I noticed Hulk Hogan wearing a variety of Gold's Gym muscle t-shirts while watching an episode of "Hogan Knows Best" on VH1 last Saturday night (1/6/07). Now this enticed me to look a little further into Gold's Gym and its marketing strategies. Everybody knows traditional advertising doesn't work as well as it used to. Therefore, I am always interested in seeing how companies take advantage of different opportunities to market themselves.
Overall, Gold's Gym has strong brand awareness, which is a reason for their success. Gold's Gym has established worldwide recognition through millions of dollars of advertising placement, consistent P.R. exposure and strategic marketing alliances and promotions. It's brand awareness is reinforced when consumers see it's logo in Hollywood films and TV shows like:
Adam Sandler's The Longest Yard
The Dr. Phil Show's official gym for the Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge
VH1's Celebrity Fit Club
Entourage, Wheel of Fortune, Hogan Knows Best and Extreme Home Makeover
Gold's Gym marketing strategy tries to illustrate that its the choice of celebrities, professional athletes and successful fitness enthusiasts.
However, I do notice other health clubs taking a similar approach to marketing as Gold's Gym. For example, Fitworks has enrolled Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo and former Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Jon Kitna as spokespersons promoting its gym.
The marketing strategies of health clubs to use non-traditional means of advertising (i.e. product placement and sponsorship) provide a much better way of reaching their target audiences when compared to running television commercials to the mass market.
In conclusion, health clubs such as Gold's Gym appear to be savvy marketers in addition to being health experts.
VH1 Celebreality
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