Health Club Branding Can Be Tough—Here's How to Make It Easy

Shannon Malooly, membership and marketing director for The Claremont Club, explains how to differentiate your club without losing integrity.

Branding is much more than your company’s name or product—it's who you are and, more importantly, how your club is perceived.

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Differentiate Your Club’s Brand Without Compromising Your Integrity

Properly constructing your brand involves identifying who you are, creating consistent content, and developing your character and voice.

“Too often when businesses try to ‘reinvent’ themselves they end up completely losing sight of who they fundamentally are at the core,” says Shannon Malooly, membership and marketing director for The Claremont Club in Claremont, CA. “It’s important for clubs to differentiate themselves in ways that do not compromise their values or their integrity. It’s amazing what a big difference a new shade of lipstick and a haircut can make—there’s no reason to go overboard!”

Streamline Your Brand Appearance to Become More Identifiable

When a club is looking to streamline its brand appearance in order to become more identifiable, the first step is to consider its demographics. Think about who your existing market base is and who are the kinds of members you’d like to attract.

“The last thing we’d want to happen is to turn off anyone,” Malooly says.

“By completely changing your brand you risk losing members who have been faithful all along. It’s amazing to think what an effect distaste to a color scheme can have but it needs to be considered before making radical changes.”

Shannon Malooly, Membership and Marketing Director

The Claremont Club in Claremont, CA

And, when it comes to branding, less is more.

“Too often we are our own worst enemies by splitting a single hair into a hundred pieces,” she says. “Deem what your final outcome goals are, prioritize and tackle portions of rebranding sections at a time. A rebranding process is meant to drive revenue and increase member perception and value not to break the bank!”

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Marianne Aiello

Marianne Aiello previously served as IHRSA's Senior Digital Content Manager—a position focused on crafting and monitoring IHRSA’s digital strategy and covering IHRSA events.