Anytime Fitness Picks Mischief as Its Creative AOR

The world’s largest fitness brand, Anytime Fitness, has selected Mischief @ No Fixed Address as its creative agency. Mischief will be tasked with leading creative support such as long-term brand development and campaign creation for the fitness giant. To kick off the search, April Anslinger, the global chief marketing officer of Anytime’s parent company Self Esteem Brands, said Anytime had four C-suite executives work internally to pick three agencies to do discovery work with. During their first call, Anytime was ready to pick Mischief, which was Adweek’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year in 2021, 10 minutes into the meeting. Mischief has also recently taken on AOR duties for FanDuel’s casino operation and WYNK Cannabis seltzer brand. Looking at the partnership that Mischief and Anytime are about to embark on, both Nimisha Jain, evp of strategy at Mischief, and Anslinger spoke to how they instantly developed chemistry as they uncovered the answers to challenging questions. Anslinger explained that in order to be a “good client,” it is critical to be “willing to be uncomfortable” and “vulnerable.” For context, she spoke to the duo’s latest conceptual meeting that ended with neither the company nor the agency having all the answers. “That means we were kind of on to something here. And so how we collaborate together to eliminate a couple options was super smooth and easy, right?” she said, “I think when you both come to the table, no egos, no one has the answers. That's when brilliant work happens.” Jain spoke to the partnership, explaining that Anytime not having the same large budget as Planet Fitness, for example, really only means one thing. It doesn't have “the budget to be boring." According to Jain, the fitness industry has consumers across various backgrounds and ages to target. The entire industry is more emotion-driven than it's given credit for. “This feels like it has all the makings of a cult brand,” she said. Anytime’s stunning growth Currently the fastest growing fitness franchise, Anytime Fitness credits its culture to more humble beginnings in 2002 when its founders first met in St. Paul, Minn. Chuck Runyon, Dave Mortensen and Jeff Klinger met in a fitness club they worked at in the early 1990s. Anslinger explained how the trio pioneered the idea of 24/7 fitness as well as the once barcode, now key fob security system. Together they built a business model that has broken the stringent patterns on which the fitness industry once functioned, providing a more holistic approach to health. Anytime Fitness’ unique outlook has benefitted clients in long-lasting ways. In fact, the average club membership tenure is about 7.2 years globally. Further, the club has extended into multiple markets, spanning its operations to all seven continents, including Antarctica. It's not just the only fitness club to do so, but it has averaged opening one club every 1.3 days over the past 20 years. Even more compelling is the deep-rooted loyalty the Anytime Fitness community has for the brand. So much so that the company’s logo has notoriously adorned the bodies of thousands of its owners, coaches and members in a permanent form. “You know a brand has good bones when people have the logo literally tattooed on their bodies,” Jain said. In this way, health, wellness and fitness are quite literally ingrained on a spiritual and physical level in the community. The way the brand observes this tattoo phenomenon is not in terms of making it all about itself. Instead, it understands that the journeys it encourages change lives. “They [consumers] are seeking hands-on support, personalized guidance that extends to nutrition and recovery and a strong community, all with connectivity both in and outside a gym," Anslinger said. Toward the end of 2021, the fitness brand launched its latest campaign called "Real AF" which aligns with Anytime’s authentic approach to the world of health. As Anslinger put it, every individual’s journey is unique because every individual is unique in the way they look, what health means to them and what motivates them. Because no two consumers are the same, Anytime strives to promote an environment that isn’t about how experienced an individual is or why they find themselves sweating and gasping for breath on the Stairmaster at 5:30 in the morning. Instead, focusing on training, nutrition and recovery while being a part of a vibrant and welcoming community takes precedence. Anslinger said, “We're in the space of ‘we should be building body confidence.’ We need to be talking about progress, not perfection.” She went on to explain how it was the consumers’ personal values that helped build the Anytime Fitness brand. “We have so many great competitors out there. But I have never experienced something so unpretentious, so welcoming, so inclusive,” she said. “You walk in there and I feel I forget I'm CMO. I wear my consumer hat and I feel so supported.” Liquid Death Gets Physical With Comedian Bert Kreischer in ’80s-Style Workout Video

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Anytime Fitness Selects Mischief as Its Creative AOR

The brand made its decision 10 minutes into its call with the shop

Nandika Chatterjee

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Nandika Chatterjee