January is typically make-or-break for gyms, but Anytime Fitness saw an opportunity to make February the new January. People are looking to recommit to their fitness goals post-SuperBowl gluttony. This makes the big game the perfect stage to get on consumer’s radar and the perfect moment to elicit memberships.

But how do you capitalize on the reach of the SuperBowl without dropping $7M? By betting on the power of second-screens and hijacking the big game.

Over the past couple of years, Anytime Fitness’ awareness and relevance was slipping. We knew it was crucial to get members to sign up in Q1, because a strong start to the year drives revenue all year long. We needed to get Anytime on more people’s radar. Unfortunately, January was a noisy month. Competitors had deeper pockets and so it was always going to be an uphill battle. We set our sights on February.

Commercial objective: Surpass Same Store Sales(SSS) forecast for February, 2023, thereby increasing total revenue. Same store sales increase YOY has a direct impact on AF’s revenue making it an important indicator of success.

Marketing objective: Increase brand awareness by +1ppt and brand favorability by +5ppt. A 0.5pt increase in awareness typically required $2Million in media spend. Our goal was to get a +1ppt increase for less than $500,000.

In 2023, Anytime Fitness was at a crucial tipping point. The pandemic had done a number on the gym business and Anytime Fitness was no exception. Cancellations skyrocketed and revenue dropped steeply. In 2022, once the vaccine was approved, things began to look up, but Anytime Fitness still had a lot of work to do to get its mojo back in 2023.

The problem was, we were consistently outshouted and outspent by our competitors. Planet Fitness spent $72 Million on marketing in 2022, outspending Anytime Fitness 25:1.

With gyms taking a major hit during the pandemic, we had to find a way to increase revenue without the mammoth budgets of our competitors.

January is typically make-or-break for the gym business. However, with other gyms spending the bulk of their media dollars in this period, it was becoming an increasingly noisy month and Anytime knew it was never going to be a fair fight.

So, instead of trying to stand out during January, a noisy time for gyms, we set our sights on February.

Why? Two reasons.

Most new years resolutions are abandoned as swiftly as they are made — right around Super Bowl weekend. This is especially true for our Anytime Fitness target. This group has a frustrating relationship with fitness, trying many different approaches with nothing truly sticking

The Super Bowl presented a unique opportunity for our brand — as a media spectacle that’s seen by hundreds of millions of people across the country, it gave us the reach we needed to put Anytime on people’s radar.

The Super Bowl was the perfect stage.

Through research, we knew that when the fun is over, our target is looking to reset.

A study tracking fast-food consumption and gym visits found that SB Sunday is statistically ‘Fall off the Wagon’ Day where fitness resolutions slip. Streaming data also suggested the number of people streaming workouts is higher the day after the Super Bowl than it is January 1st. Gym visits also spike.

INSIGHT: People are looking to get back on the fitness wagon post-Super Bowl gluttony.

But, how do we leverage the Super Bowl without dropping $7M on an ad? We analyzed SB viewership and it was clear that audiences engaged with the game beyond their televisions. 60% of the 115Million Super Bowl viewers engage with social platforms on their phones during the game.

STRATEGIC BUILD: Hijack the big game by capitalizing on the power of the Second Screen.

Since we couldn’t buy our way into the Super Bowl, we decided to subvert it entirely, using the second screen to hijack the game.

The idea was simple. Turn the big game into a big game of bingo.

Anytime anyone heard the word “anytime” said during the Super Bowl broadcast and tweeted #JustHeardAnytime they could win a trip to any Anytime Fitness worldwide.

We knew that our brand name was so common that a halftime performer, a talking dog in a beer commercial or a sports commentator would drop it.

First, we seeded the idea the week leading up to SB, releasing three videos describing the sweepstakes. Next, during the actual game, we rallied fans on social platforms by commenting on close calls. Here, we celebrated the THREE times the word “Anytime” was said.

We gamified the broadcast and redirected viewers attention towards anytime, without even having an in-game ad.

We hacked the big game, by betting big on second screens and it paid off. “Anytime AnyTime” beat every single benchmark and then some.

The campaign landed 70 million earned media impressions (twice our paid impressions), a 10X increase in social media engagement, and exceeded our objectives, achieving a 10pt increase in brand favorability and a 3pt increase in awareness.

Our primary goal was to drive Anytime Fitness business. And that we did… in spades. The activation achieved double digit same store sales…in February. Unheard of in the gym business. And drove a 13 month high in memberships.

On top of all of this, 20 Media outlets covered our game day hack. And what’s even better? We got more social mentions than paying Superbowl advertisers on game day.

This case is proof that you don’t have to have a Super Bowl sized budget to get Super Bowl sized attention.