Fitness chain Sport & Health Clubs is gearing its low-seven-figure advertising budget toward direct mail and Internet advertising in lieu of traditional radio and other broadcast media.
Wilson|Rusch, a New York based marketing agency, will launch its first campaign for Sport & Health Clubs next month when it drops 200,000 direct mail pieces to prospects around the chain’s 29 Washington, DC, locations. If the test goes well, the agency will do mailings on a near-monthly basis throughout 2003.
The regular mailings will mark a step up from Sport & Health Clubs’ previous efforts. In 2002 the chain did two or three mailings, according to David Wilson, president of Wilson|Rusch.
“They have traditionally spent most of their ad budget in radio and other broadcast media,” Wilson said.
“I don’t think it was direct response radio,” he added. “There was a phone number as a tag, but they were not pushing people with a specific offer.”
Each club is testing a unique set of three offers, with incentives ranging from membership discounts to free personal training sessions to get-fit kits. Both the incentives and the creative vary based on each location’s amenities and target demographic.
An e-mail and online ad campaign, which mirrors the structure of the mail program’s incentives, will also debut in January. The number of e-mails and advertising impressions has not been determined yet.
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