The name Saints & Stars is an irreverent wink towards the (near) religious devotion many urban professionals have for fitness. For these diehards, a gym is a place to be with kindred spirits, a temple that attracts a community of believers whose passion is contagious and self-motivation inspiring. The name references this religious adherence, but also the celebrity of ‘star’ (celebrity trainers who distinguish Saints & Stars from all other gyms in The Netherlands.

We wrote a manifesto that captures Saint’s & Stars motivational attitude, and unveiled it across all the gym’s physical and digital platforms. It’s literally written on the gym walls.

In February 2018 we rolled out the launch campaign for the first Saints & Stars in Amsterdam. The campaign, called ‘Cross the line’, brought all the brand elements together: tone of voice, religious motivation, visual identity and, naturally, that ‘next level fitness’ ethos. Focusing on the transformational growth Saints & Stars promises, the campaign featured star fitness instructors morphed into their spiritual (totem) animals. A boxer juxtaposed with a bear; a bootcamp instructor and a butterfly; a sprinter and a panther. In the weeks leading up to the opening, all upscale areas in and around Amsterdam were blanketed with billboards and abri’s.

With more than 2,500 memberships registered by opening day and backed by the know-how and expertise of the people behind Basic-Fit, Saints & Stars aspires to slowly take over Amsterdam before following in its budget sister’s footsteps across the rest of The Netherlands and Europe.