FORM are a premium health and wellbeing brand that prioritises the long-term goals and sustainable success of its clients.
Originally created as an independent personal training gym in Manchester city centre, FORM now has two branches committed to making fitness both fun and comfortable, with no room for feeling intimidated by packed out gyms.
With a studio dedicated to personal and group training, Riverside, and another for yoga, pilates, and barre classes, RESET, they help their clients reach their goals in a way that suits them. Not only this, but their new structured weight training routine, Build and Burn is their newest proposition set to enable individuals of all abilities to lose weight, become stronger, build muscle and become fitter all-round.
FORM attended one of our workshops in the summer of 2020 with a plan in mind. They wanted to use the hiatus provided by lockdown wisely. This would entail developing a strategy that would enable them to hit the ground running once restrictions eased, taking their incredible business to the next level.
Their main aim was to differentiate themselves in a crowded fitness and wellbeing market. They wanted their brand to truly articulate their premium positioning, showcasing their luxurious offering that makes fitness inclusive, accessible, and fun for leaders in the Manchester area.
A large challenge with FORM was ensuring that they came out of lockdown better than ever.
Gyms had been closing and reopening on and off for months, and, not unlike a vast number of businesses in the industry, the future of FORM had been called into question. Yet their mission was still to hit the ground running again in the best way they could.
This would include:
During our strategy day with the directors Ben and Libby, we chatted about where they’ve come from, where they are now and where they’re going.
We developed a set of personas to create a deep understanding of the type of clients who would be walking in and out of the gym doors. This then led us into piecing together a typical customer journey for both Riverside and RESET clients. Since the business by nature is customer-facing, we found this to be a crucial part of the planning process. Not only does it allow us to understand messaging, targeting, and customer journeys, but it allows us to generate more awareness to the right people, drive leads, and improve conversion.
We also established the brand positioning, tone of voice, personality, and messaging of FORM, as well as doing a thorough digital marketing audit.
Once this had all been done, the vision of the future of FORM was confirmed. We developed a strategy for the next 12 months and beyond as a tactical plan, all kicking off with a brand refresh, done alongside their brand specialist, Mark Higginson.
We helped FORM to develop a launch strategy for their collaboration with Bruntwood for their RESET studio. This was a multi-channel approach, focussing on:
Alongside this launch strategy, we worked on their brand position, developing strategies for elevating the brand through content, imagery, video, and partnerships.
We also focussed our attention on developing and implementing their SEO strategy, whilst working on their paid search and paid social.
The team has since worked with FORM to redevelop and refresh their website, with the help of website agency SOAP, developing copy for their range of services. We ensured that this site refresh was brought in line with their rejuvenated brand identity, communicating their emphasis on the premium service they provide.
We also aided the relaunch of REFORM, their group personal training service, as well as their 1-1 offers. This was tackled as they came out of lockdown when gym offers were flying around left and right, so we made sure to develop impactful multi-channel approaches across paid search and social, organic social, content and email.
Libby and Ben were thrilled with the results, and so were we.
The hard work put into getting the FORM name out there paid off. The strong foundations that we had laid out in the lead-up to the end of restrictions meant that FORM was ready to tackle the return of their clients and the influx of new ones with confidence.
We came across Mike Pye + Co over an online marketing workshop presented by Mike & his team on all things marketing strategy. This was during lockdown when gyms had been closed & out of action for the best part of a year, confidence and morale were low, the future of the business was unpredictable but our aspirations for the brand were at an all-time high.
We decided that we wanted to come out of lockdown stronger and with more confidence than when we entered, it was now or never. After listening to Mike & his team present in the workshop & give such valuable applicable content we made the decision that we were going to commit to a brand refresh and for the first time have a professional eye on our marketing strategy and direction.
From the very first strategy meeting, we were blown away by MP&Co’s workshop, it felt like they knew us, what we wanted and where we were heading inside out – so it was a no-brainer that they soon took full control of our marketing.
We came out of lockdown with a bang!!
We were everywhere. Press releases, huge marketing campaigns, a big outdoor ticketed event, the grand opening of a second studio, and new team members on-boarded. This gave us the strong, bold start that we needed to put the framework in place to start re-building our business from the state the pandemic had left it in.
Mike and his team have been unbelievably focused and organised throughout & continue to be so, they offer support when you haven’t even asked and are amazingly laid back to work with. It’s been such a great relationship that we will continue to work alongside indefinitely.
Libby Smith, Director, FORM
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