In November, Ireland’s largest independent sports retailer Life Style Sports teamed up with agencies Thinkhouse and Core to launch a new brand positioning and advertising campaign called ‘Fit With Benefits’ awash with gentle innuendo.
Building on its existing four-year brand partnership, Thinkhouse worked with the company’s marketing team to roll out ‘Fit With Benefits’: the brand’s first major through-the-line marketing push which introduced the fresh positioning.
The new position and marketing burst followed on from research by agency Core based around a brief to ‘help make the brand distinctive in what is a busy and competitive market’. And the result aimed to present a bold, courageous brand through festive season advertising which was designed to disrupt the traditional, often clichéd Christmas retail environment.
The creative idea was based around the insight that ‘performance’ has more than one meaning – so the team decided to dramatised the benefits of being ‘fit’ (something research found was very important to Life Style Sports customers). So the campaign stripped the idea back to the essence of how it feels to be fit and the multiple benefits that come with that.
The campaign spanned TV, radio, outdoor, digital and social (including TikTok) as well as in-store and across the brand’s owned channels and was spearheaded by a hero spot which debuted on 5 November.
The creative asked viewers: “However you like to do it. Indoors, outdoors, in the gym or playing the field. You know that being fit comes with benefits. We have the sportswear for you. Brands that turn you on, innovation that gives you the edge and no-strings advice so you can choose life-with-benefits, style-with-benefits, sports-with-benefits.
Your life your style your sports.”
As the campaign unfolds, it also highlights the benefits that come with shopping with Life Style Sports – reinforcing important functional messages such as next-day-delivery; the best brands and new releases.
“The research unlocked a truth that we built the creative idea on – performance has more than one meaning. We also wanted to dramatise the benefits of being fit – something that’s important to the Life Style Sports customer,” explained Thinkhouse Head Of Creative Innovation Jane McDaid. “This campaign is stripped right back to the essence of how it feels to be fit, and the benefits that come with that. Fit with Benefits is courageous in the simplicity of its message, the minimalism of its creative and the cheekiness of its tone. It gives clear standout in a category that is awash with hard-to-differentiate players. As this campaign unfolds, it also highlights the benefits that come with shopping with Life Style Sports – reinforcing important functional messages such as next-day-delivery; the best brands and new releases.”
The campaign was created for the Life Style Sports marketing team which included Go to Market Director Gordon Newman, Interim Head of Creative Strategy Jen Connell and Head of Marketing Emma Mulligan by a team at agency Thinkhouse Strategy & Creative.
The agency team included Head Of Strategy & Creative Jane McDaid, Client Services Director Scott Lawless, Art & Design Director Shane Kenna and Script & Audio Director.
The work was also produced by Thinkhouse Production where the team was led by Director Johnny Cullen, Photographer Kathrin Baumbach, Producers Dave McCabe and Alice De Forge, Intimacy Director Ita O’Brien, DOP Esme McNamee, Camera Assistant Dean Gordon, Focus Puller Karl Walsh, Gaffer Noel McElligot, Lighting Assistant Peter Morrisey, Wardrobe Assistant Jessica Jones, Make-Up Artist Madonna Bambino, Phantom Operator Phillip Jebb, Sound Designers Damian Molony and Simon Bird (of Folding Waves) and Colourist Leandro Arouca (of Element Post Production).
Media was handled by Mediaworks Conor McCooey and Mark Delaney.
Comment
‘Fit with Benefits’ is, according to the brand itself, Life Style Sports’ biggest marketing campaign in several years and aims to fuel the company’s current major growth strategy and investment drive.
Life Style Sports currently employs more than 800 staff at ? outlets and also recently announced a new €20m carbon-neutral distribution centre (the first of its kind in Ireland).
This kind of unofficial, indirect fitness/sex linked creative (within the law of course) remind us a little of Gymbox’s 2018 ‘50 Shades Of Gymbox’ campaign.
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