Crunch Case Essay

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Faith D’Isa
William Anderson
Brands, Organizations & Strategies
Spring 2015 The Crunch Case
Crunch Fitness is a company taking a new stance on the idea of working out in a day and age where fitness centers are becoming more and more disposable to the public. They’re a service that many people feel they can look over and accomplish elsewhere; there are public places like parks where you can get in your cardio, and weights and fitness videos you can work with in the comfort of your own home. So the job of subscription based gyms and their marketing has become more and more difficult as time goes on. However, in creating a successful and widespread name for itself,
Crunch Fitness may very well be able to penetrate a new segment of the market by hitting an audience often overlooked by many other traditional gyms and bringing them and their friends in.
That’s just it; Crunch is not your traditional gym. They aim to give their customers, as so many do, a one­of­a­kind experience. They’re marketing not necessarily the end result of your time at Crunch, be it a goal of muscle­building or weight loss, but rather the process of going to a new sort of a gym. Their “No
Judgements” policy already separates them from the rest of the pack; this position puts them in prime view of a consumer who wouldn’t normally go to an alternative competitor

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as a result of the fear of gym shaming or not being the “typical” gym customer. This idea of presenting themselves to a different audience not only lets off competition, but also allows their message to spread to the connections of those audiences; often, people tend to go to the gym in groups in order to accomplish goals together.
Crunch’s “No Judgements” policy, in addition to their branding as a fun place to work out, encourages this activity and therefore spreads their overall marketing base to beyond the stereotypical gym customer, like teens and women who want to attend a fitness center on a more casual basis as opposed to those with more rigorous schedules. They also make sure not to down their competition, which is a clever stance, claiming that they instead wish to encourage people “with all kinds of goals who’ve chosen to come reach them with us.” This, in the mind of the consumer, laxens
Crunch’s marketing and makes it seem less pressure­filled, much like the rest of their brand’s message. In a world where it’s harder and harder to get people into gyms, nonetheless keep them, Crunch seems to have the right idea, creating a “nurturing” environment that people want to keep coming back to.
However, Crunch is a limited brand. In looking to explore expansion options, they begin to create the idea that they have a marketable brand that will be received well in other markets. In this case, we take into consideration the concept of Crunch purchasing SportsLife, a chain of gyms in the Atlanta area. The main “mission” conflict comes from the fact that Crunch presents itself to its consumers as a very one­of­a­kind place and experience. SportsLife might have their own brand positioning, but whether it is akin to