member news
University of Louisville
Cardinals Fly in to the
Purple Planet
Fans lined up at Planet Fitness Louisville
Middletown to meet University of Louisville
stars Damion Lee and Trey Lewis.
Some loyal Cards fans snap a photo with
Damion Lee.
2016 Issue 2 | GearedUp
Trey Lewis recovers from an afternoon of
autograph signing with a Hydromassage
session.
10
“L’s up” for Trey Lewis and this trio of
happy Cardinals fans.
L
ongtime supporters of the University
of Louisville (UofL), PF Louisville
LLC hosted a post-season autograph
session with UofL basketball players
Damion Lee and Trey Lewis, March 11,
from 4-6 p.m. The two-hour event drew
more than 500 fans to the group’s Louisville Middletown Planet Fitness®.
“We’re firm believers in aligning
our brand and clubs with the community’s influencers,” said Rick Kueber,
PF Louisville CEO. “On top of that, this
was a great opportunity for us to give
our members and prospective members
a chance to meet two outstanding young
men.”
The Louisville program is annually
one of the top draws in college basketball, averaging more than 22,000 fans
per home game. Lee and Lewis led the
University of Louisville Cardinals to
a 23-8 regular season record and #16
ranking by the Associated Press.
Over the past four-plus years,
including the 2013 National Championship season, Cardinal fans young and old
have come to Kueber-owned clubs in the
Louisville area for a chance to meet their
favorite players.
“Hosting and promoting events like
this gives people who have never stepped
foot into our clubs a reason to check us
out,” said Kueber. “By our estimation,
over the past four years, we’ve brought in
thousands of folks who otherwise would
not have been exposed to Planet Fitness.
Bringing in Trey and Damion captured
the attention of 400 non-members –
that’s a win for us as we continue to grow
our Middletown club.”
To take advantage of the extra traffic,
the club promoted a special in-club $1
down enrollment offer to those visiting.
Additional staff was also on-hand to
provide tours of the club and answer
questions.
Along with the brand alignment
between Planet Fitness and UofL, the
club received marketing and promotional
value through a media buy with the
local ESPN radio affiliate. The timing of
the event allowed two of four network
affiliate newscasts to do live shots from
the club floor. The club also used boosted
Facebook posts to target Cardinals fans
in the surrounding areas and drive
attendance.
“We’re firm believers in
aligning our brand and
clubs with the
community’s influencers.”
- Rick Kueber
PF Louisville CEO
“The exposure we received in
a basketball-crazy community far
outweighed the investment,” said Ken
Horn, PF Louisville marketing manager.
“There were lots of smiles as fans got a
chance to have a photo taken and get
an autograph from Trey and Damion.
Plenty of folks left here with a positive
first impression of the club and Planet
Fitness.”
Kueber-owned clubs have
marketing agreements in place with
other college sports programs, particularly in markets where they face stiff
competition or are opening an area’s
first Planet Fitness.
“It’s important to partner with local
entities that have tremendous positive equity,” said Kueber. “Many of our
markets are focused on their local sports
teams. We try to take advantage of those
good feelings and make sure our club can
benefit.” G