UAE- and KSA-based fitness giant GymNation has witnessed incredible success with its latest advertising campaign – created in partnership with disruptive creative agency IdeaFarm – witnessing more than 600 sign-ups to its self-defense classes, more than 3,000 QR code scans of the campaign, and hundreds more contacting the brand’s social media team through direct messages.
In response to the rising phone thefts in the UK’s capital city, where more than 80,000 mobile devices were stolen in the last 12 months alone, the campaign targeted Londoners at a time when they are heading to the UAE for some winter sun.
The gym chain ran OOH, guerilla posters and bike ads across the capital promoting an “escape” to Dubai for its new self-defence retreat – in response to London’s soaring phone theft epidemic.
Whilst the campaign has split opinion online, Rory McEntee, CMO, GymNation, said the response “proves” how safe Dubai is compared to the rest of the world, and how expats heading back to London for Christmas are desperate to brush up on their self-defense skills.
“We need less beige ideas, and more brave thinking.”
– Rory McEntee, CMO, GymNation
Heads up: The disruptive creative agency behind the campaign, Idea Farm, are set to announce their expansion to the UAE in a couple of weeks.
Lewis Davey, Founder and Creative Director, Idea Farm, said, “This is a perfect example of how to leverage OOH and social media to create a news angle for the media.”
Davey added, “Human interest and reaction now lives and breathes in the comments sections online – our job in the PR engine room is to track and package that up for journalists. The billboards are just a small part of a much wider process”.
Media coverage has landed in the UK, UAE and US – while journalists have even travelled over to trial the class, and exercisers from as far as Australia and Ireland have expressed interest in signing-up.
McEntee said, “In this market, we need less beige ideas, and more brave thinking. It might seem strange for a UAE based gym to activate in London, but this region is a global hub and people travelling over will want fitness experiences – we want GymNation to be their first choice.
He added, “The timing and relevance on this one was spot on. More than 80,000 phones were stolen in London in the past 12 months, while thousands of Brits will travel to Dubai over the next month for some winter sun. We’ve been overwhelmed with the interest in the class, it could be our most successful class launch ever.”
GymNation’s exclusive self-defense retreat launched on Saturday, 15 November, at their Al Quoz location, and runs weekly at 8am until 20 December.
CREDITS:
Client: GymNation
Creative agency: Idea Farm
Lewis Davey – Creative Director
Scarlett Stephens Smith – Project Director
Gabriella Ferlita – Senior Publicist
Ryan Gilks – Publicist
PR agency: Current Global MENAT
Peter Jacob, Managing Director, MENAT
Jude Lahham, Account Director, MENAT
Riya Awtaney, Account Manager, MENAT
Umar Gulamnabi, Associate – Integrated Media, MENAT
Sohailla Ossama, Account Coordinator, MENAT
