably, other priorities interfered,' he explains. 'GAA! made outreach easy. People were able to enjoy our clubs without worrying about being subjected to a hard sell . . . I hope that more IHRSA members take part next year.'
The Sportsclub Greenville
Greenville, South Carolina
'Getting good PR is hard for us because, in this area, when the press wants information about exercise, it generally calls on a local hospital that has a fitness center,' points out Mary Beth Provost, the vice president of operations for the Sportsclub Greenville, which has two locations in Greenville. 'But with GAA!, we got the press!'
The club's ad agency sent out press releases, and followed up with phone calls, which generated a small storm of interest. 'The agency got us an interview with the health writer for the Greenville News-Piedmont, our local newspaper,' Provost reports. The story that resulted was followed by articles in two other newspapers, several radio mentions, and a live TV broadcast from one of the clubs during the height of the campaign.
Provost not only promoted what the Sportsclubs were doing, but, when talking to reporters, also pointed out that other local facilities-the Greer Health Club and a Powerhouse Gym-were taking part in GAA! too.
Following the basic GAA! formula, the Sportsclubs staged a 'Bring a Friend' drive for the first four days of the week and an open house for the final three; they also conducted health fairs. 'We provided blood pressure monitoring, body composition testing, and chair massage,' explains Provost.
'Our staff did a lot of presentations for nonexercisers-including ab clinics and Nutrition 101 classes-and we kept extra staff on the fitness floor . . . Outside vendors, a total of 11, also took part in the health fairs; the American Heart Association, Red Cross Blood Drive, Health South physical therapy, a chiropractor, a natural cafe, and a market were all represented.'
Provost was delighted with all of the publicity, interest, and excitement. 'I was very pleased with the results,' she attests.
Get Active Operator! It's Easy to Sign Up!
You can sign up to participate in GAA! 2005 beginning next month by simply logging on to www.ihrsa.org/gaa. Enrolling will entitle you to make use of the official GAA! logo, products, and online toolkit, which includes: useful tips; additional success stories; a public relations/media strategy outline; and sample press releases and letters to send to the local press, physicians, and corporations. Enrolling also guarantees that your club will be listed on the official GAA! Website, www.getactiveamerica.com, which consumers can use to locate participating clubs in their area. For additional information, please contact Amelia Gilmour at 800-228-4772, Ext. 170.
