GNC Launches Dieting Promotion for Prizes
General Nutrition Centers, Inc. has an ideal incentive to reward consumers who stick to their New Year’s resolution of losing weight—cash and prizes totaling $50,000.
Beginning Jan. 1, dieters can visit participating GNC stores for an entry form to participate in GNC’s “Total Lean Challenge” promotion. Customers who enroll in the program will receive an entry kit containing a pedometer, a free two-week guest membership to a participating International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) health club, discounts on GNC products and tools to track and document weight loss results.
Consumers must snap a “before” photo as part of the promotion. After eight-weeks, participants must take an “after” photo and write a 250-word essay outlining their weight loss goals, their experience and describe how reaching their goal has influenced their lives. The registration deadline is Feb. 28, 2005.
As part of the challenge, GNC is promoting its Total Lean 14-Day Meal and Exercise plan, which provides dieters with supplements, meal replacement shakes and sample meal ideas and exercise routines.
“We’re trying to take advantage of this time of the year, which is the diet season and offer consumers a good, healthy way to get on the right track,” said Mike King, manager of GNC’s consumer promotions and events.
Consumers can use the promotion as “stepping stone” to a healthier lifestyle to lose weight, he added.
In addition to helping consumers with their weight loss goals, the promotion also is designed to highlight GNC’s Total Lean line, bring in new users and build brand loyalty within the Total Lean line, King added.
GNC has offered the Total Lean product line for the last two years.
The grand-prize winner will receive $15,000. Five first-prize winners will receive $2,500. The promotion will also award participants finishing second and third with a Powertec Fitness home gym and a Powertec Fitness Abdominal Machine, respectively. Fourth-place finishers will receive a $50 GNC gift card.
Winners will be judged on the level of their goal difficulty and achievement. All entries will be judged by a panel of GNC experts, which will include professional athletes, GNC staff nutritionists and product specialists. The promotion runs through April 2005.
Pittsburgh-based GNC is the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional supplements. The company operates more than 5,000 retail stores throughout the U.S., including more than 1,300 domestic franchise locations. GNC is promoting the Total Lean Challenge through in-store signage, direct mail and the Internet.
