Planet Fitness benefits from an advertising push during New Year’s resolution season

New year, new you. The start of a new year provides a natural point of reflection – what is going well, and what should change? Often, New Year’s resolutions center on health and fitness goals – including finally signing up for a gym membership.

A New Year’s advertising push

For years, Planet Fitness has leaned into New Year’s resolution season. The popular gym franchise makes a point of getting its name out there at the same time that Americans are thinking about joining a gym.

This year marked the 9th consecutive year that Planet Fitness was a presenting sponsor at the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City.

In addition to distributing Planet Fitness branded party hats, and hosting a festive purple and gold confetti drop, the gym was featured on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024″ – which had 22.2 million viewers.

Capitalizing on star power

Planet Fitness used celebrity star power to keep the advertising momentum rolling in the first quarter of 2024.

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion starred in a Planet Fitness commercial as Mother Fitness. The spot showed Megan pulling exercisers away from toxic fitness instructors and exercise influencers to the “judgement-free” Planet Fitness. 

A boost in advertising recall

According to data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll, Planet Fitness’ New Year’s push successfully caught Americans’ attention.

Looking at Planet Fitness’s ad recall data (see graph below), overall ad recall (the percentage of US adults who remember interacting with a Planet Fitness ad over the past 30 days) jumped +5.2 from the last quarter of 2023 (19.2) to the beginning of 2024 (24.4). Planet Fitness also saw significant increases among TV (+3.2) and online ad recall (+2.4).

Planet Fitness Ad Recall Late 2023 VS Early 2024

QuestBrand. Pre: 10/1/23-12/31/23, n=13,034. Post: 1/1/24-3/17/24, n=10,945. Base: General population of US adults.

Changing how consumers think about the Planet Fitness brand

In addition to an increase in consumer ad recall, the attributes that consumers use to describe the Planet Fitness brand also shifted from the end of 2023 to the start of 2024.

In the first few months of 2024, US adults significantly more often described Planet Fitness as being a “good value” (+2.1), “energetic” (+1.6), “fun” (+1.8), “practical” (+1.8), “customer-centric” (+1.0), and “dependable” (+0.9).

Planet Fitness Emotional Attributes Late 2023 VS Early 2024

QuestBrand. Pre: 10/1/23-12/31/23, n=13,034. Post: 1/1/24-3/17/24, n=10,945. Base: General population of US adults.

Planet Fitness markets itself as a gym for everybody, regardless of their fitness level or ability. At only $10 a month for a basic membership, they are an accessible gym option for many Americans.

Already one of the largest fitness center brands in the United States, Planet Fitness may consume an even greater share of the gym market in the years ahead if they continue their widescale marketing push. Already from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, Planet Fitness gained 1.7 million new members, bringing their total membership numbers up to 18.7 million.