Born Primitive
Born Primitive
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, Aug. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has created vast economic challenges for practically everyone — but some industries are feeling this more than others. Among the hardest hit businesses are gyms and fitness centers, which are believed to be an area where the virus can spread easily.
Many gym owners have been forced to shut down their facilities for months. Those in states like Arizona have faced an economic whiplash, initially given the go-ahead to reopen, then forced to shut down again as local cases spiked.
Needless to say, gym owners, fitness trainers and others employed in the industry have been struggling. Even iconic fitness chains like 24 Hour Fitness have declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closures of locations across the country.
Fortunately, companies in related niches are taking notice — such as active duty-owned fitness apparel brand Born Primitive, which recently stepped in to support local gyms by offering $1.5 million in gift vouchers to gym members.
‘Stay For May’
“As soon as gyms started closing due to the pandemic, they started bleeding memberships,” explains Bear Handlon, co-founder of Born Primitive. “This was devastating for the gyms. A lot of them were immediately in a position where they were just trying to keep their heads above water.”
Recognizing the significant threat the industry was facing, the fitness and CrossFit apparel brand developed a campaign entitled “Stay For May.” Targeted at gym owners, the idea of the campaign was to help local gyms offer a compelling reason for their customers to retain their memberships, even in the midst of the pandemic.
“This campaign was the sequel to our ‘Back the Gyms’ stimulus initiative, which allowed us to ultimately contribute over $186,000 to local gyms all across America. However, we soon realized what was more important for gym owners was for their customers to keep their memberships. So we pivoted the campaign and took a different approach that attempted to incentivize those who were on the fence about things to stick with their gym for a few more months,” says Handlon.
The Stay for May initiative aimed to directly help struggling gyms by offering gift vouchers to patrons who kept their gym membership during the month of May. The gyms themselves didn’t have to pay anything — instead, the money for the vouchers came directly from Born Primitive and its partners.
By offering gift vouchers from various, fitness-oriented brands that gym users would be interested in, local gym owners could give their customers a reason to not cancel their memberships. It was also easy for gym owners to implement. The gym owner simply needed to share a link with their members. From there, the participating brands were able to deliver the gift vouchers instantly via email.