The 30-second article
• You must refresh your brand and
your company from time to time to
stay relevant
• Fitness businesses spend
advertising dollars to motivate
people to visit, but they should also
allocate some brand dollars to
inspire people to stay once they
have walked through the doors
• You need to create a welcoming and
inspirational space that your
members want – not just need – to
spend time in
• Even low-cost changes like a fresh
coat of paint, inspirational posters
and murals will demonstrate to
members that you care about their
environment.
or my money. I want to feel comfortable. It’s
all about the relationship to and experience
with a product and service. Whether you’re
my gym, my group fitness instructor or my
personal trainer, I don’t want to outgrow you
or get bored with you. Like any relationship,
I want you to improve with age, as I hope
I do. I want you to continue to inspire and
motivate me.
What the big names do
Some of the most successful brick and
mortar retail stores, like the Hard Rock Cafe,
Nike Town, and the Apple Store, understand
the power of branding and the importance of
the customer experience.
The Westfield Corporation, which builds
some of the best shopping malls in the
world, understands how important the
shopping experience is to its customer
base. It spends a ton of money on design
and branding throughout its malls. It
continues to stay relevant by rejuvenating
its malls throughout the years. It’s worth it
to them because it attracts customers, both
new and existing. Brands pay big rent for
locations in a Westfield mall because of the
amount of foot traffic the brand attracts. Of
course, it is then up to those retail tenants to
inspire all that traffic to buy the product or
service offered at that venue, or they won’t
last long. They too need to evolve, and must
regularly rejuvenate their store fitouts. As I
write this, Westfield is spending upwards
of US$800 million to renovate the mall near
where I live in Century City, next to Beverly
Hills. Locals can’t wait to see it when it’s
completed next September, because it was
26 | NETWORK WINTER 2017
Before
a good mall before, but from what we’ve
seen so far, it will be exponentially better.
Buzz is, it will be Westfield’s best mall to
date, anywhere. People love being a part
of something spectacular, and so they will
th rong to this renovated mall with credit
cards in hand for the kudos of shopping at
the best mall in the world.
What you can do
Do you need to spend a ton of money to
renovate or rebrand your brick and mortar
business in order to make a difference to
your customers? No. You can start with
some low-cost changes like a few cans
of new paint, and some inexpensive but
inspirational posters and murals. Your
customers will notice these changes
and appreciate that you care about their
environment. I help all my clients do this
without breaking the bank.
I once had a client in Montreal, Canada
with a huge 100,000sq.ft. sports complex
that had tennis and squash courts, a full-
sized gym, restaurant, pro-shop and
more. They hired me to help them after
they heard me speak about branding at
a fitness conference. As is usual, after
my presentation a group of gym owners
approached to ask me questions. That
Montreal club owner showed me her
business card and asked what I thought
Before
After
of their logo. I said to her, ‘To get an
unbiased opinion, may I first ask your fellow
gym owners here what they think?’ She
nervously smiled, shrugged her shoulders
and nodded. I held up her card and asked,
‘How many of you think the name of her
club is ‘West Island Club?’ Half the people
there raised their hands. I then asked, ‘How
many of you think the name is ‘Club West
Island?’ The other half raised their hands. I
already knew it was a confusing and badly
designed logo, but I knew it would be more
meaningful to her if her business peers said
it before I did.
So, fast forward, I’m sitting in the Club
West Island board room in Montreal and ask
the owners and their staff what the members
called their club. The overwhelming
response is, ‘The Club’. I reminded them
how, after the public called Federal Express
‘FedEx’ for years, they listened to us and
changed their name officially to FedEx.
I then reminded my client that they were
French Canadian, hence my suggestion to
change their name to ‘Le Club’ reflecting
their roots as well as what their members
were already calling them. With great
excitement, everyone agreed. The Chief
Operating Officer leaned over to me with a
smile and said, for the group to hear, ‘We
flew you 4,000 miles to tell us something we
should have figured out ourselves?’ I smiled
After