Let's move for a Better World. The event in fitness centres

Let's Move for a Better World, is the central campaign at the beginning of the year for fitness centres participating in the initiative. It focuses the entire activity of the gym not only on classes, courses and workouts, but also and above all to create an awareness of how a sedentary lifestyle and obesity is a social problem that is affecting the modern world.
Find out what makes up, Let’s Move for a Better World and how to get started.

There is a double level of activation required for the campaign and it implies careful planning by the centre on two different fronts.

1 Planning of the institutional strategy of the event

Advocate the reason behind why you have training in your fitness centres and the example that adults can give to the future generations in the fight against obesity. Support a leading brand in the sector, and awaken the interest of institutions and stakeholders in the territory that are typically difficult to reach on other occasions.

2 Planning of the communicative-commercial launch of the event

There is also the possibility of hiring more people on the territory, making them manage a space that welcomes them for a good cause during a certain period of time, in an evocative environment. The promotional aim is sharing a moment, but at the same time it will be even more justifiable, if it’s for a good cause.

Recruiting and preparation of material

Regardless of the level of depth and commitment that you decide to achieve, it is essential to understand that the campaign impacts the entire organization of the fitness centre. Therefore, it must follow a rigid schedule of work to which all professionals must follow.

When does the challenge start?

Once the date has been set on the calendar and the duration of the challenge, it will be necessary to define the launch times for pre-activation of the participants: i.e. those who run for the right cause.

You will have to communicate how to subscribe. Make life easier and include a link on the fitness centre website or on social networks, in order to increase the conversations and therefore the engagement with the event.
Facebook posts will create the basis for supporting the event; newsletters will invite a clear call to action.

Timings, when to start with the communications?

20-30 days before: teaser launch, event education, involvement of members, friends of subscribers, potential members.
30-40 days before: activation of collaborations with points of sale, municipalities, journalistic editors to define reciprocal positions, press releases, launch times and search for local testimonials.

Digital or traditional marketing? Both, why not.
You can combine traditional with digital to reach all target audiences.
It is possible to organize a joint program in terms of dates and initiatives, using the paper material and campaign visuals. However, it is good to personalise your own programmes in terms of inviting you to participate and raise awareness of the initiative.

For example:
- Contact your gym participants 20-30 days before the club's match and the internal challenge for the best "Let's Mover".
- Invite members and their friends to special moments organized by the club, such as special marathons, or special courses designed by the staff.
- Friends of members are invited to train for the Let's Move case with a paper invitation, delivered by a member in the centre.
- Ex-members may also be invited to return to the track with special conditions in favour of the cause. The contact may be made via social, special landing page or even SMS. Also for this reason the event should be memorable and fun.
- Those who have never had to deal with the fitness centre or the Let's Move cause will be easily reachable with traditional communication campaigns: collaboration with sports shops, associations on the territory, sports teams, social policy and leisure time councillors.

Dressing up the initiative with intelligent and knowledgeable co-marketing can increase visibility and generate a list of potential new subscribers queuing up to participate.

Preparing the material, sequencing the various actions, activating the reception and technical staff for the event is a common moment in which the chosen strategy is presented by the management of the centre to all the participants. A kind of starting kick-off to remember why, how and when.

Surely getting to the start with a good base of participants divided between registered and non-registered participants is the primary objective of this period.

let's move for a better world the challenge

Communication close to the event

Two posts per week on the fan page, 2 newsletters in the generic period, direct actions on former subscribers and those never subscribed.

Then again 3 posts a week, release of the blog article dedicated to why choose to run for a good cause, video interviews with all the testimonials or PR of the centre - clients but also staff members - who invite you to ACT to move.

The management of Let’s Move for a Better World

Now the start: With a careful countdown in the two previous weeks, we reach day 1 of the Let's Move for a Better World campaign.
Having planned the communications on targets and databases first serves this purpose: to decline the general campaign without losing sight of the strategies of involvement of users and staff.

Communication centre and updating the website. Differentiate the message and send in accordance with the initial objectives. Launching a news report of clubs and teams or for individual participants will help to maintain motivation and attention to the event.
Banners, stickers and displays will change: from teaser message to startup message. The countdown will now be at the end of the challenge.
The reception desk will be ready to handle requests for participation during the event, including the support for these new users to count moves.

The technical department will be able to give consistency and support to the social marathon by activating and stimulating peaks of participation at certain times of the day and by encouraging the different groups of room influencers, favouring also the comparison between individual competitors.

Motivation and entertainment

The motivation for a group event should be nurtured because there are two different elements involved:

the position in the national ranking of the fitness centre, which is not always rewarding or which can be rewarding for only one stage of the initiative;

the participation of as many people as possible, in order to keep the contribution of individual competitors as high as possible.

If 50% of the work is carefully planned in advance, the remainder is nurturing the participation itself differentiating the incentives to continue, depending on the type of participants in the marathon.

The best mover will be rewarded in intermediate periods with interviews and photos, which enhance their ability and consistency.
Special participants such as ladies that train in the morning or routines that change their routine only because of the cause will have to be followed more closely. Invited to keep moving and feel supported step by step.
The challenge itself will have to be nurtured and always linking to the most committed, the less committed and the new starters. Team activities should be mixed to ensure that everyone is as involved as possible.

We win always even if only for the feeling of achieving a goal together.

The closing phases and the real victory

The mistake is to enrich the first part of the event with unfulfilled expectations.
There are many variables to work on in order to maintain a high level of attention:

participants base
duration of special events
extension of invitations
challenges and awards within the club

All this can be done by constantly recalling the primary motivation of participation: to set an example to the new generation.
Whether or not this corresponds to Let's Move's winnings does not count absolutely.

The victory will be to identify the reasons for being satisfied and share them with all participants.

The cause will move strings that other more direct actions would never have moved, so that "Let's move for a better world" becomes a proactive initiative.
The launch and maintenance that combines energy and customization of the theme according to the personality of the fitness centre.

Fun and involvement are the keywords for the first months of the year!