“Live it to the limit in Wrangler.”
“Juicy Fruit is gonna move ya.”
“Got milk?
“Just do it!”
“Is it in you?”
This is how most people learn about branding without trying to learn about branding.
People of a certain vintage can still hear the Wrangler and Juicy Fruit songs in their heads. They can literally replay in their minds footage of old commercials with rugged whitewater rafters dominating the rapids and water skiers carving lakes.
Your favorite star probably wore a “milk moustache” at some point—and I bet you can still see the photo if you think about it.
Others will remember Michael Jordan’s iconic Nike commercials or Gatorade’s famous slogan—which is being resurrected in 2024 with the help of Jordan and younger stars such as Josh Allen and Caitlin Clark.
Brand marketing is designed to buy space in your head and your heart, and it’s very effective. It buys that space and then builds a monument you notice all the time.
Example: Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln commercials. Matthew doesn’t ask you to do anything but remember that stylish, intelligent people know Lincoln produces exquisite vehicles.
That “feeling” toward a brand is powerful, and it comes in handy when paired with direct-response marketing, which is used to leverage your feeling toward a brand and get you to do something “right now.”
Examples: “Buy now to get $3,000 cash back!” and “This limited-time offer ends Friday—act now!”
Even though brand and direct-response marketing are very different, the two go together like chocolate and peanut butter, if you recall that famous campaign from Reese’s.
Direct-response marketing tells the viewer what to do when, and brand marketing tells the viewer why they should do it.
- “Buy two bottles of Gatorade and get the third at 50 percent off!”
- “Do it because you’re a focused, driven athlete who cares about performance.”
I’ll take the relationship into the gym world:
- “Sign up for a gym membership today!”
- “Do it because you know we’ve solved the same fitness problem for hundreds of people like you over the last 10 years.”
Brand and Direct-Response Marketing for Gym Owners
If you don’t do any marketing of any kind, your business is essentially in hiding. This is obviously a bad plan if you want to grow your gym.
But what happens when you work on branding without direct-response complements—or vice versa?
Very little.
People won’t act if they don’t know what to do. And they won’t do what you ask them to do without a good reason.
I’ll help you improve your marketing in both areas fast.
In the next post in this series, I’ll teach you how to use a simple but very effective direct-response marketing technique that’s worked wonders for top gym owners.
After that, I’ll give you a fast, easy way to build your brand very quickly (I’m using this one personally with great success).
Here’s your takeaway for today: Every company is now a media company.
To grow, you must use your platforms to tell current and prospective clients who you are and what you can do for them over and over again in creative but consistent ways.
Then you must tell them what to do “right now” and give them a great reason to do it.
