celebrity endorsement
LA Fitness has signed up Alesha Dixon, pop star and former winner – now judge – of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing
tony orme simon middleton
marketing director • la fitness author • build a brand in 30 days
“T
here’s room for sporting
personalities and mainstream “B
ona fide athletes such as Kelly
Holmes or James Cracknell
celebrities depending on your brand are credible role models, but ordinary
strategy. We didn’t go down the sports people could be alienated by them. If
star route because it’s what everyone you want a more mass market approach,
would expect, it’s quite niche and the there is an argument to use a non-
audience they appeal to may already be athlete as the face of your business.
tuned into health and fitness. Could using a mainstream celebrity be
We wanted to reach a broader market seen as a fad? To be honest, health clubs
and that’s where a [non-sporting] celebrity can help. Alesha tend to use gimmicks and offers anyway. But it really depends
Dixon has a more widespread appeal. She’s a major recording on whether the celebrity can be taken seriously. It’s a difficult
artist, is on Strictly Come Dancing – one of the BBC’s most call – pop singers, dancers and TV personalities all make fitness
popular programmes – and possibly has more media exposure DVDs, and they may even sell lots of them, but whether they
than athletes. She’s lively and fun, which fits with our strategy make a suitable face for a fitness brand is another matter. Using
to make fitness more enjoyable, and at 31 she’s the ideal age for Alesha Dixon is a good call. She’s proved her fitness through
our members, who range from 18 to 80 years old. dancing, but she isn’t an athlete. She’s also very down to earth.
First and foremost, however, she’s credible when it comes The fitness industry needs to be terribly careful using
to health and fitness. Not only is she a great dancer, but she’s sporting personalities, however, because they have fragile
proactively interested in keeping fit – she’s always worked reputations which are easily damaged – Tiger Woods,
with a personal trainer and enjoys going to the gym. She’s an John Terry and Ashley Cole are all recent examples of this.
aspirational figure to someone who wants to get more active. Operators may be able to insure themselves against it, but the
There are risks with choosing any celebrity to represent only safe thing to do is not use a high-profile celebrity. There
your brand, but that’s why you do your research.
”
are many other routes to engage people’s imaginations.
”
march 2010 © cybertrek 2010 Read Health Club Management online 31
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
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