When fitness studios provide a consistent brand experience, they notice their retention rates go way up, member satisfaction, and yes, revenue.
If you’re lucky – or really good at marketing – your fitness studio’s brand is everywhere. But is your business providing users with a consistent brand experience?
It’s important that your image and messaging are consistent across different mediums and platforms. This includes your logo and colors, to the tone of your online voice.
How Fitness Studios Establish a Consistent Brand Experience
If your gym is fairly new, it’s important to establish brand consistency from the start!
Across all industries, competition for paying customers is fierce. Consumers want to engage with trustworthy brands. However, they also want a brand that fits their needs—in today’s world, that means digital.
It means accessible and responsive. As well as, supportive and communicative. In short, people want brands they can count on, and consistency is key.
Think about popular brands you follow and engage with. Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, McDonalds and Coca-Cola are just a few that come to mind. Why? Strong brand consistency is easily recognizable.
Most likely, if you saw McDonald’s golden arches in lime green, you’d think something was a little off. You might even wonder, “what happened to the golden arches?”
Similarly, most people know what airline their “bags fly free” on.
There are four main things every gym should focus on in order to achieve a consistent brand experience – everything from logo, color scheme, tone, and messaging.
Quick Note: Does This Apply To Your Fitness Studio?
If you’re a big franchise like F45 or Orangetheory Fitness, you typically already have a consistent brand experience built-in that everyone abides by.
If you’re an independent gym, this is still very important for you. A lot of fitness studios, like SOLDIERFIT, started out as one location only to become big brand franchises.
So consistency is important regardless of what type of fitness studio you own or are associated with. The reason is, your members will help set the tone and, like the McDonald’s example, won’t like it if something’s not right.
#1: Your Fitness Studio Logo
Your fitness studio’s logo is your main identity—it’s how members and prospects will recognize your brand. So, make sure it fits with your organization’s purpose.
Many gyms like green because they want to encourage members to “GO!”
Orangetheory ties their color scheme with science-backed workouts.
SOLDIERFIT matches the gold in military wear and metals.
Your logo’s design will convey your brand’s purpose – make sure it’s logical!
Once your logo is created, establish guidelines for how it should be used.
Set an aspect ratio for dimensions to ensure it doesn’t get stretched or compressed.
Sometimes, you might need an all-white or all-black version of your logo to put on a very light or very dark background when your full-color logo can’t be used. Create different versions to have at the ready for these occasions.
#2: Brand Color Scheme
Aside from your logo, your colors are probably your brand’s second most recognizable element.
Quick quiz – what brands come to mind when you think red and yellow? What about green and white? Brown and yellow? A mix of red, blue, yellow and green? Some answers might include McDonalds and Mastercard. Starbucks. UPS. Google and eBay. This is because colors can trigger memories and fuel recognition.
#3: The Tone of Your Brand
Your tone should reflect your fitness studio’s personality, and it should also allow you to communicate with your audience appropriately.
For gyms that are part of a franchise, your tone should match HQ’s guidelines and other locations. If jokes feel weird, don’t make them. But, if they’re the thing to do like Southwest, go for it.
If you’re a brand-new, independent fitness studio, your tone can be more creative – fun, witty, and sometimes even sarcastic if the shoe fits. It’s up to you.
Determine what you want your organization’s personality to be and ensure that it will be looked upon as trustworthy by your target audience before you embrace it.
#4: Consistent Brand Messaging
What does your fitness studio stand for? Do you have defined values? Craft a mission statement that ties these things together and highlights your organization’s purpose.
This will unite your employees and your members!
It should also drive your company culture, likely resulting in a happy team. A meaningful mission statement will give members a snapshot of your fitness studio and its values, theoretically resonating with them and cultivating member loyalty.
If appropriate for your gym, create a slogan or tagline, too. So many of today’s popular brands are easily recognized by them. Nike has “Just Do It,” Budweiser’s the “King of Beers,” Apple challenges us to “Think Different,” and Lay’s Potato Chips says they “Betcha Can’t Eat Just One.”
Once you’ve gone through the branding process and designed your logo, decided on your color scheme, and established your tone and messaging, it’s critical that your entire team is informed. After all, they’re the ones who will embody your brand and convey it to others… consistently.
It’s important to house all of your branding guidelines in one place. Consider creating a brand guide that can be used internally. Especially as your fitness studio grows, it’s a good idea to keep everyone on the same page and ensure your branding stays consistent.
If you’re just beginning the branding process, it can be slightly intimidating… but it doesn’t have to be!
Use the four points we’ve highlighted to take a step in the right direction. If you have any questions about how to get started, or if would like to share your thoughts on the process and the importance of brand consistency, leave us a comment!
