Role: External consultant

Project type: Brand Transformation and Repositioning

Timeline: 4 months

Client industry: Elite (Sports) Performance

The client had an established clientele of professional football players, but wanted to shift toward working with players at the top five clubs in the league. This was seen as the main strategy for growing the business without scaling client numbers, instead relying on higher average service prices. Luxury positioning was seen as an answer to this requirement. At the time of joining the project, the client already employed another coach and secured space to open their own private gym, rather than working with clients in public gyms (or their home gyms).

I enforced luxury positioning across the board

Revisited the brand's mission and vision with the client; removed comparative positioning (being the best performance coach business) and moved focus onto the clients (developing the most successful athletes). This was followed by the renewed brand foundations and strict guidelines on how to implement brand elements.

Expanded the service offering to create a holistic experience for athletes. The client was already certified in breathwork and meditation, and this was used as a basis for expanding the service offering at no additional cost

Standardised the process of client onboarding: removed friction (previously communication was conducted across different channels), created visually appealing service decks, and conducted a one-off educational session on client communication

Developed the concept for interior design of the gym, including colour palette, furniture, signage (design and language), scents, lighting and amenities. The goal was to create a gym that is stylish and does not resemble typical gyms with harsh lighting, linoleum, and a grey/black/red colour combination.

Removed the social media presence. To strengthen the client's new luxury positioning, it was essential to move to word-of-mouth as the key marketing strategy. The goal was twofold: to create the image of exclusivity and to underscore the focus on respecting clients' privacy. The latter was deemed particularly relevant in dealing with HNWIs.

Light overhaul of the client's website: removing testimonials, implementing branding changes, removing visual inconsistencies, and polishing language to move from using sales hooks to a storytelling-informed approach.

The repositioning process was successful. After the project, the client saw steady growth in the number of clients and average contract value, and opened another private gym in a different city in July this year, expanding the brand's presence.