Items sold in your pro shops — specifically those with your brand name or slogan on them — can be extremely efficient tools for branding purposes. This is especially true for items that members wear inside and outside the gym, such as t-shirts. After all, members who wear t-shirts featuring your brand become de facto brand advocates, or walking advertisements.
From its inception, David Barton Gym’s members have been avid fans of the company’s “Look Better Naked” slogan, which is the brainchild of David Barton Gym’s founder, David Barton. The slogan can be seen in the company’s advertising, on its website and pasted across gym apparel.
According to Howard Brodsky, the CEO of David Barton Gym, t-shirts and tank tops featuring the “Look Better Naked” slogan fly off the shelves. “It’s one of the best taglines I have ever seen,” he said. “We get requests from all over the world to purchase our apparel with ‘Look Better Naked’ [on it].”
The slogan, which is slightly off beat, ties in well with David Barton Gym’s image, which is known for its extravagance and off-the-wall vibe. The gym’s locations feature nightclub-esque atmospheres married with state-of-the art equipment and Group X classes, which complement the slogan.
By purchasing apparel bearing the company’s brand name or slogan, David Barton Gym’s members are showing they approve of what the brand represents.
“There are health clubs and gyms that are bland vanilla boxes [with t-shirts] that the members probably won’t even wear, and they usually end up as dishrags,” said Brodsky. “Then you have the companies with great slogans or logos that people are proud to wear and of course, that greatly helps create brand awareness.”
Currently, “Look Good Naked” t-shirts and slogans are sold only within David Barton Gyms. However, due to the slogan’s popularity, the company is looking into selling retail items with the slogan online in the near future.
David Barton Gym’s members have become walking advertisements for the gym in which they workout. The company is not the first to use a catchy or off-beat slogan or logo to sell t-shirts, turning members into brand advocates in the process. Gold’s Gym’s iconic bodybuilder and World Gym’s barbell-lifting gorilla, for example, have both generated widespread recognition amongst the healthy and fit.
For Brodsky, the “Look Better Naked” slogan is similar in its effect, and is extremely effective for the gym’s branding purposes. “I love [the slogan’s] simplicity,” he said. “It’s sexy and it’s what everyone who goes to a gym wants.”
By Rachel Zabonick
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
