ABOUT

Objective
Jon Leonard decided to open his own gym after years in the business and a building dissatisfaction about the ways fitness centres operated, he says;

“Being in the fitness business I have trained in most of the city’s gym’s, and was frustrated with the lack of energy, guidance and support on offer” says Jon. “I became disillusioned watching gym goers spending more time on their phones or chatting than training properly, whilst what can only be described as lift music played softly in the background. Instructors generally weren’t interested in interacting with members unless they were ‘on the meter’; and the training environments were dull and uninspiring. To me most of these places were more like social clubs than gym’s.

I saw an opening to create an environement like no other gym; where members could become ultra-motivated and have the right support and encouragement to actually enjoy getting fit – rather than see it as a chore.”

The purpose of the new gym was to break the mould and offer a fitness facility which provided a great, fun environment for it’s members to work out in and get fit.

Jon approached WDA initially just to design a website for his new gym but after further discussions it became apparent that in order for Jon’s new gym to be a real commercial success and for his vision to be fulfilled it needed a full branding and social media strategy.



Strategise

In recent years Jon had been running fitness classes in highly charged nightclub environments with live DJs and had witnessed how successful these had become, they got people energised and excited about coming to the gym. The same strategy needed to be implemented in this gym. The brand started with the name, WDA came up with Funktion Fitness spelt in this way to allow the word ‘Funk’ to be adapted into all branding forms. Phrases such as ‘Fit as Funk’, ‘Fast as Funk’ ‘Strong as Funk’ were all bold statements which enforced the brand and could be carried across a range of campaigns and activities. The positioning “Like No Other Gym” provided a clear and simple message to tell customers that they were going to get something different, new and fresh. That the rules were going to be broken and the way they worked out would be revolutionised.



Create and Engage

WDA created a complete branding strategy for Funktion, which included everything from initial name creation and brand positioning, the visual identity, the website, the interior signage and decor, t-shirts, advertising, posters, social media, promotional material and packaging for a new range of own brand fitness supplements and nutrition products. The design was edgy, bold and worked in tandem with the nightclub style approach to the gym.



Monitor

Brands become most successful when people really take ownership of them. Funktion is a great example of that, Jon and his enthusiastic staff completely embraced the strategy and has continued to expand on the concept. The strength of the Funktion brand was it’s ability to evolve and adapt for future campaigns and activties. If a piece of equipment is out of order, it is of course “Funked” and Race for Life t-shirts have been produced which proudly sport the line “Funk you Cancer.” Since it’s opening Funktion Fitness has by far exceeded all expectations and has quickly gained more members than the initial business plan forecast.