Gym chain 24 Hour Fitness is adding a Rio sweepstakes to its Olympic activation plans for the first time, seeking to “capitalize on the interest in Brazil and the first Olympics in South America” to build its membership, senior marketing manager and Olympic Games partnership director Victoria Hoe said.
Starting last week through April 15, any new member or current member who refers a friend will be entered into a contest for one of four grand prizes: airfare, four nights in Rio, event tickets and behind-the-scenes tours.
An official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee, 24 Hour Fitness also has named four new athletes to its team of endorsers: swimmer Conor Dwyer, middle-distance runner Alysia Montaño, Paralympic long jumper Lex Gillette and Paralympic swimmer Cortney Jordan. They join previously announced endorser triathlete Gwen Jorgensen.
In general, the fitness chain believes strongly in the Olympics as a motivator for its employees, club members and potential new customers, said 24 Hour Fitness marketing vice president Mike Carney, and that undercurrent runs across its Rio strategy. In August 2012, during and after the London Olympics, 24 Hour Fitness gym visits increased by 100,000 year over year.
“We believe in the philosophy that you work out to live. No one lives to work out, in essence,” Carney said. “You get the stories of the athletes themselves, and it really brings to life the emotional and personal side of what it takes to train for the Games. In many, many ways it’s not that different from what our members go through on a regular basis just to get to the gym and achieve their own goals.”
The five athletes will participate in customized workouts at 24 Hour locations and be featured in the 24Life internal members’ magazine with insights into how to balance their professional and family commitments. The company chose them to represent the diversity of its membership, Hoe said. For instance, Montaño is a new mother, while Jordan is a full-time teacher when not training.
In addition to the customer sweepstakes, 24 Hour Fitness is using the Rio Games as a platform for an internal rewards contest. More than 700 employees have applied for one of 18 spots working this summer at temporary USOC training centers in Rio, which the gym chain supplies with equipment and staff. Carney said the activations are particularly costly this year, in part because the USOC will create three separate workout centers to accommodate Rio’s spread out geography.
24 Hour Fitness has been a USOC sponsor since 2003. Its current deal expires this year.
24 Hour Fitness negotiated the athlete deals directly. Patrick Quinn of Chicago Sports & Entertainment repped Dwyer; Heather Novickis of the Kinetic Group repped Jorgensen; Lindsay Kagawa Colas of Wasserman repped Montaño; Jennifer Holden of Holden Sports Management repped Gillette; and Jordan represented herself.
Ticket and hospitality provider Jet Set Sports is working with 24 Hour Fitness on the sweepstakes prizes.
