The people of Grand Forks have made their choice: Choice Health & Fitness has welcomed 19 percent of area residents as members in its first four months.
Personal bests
In fact, the original Choice Health & Fitness membership goal was 10 percent of the Grand Forks population by the end of 2012. We helped them achieve 19 percent!
In a time when it’s challenging to get any segment of the population to agree on anything, especially on a significant investment, a new fitness center has attracted amazing levels of agreement and attention.
Brochure cover promoting this new way of life.
How? Start with a gutsy idea.
The Choice Health & Fitness project was built from the ground up, over years of careful collaboration. Back in 2007, a few Grand Forks citizens dreamt big for their community and launched what was named the Imagine campaign. Imagine helped initiate fund raising for what could now be a health and wellness model for the Midwest.
However, Imagine was only the beginning…
Pulling out all the stops
Anyone who has ever attempted a fitness lifestyle change (or succeeded, way to go!) knows how difficult it is to commit to a gym, let alone a workout routine and new approach to wellness.
Overcoming this rather large obstacle was certainly Choice Health & Fitness’s immediate challenge with the public.
That’s where our Grand Forks office came in. As a group of marketing nerds, one might have seen the exuberant glow from space when given the chance to create an entirely new brand universe. Working alongside the Choice Health & Fitness marketing team, we picked up where Imagine left off with:
- Brand development
- Marketing plans
- Public relations plans
- Social media plans
- Website development
- Culture development
- Various print, outdoor, broadcast and other creative materials
A billboard that was one of the public’s first views of the new center.
It’s Your Choice
The approach to the new brand was that choice is good, and so is change. But combined, these are one powerful force.
Choice Health and Fitness made the decision easy by uniquely distinguishing themselves, showing that there’s nothing quite like it. We created materials that emphasize a family-focused approach and the spirit of community.
A few more brochure pages outlining partner services and amenities:
Perhaps Choice Health & Fitness’s most distinguishable quality, even compared to other facilities in the United States, is its variety of locations, programs and services that come with only a single membership, including a partnership with the YMCA. We thought this made all of the difference in accommodating people from all over the Grand Forks area.
After establishing the brand, we needed to make sure people understood what Choice Health & Fitness was all about. In the months leading up to the September 24, 2012, Grand Opening, we worked with several media outlets to create a supportive network that would help garner a positive outlook on the new project. To gain awareness among individuals in Grand Forks, we used a mixture of public relations, social media, and traditional print tactics to drive people to the website, the center for information. Amid the public relations outreach, “hard hat tours” of the unfinished facility were offered for the six months prior to opening.
Health and fitness culture
Now getting to the gym is easier than ever, but staying might be even easier. We developed a brand culture that creates a cohesive and friendly environment. All employees share a mission, vision, values and goals, at the center of which is a heavy focus on customer service.
Choice Health & Fitness continues to implement their marketing tactics on an ongoing basis, with the focus on superior customer service and retaining memberships.
We’re proud to be part of something that is changing lives. It sure changed ours–for the better.
