New Year – the time of hundreds of thousands of plans to get fitter. It’s gold mine time for gyms – which means that competition is ferocious. AMV BBDO has created a new campaign for London’s unconventional fitness chain, Gymbox, to meet its brief to disrupt the category and reinforce its brand position as the “antidote to boring gyms”.
The campaign follows a survey with over 2,500 Londoners and revealed that almost half of respondents (48%) cites outdated motivational fitness quotes as their biggest turn off, followed by intimidating environments (21%) and body transformation images (16%). Gymbox has responded with its own take on fitness quotes that cut through the nonsense and motivational commandments and positions Gymbox as a welcome alternative to big gyms.
AMV’s new work builds on the existing Gymbox Anything goes campaign using the same endline. The new out-of-home creative mimics graffiti, with clicheì motivational quotes about working out scribbled over and phrases that sum up the Gymbox fun and bold spirit. In one execution, to the phrase, You can’t cheat on the gym, the comment, lucky given your track record, is scrawled underneath.
The campaign is running on London out-of-home sites and be supported with digital and social activity across Meta, TikTok & YouTube.
Rory McEntee, brand and marketing director at Gymbox, stated, “When did gym culture get so serious and weird? AMV have done a great job at helping us cut through the bulls**t because there’s no right way or wrong way to work out. Working out should be as fun as going out and at Gymbox, we are about pure, unadulterated fun and self-confidence. With this attention-grabbing campaign, we wanted to get across Gymbox’s unique approach to keeping fit and it really brings our messages to life, raising a smile and demonstrating a positive Gymbox attitude.”
Prabhu Wignarajah, creative director at AMV BBDO, added, “Getting to work with a brand like Gymbox is a gift – they have built an alternative to the typical dour, humourless gym chains and have created a fun, inclusive atmosphere. A fantastic brief like this deserves a great creative treatment.”
AMV BBDO won the account in a competitive pitch against several other agencies at the end of last year.
Credits:
Client: Gymbox
Client name: Rory McEntee, Fiona Trinder-Rose & Marc Diaper
Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
CCOs: Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley
Creative Director: Prabhu Wignarajah
Creative Team: Alex Duckworth, Jamie Chang & Prabhu Wignarajah
Design Team: Daniel Mead
Agency Planner: Tom White
Agency Account Team: Alexandra Sandford Smith
Media Agencies: 7 Stars, Jack Media
