Situation: Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing fitness centers in the world, with more members than any other fitness brand across more than 2,000 locations. Before the pandemic, America was already facing a national health crisis, with more than 70% of adults overweight or obese (according to the CDC). As the preeminent leader in fitness, it was pivotal that Planet Fitness transform its in-club experience to a virtual, home workout format – both to support its member base (maintaining brand awareness and affinity) and to inspire the world to stay active.

Brief: As the singular brand committed to creating a healthier world through Judgement Free fitness, Planet Fitness looked to ensure that staying at home didn't mean staying glued to the couch.

Objective: Planet Fitness aimed to get as many people as possible moving while its 2,000-plus locations remained closed, promoting physical activity with accessibility in mind.

Within 48 hours of its clubs closing due to stay-at-home orders, Planet Fitness quickly pivoted to offering free, 20-minute digital workouts. The United We Move “Home Work-Ins” streamed daily on Facebook Live and aimed to combat stress, while providing motivation and inspiration to keep everyone physically and mentally fit.

Classes were led by Planet Fitness trainers, plus special guests like NFL star Julian Edelman, pet influencer Doug the Pug, actor Jerry O’Connell, “Stranger Things” star Caleb McLaughlin and others.

The production team sent equipment around the country so trainers could safely lead the Work-Ins from home. Remote teams overlaid graphics in real time, replied to live comments and communicated with trainers via wireless headset to “shout out” participants throughout each stream.

Instead of sitting and scrolling, Planet Fitness got people up and moving, turning the platform into a live personal trainer that helped millions of people stay healthy and active.

As lockdowns first took hold, Planet Fitness immediately turned to the power of public relations to help people keep moving, motivated and connected. To effectively communicate and promote the Home Work-Ins, the team leveraged key findings on health risks surrounding COVID-19, plus the power of celebrity to quickly spread mass awareness.

Planet Fitness leveraged public relations tactics to shape a program that benefitted everyone, especially those who weren’t physically active or struggled to find motivation. Given the lack of gym access, Planet Fitness honed a strategy that encouraged activity with accessibility in mind – no equipment required.

Moreover, Planet Fitness looked to be a resource and maintain brand awareness not just at the start of the pandemic, but throughout it, as well. A sense of community is central to its clubs, and leveraging public relations to promote its virtual workouts provided Planet Fitness an opportunity to keep its members engaged.

Two days into the first lockdowns, Planet Fitness’ United We Move Home Work-Ins launched. To effectively reach the masses quickly, Planet Fitness immediately ramped up production on the live videos, while simultaneously crafting appropriate media materials to spread the word far and wide.

Simultaneously, Planet Fitness and its public relations partner worked tirelessly together to vet and source talent for each Home Work-In – from fee negotiations and building each workout to ensuring each celebrity was properly outfitted with Planet Fitness gear, a working laptop and even Apple AirPods, as needed. Occasional interior design assistance was provided, as well.

Immediately after launch in March 2020, the Planet Fitness public relations team pounded the pavement pitching the Home Work-Ins; subsequent pitches followed with each new celebrity participant across respective media verticals – such as sports media when professional athletes led sessions to pet media when a dog influencer took center stage.

When COVID-19 hit, Planet Fitness pivoted from its traditional gym offering to a completely free digital offering, altogether disrupting the fitness category. Its United We Move Home Work-Ins got 87 million people exercising from home across 37 countries and in all 50 states, inspiring both physical and mental wellness when it was needed most on a global scale.

By becoming a digital fitness content provider overnight, Planet Fitness reached more than 28 million people within the first few weeks of launch – an average 1.4 million people daily – and racked up more than 63 million views.

By the end of May 2020, public relations efforts totaled more than 5.2 billion total earned media impressions and nearly 5,000 earned feature placements in such top-tier outlets as TODAY, People, POPSUGAR, Men’s Health, USA Today, INSIDER, Fox News, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and Shape. All in, United We Move Home Work-In media placements earned an estimated $10 million in advertising equivalency.

Equally important, Planet Fitness was consistently ranked in multiple “top 10” lists of the best, free home workout options, realizing the brand’s communications strategy of promoting accessible fitness for all.

Even more importantly, positive brand sentiment for Planet Fitness – a key public relations objective for the effort – increased by 1,500% within the first week of the campaign.