Case Study: Orangetheory Fitness

An innovative fitness studio franchise that seeking to engage customers, increase brand visibility and raise money for charity.
Born in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2010, Orangetheory Fitness is a leading fitness chain with locations across the country. Featuring a scientific approach to fitness that employs heart-rate technology to challenge you in real time – all while you work out in a positive atmosphere with helpful staff – the franchise now boasts over 20 locations in the Houston area.
Orangetheory Fitness

How We Do It

The Challenge

As December is typically a month when class attendance is low because of holiday festivities, the Orangetheory Fitness branches across Houston sought to keep members involved and attentive to their fitness needs throughout the holidays. This was coupled with a desire to increase overall visibility for the brand by raising money for a worthy charity in need during the holiday season.

The Approach

Created “Torture the Trainer” event so people could donate money to see their favorite trainers do one of five excruciating exercises: a burpee, push-up, pop jack, palms to elbows, or jump squat.

Organized live social media event to improve engagement and follower count

  • Developed public relations campaign to promote the fundraising opportunity and related charities

The Results

Public Relations

Raised $20,675 for Big Brothers Big Sisters and $53,498 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Generated 1,054,833 media impressions from two media stories and 2,232,318 from three media stories the following year.

Takeaways

We were humbled to receive a number of awards for our work with Orangetheory fitness, including a Silver Excaliber Award for Integrated Communications from the Public Relations Society of America Houston Chapter, a Crystal Award for a Non-Profit Social Media Campaign from the American Marketing Association Houston Chapter, and a Crystal Award for a Non-Profit PR campaign from the American Marketing Association.