GymNation has set its sights on a new market: Saudi Arabia. The homegrown GCC-based fitness brand plans to open its first six gym locations in the Kingdom by August 2024.
The brand witnessed a record-breaking number of pre-registrations, with 12,000 sign-ups in just three days.
GymNation said this number breaks all previous pre-opening sales records for a gym brand in the Middle East.
Known for its strong social media marketing and competitive pricing models, GymNation plans to incorporate community engagement activations and people-focused social media marketing to grow its customer base in the new market.
“Our ultimate aim is to create a dynamic and engaging fitness culture that resonates with the Saudi audience,” said Ant Martland, CCO and Co-Founder of GymNation.
Martland said experiential activations will be critical to engaging local communities and helping the brand continue to build a strong brand presence within the country.
“We are working on plans for a series of exciting events and activations, including pop up workouts and fitness challenges across the country.”
“We are going to collaborate with local influencers to conduct workshops and seminars across various locations that not only build the GymNation brand but also continue to promote health and wellness within the community.”
The fitness brand is banking on not fixing what isn’t broken in terms of their social media marketing strategy.
“Our digital strategy in Saudi Arabia will be very similar to what we have done successfully in the UAE for the last six years,” Martland said.
“Localisation is of course key, but there is a common human factor across all markets, and since we already have a very good idea of what works, we don’t need to start from scratch.”
Martland went on to say that he feels too many brands overthink their strategy when launching into new markets and that’s what slows them down.
“We will continue to put all major organic and paid digital and social platforms to the test and closely monitor the engagement and ROI of each. If a particular platform is working well, we will double down on it; if it isn’t, then we will move on and test other platforms until we find the right marketing channel mix.”
“Our overall strategy is to ensure we find a balance between maximising brand awareness and showing GymNation as a fun, accessible, and affordable place to work out, whilst generating a significant volume of leads to drive membership sales,” Martland said.
