Do you make love with the lights on?! (Asks Anti-Gym...)

Recently came across a Denver-based  "health and vanity lifestyle boutique", Anti-Gym, that is a great example of differentiation, and truly challenging the "dominant logic" of a category. Couldn't find data on business results, but they must be doing well as they are expanding to Scottsdale and San Diego.

Warning: this brand contains some material that can cause offense, as they say on their home-page!

Here are some of the learnings:

1. Clear and distinctive end-benefit:
Anti-Gym's pitch is that they will allow you to "Have sex with the lights on"! How refreshing and memorable compared to the conventional language of "get in shape", "get fit" etc. Anti-Gym are in-your-face about the real reason we want to look good.

2. Stand-out "sizzle"
The whole look, feel and style of the brand is aspirational, with black and red colours, stylish and sexy photography. And the tone of voice in their written communication is bold to say the least!

3. Provocative, polarising targeting:
Anti-Gym is not for everyone, and they're proud of it. They say: "No chubbies allowed! A 'chubby' is not necessarily someone with a spare tire or thunder thighs, it’s an unmotivated, lazy slob who wants to blame everybody else but themselves for their shortcomings." Better to be clear about you want to recruit, and who you don't, rather than being bland and trying to appeal to the whole market.

4. Unique customer experience:
All great service brands have a brilliant customer experience, or "sausage", and Ant-Gym does this. The key elements of their service are as follows:

1. High intensity training: special machines and training, so you do 40", 3 times a week

2. Custom meal plans: great tasting but healthy food plans to eat yourself fitter

3. Regular assessment: stop you reverting to chubby behaviour

4. Provocative lifestyle: this is the best... being open about the fact some people go to the gym on the pick-up! They say: "With cage dancers, live DJ's, weekly happy hours and our elite co-ed Ravish Room (huh?!) we have the hottest equipment and clientele." 

5. Charismatic leader

Like many or even most great service brands, Anti-Gym has a charismatic leader who IS the brand. Michael Karolchyk is visually memorable (muscle-bound, shaven head) and outspoken. This helps the brand get invaluable, high-profile PR. He's even been named in one article as "the most hated man in Denver".

6. High impact communication

As you would expect by now, ant-Gym's TV ads are irreverent and no holds barred! They star Karolchyk with such priceless lines as "You're never going to have a hubby if you're a chubby, so forsake the cake!"

Really makes me want to check this place out. And readers from Denver? Please do tell all!

Comments

[maviyan]

Nice one, there is actually some great points on this post some of my associates will find this worthwhile, will send them a link, thanks
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[Jhonny Lewis]

I am married for more than 20 years now. My wife has really unique attitude. She doesn’t want to have sex when the lights are off.

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[Aluminum stockpot]

I came across this blog whilst searching for sites and blogs which i can work with to cross pollinate ideas and product info; but this post annoyed me so much, or was it that it just made me feel very sad. Its people like this using base level, nasty marketing that are increasingly condeming our society to live in the gutter. Sadly the open market, such as it is at the moment becomes impressed with such lowlife promotion.

[Doug]

Seems odd that I'd be on a U.K. blog discovering innovative marketing in Denver - but thanks for profiling this with a breakdown as well. I'm a California based startup, looking for 'differentiation' in a crowded service industry, something akin to your "Stiff Nipples" HVAC services in England. It would be interesting to know if Anti-Gym rolled the dice on attraction vs. alienation, or had market research giving them a green light.