the insight
the insight
Teens want a hot girl (or boy) summer, but the gym gives them the ick.
the idea: On This Repisode
Summer is supposed to be epic for teens, but ends up with ‘bed rotting” and binging TV series while scrolling feeds that feed insecurities. In fact, 75% of teens don't get their daily dose of exercise. Planet Fitness needed a fresh way to get teens in the gym. We understood the assignment—live on the channels they spend their summers on, with enticing content that creates confidence to sign up for the High School Summer Pass, a free teen membership.
Knowing we needed to reach an audience who actively blocks out advertising, we disguised our ad campaign as a teen drama that mimics the series that teens binge all summer long. Through 10 ‘repisodes’ released over the course of the summer, we turned our “promo language” and “reasons to believe'' into juicy gossip and scandalous plot twists that kept teens coming back for more.
the story.
While the repisodes were perfectly sarcastic and dramatic, they also infused confidence for new gym-goers. Each repisode subtly educated teens on gym etiquette and provided tips, how-to’s, and hacks to make the gym feel less scary and more welcoming. The cast was also intentionally selected to reflect real teenagers of today—allowing teens to see themselves in the content and giving them a break from the ‘picture perfect’ standard they’re forced to compare themselves to.
The campaign was extended through influencer activations, PR, email and CRM outreach, pricing discounts for post-summer joins, and in-club signage. Throughout the summer, content across channels was differentiated with messaging specific to teens and to their parents, reaching both audiences with an effective message.
The campaign generated 3.1 million High School Summer Pass signups from May 1st, 2023-September 30th, 2023 (3) and largely contributed to massive Gen Z membership growth in Q3. Gen Z was Planet Fitness’ fastest growing cohort in Q3—making up a quarter (25%) of the membership base (18.5M members). Planet Fitness is cementing itself as the gym for this generation, with the average age of members steadily decreasing and a teen membership boost of 118,493 in 3 months.
Teens logged 14.5 million workouts this summer and noted significant impact on wellbeing, with 78% seeing a positive change in mood as a result of working out.
