Traditionally, fitness brands have depicted the benefits of exercise by showing fit, healthy people working out. This approach has failed to motivate a huge proportion of the population so it was time to change direction in order to get Britain moving.
Our strategy was to present an extreme, dark and depressing reality existing on the fringes of society that represented everything Les Mills would oppose. We created an anti-hero who spouted extreme doctrine about the benefits of an unhealthy lifestyle to a handful of gormless followers. By presenting this extreme reality, viewers are forced to face up to the potential consequences of the choices they make.
The campaign’s satirical message, dark-setting, and high-end production positioned Les Mills as a brand doing something that no other brand in the fitness industry would dare to try.
We produced a video depicting our ‘anti-hero’, Lesley Miller, campaigning for an unhealthy lifestyle. Each element of the video, from the setting and music to his lack of followers, was carefully considered to undermine Lesley’s viewpoint and character, and position him as an extreme minority.
Lesley Miller directly addresses the audience, asking ‘What’s it going to be?’ to engage them and make them think about the choices they make. Two alternative endings were presented: ‘Choose the right to do nothing’ showing Lesley Miller alone in a dark room eating junk food, or ‘Choose the right to be active’ which showed Les Mills exercise classes.
Outputs:
• 160,000+ views (target KPI 50,000)
• Thousands of comments on social
• UK media coverage including Mail Online and Mirror Online
• Trade coverage in Health Club Management, Leisure Management, World Leisure News, Leisure Week, Leisure
Opportunities
• Social media fan growth increased 79% for the quarter
Outcomes:
• 35% increase in new instructor enquiries
• New instructor sign-up target beaten by 18.5%
• Website traffic for users (150% increase) and find a class (72% increase) both increased
• Organic search traffic increased 160% - the absolute growth seen since January 2015 has been far greater than
other Les Mills regional sites
• Organic search traffic for the quarter represented 80% of total traffic to the Les Mills UK website and 70% of
conversions to find a class