Fitness Files: Anytime Fitness Co-Founder Dave Mortensen Says the Company Strives to Change Lives of Its Members and Franchisees (Part 2)

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This post is the second of two parts. To read Part 1, please click here.

Club for Busy People

Most recently, Anytime Fitness has been instituting a marketing campaign to build its brand as “the club for busy people.” It will continue to emphasize that concept in its advertising, Mortensen said. Much of the campaign focuses on Anytime’s ease of access.

“Our facility has really been designed for the busy person,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that we have the 30-minute workout, but the workout you can get done in 32 minutes.” The other two minutes are devoted to walking to and from your car in the parking lot, he said.

And while Anytime still chooses locations that are conveniently located within minutes of its members’ homes or work, it has also dedicated more attention recently to providing a consistent experience from one club to another because of the reciprocity agreement between the units.

“We’re most proud of creating the most convenient and most accessible fitness centers worldwide,” Mortensen said.

Future Challenges for Company

Providing consistency is probably one of the biggest challenges Anytime Fitness will face as it moves into its second decade of operation and continues to expand on a global basis.

“One of the biggest challenges for us is to change the way we think, because in every single country there is a different culture and a different lifestyle,” Mortensen said.

With more than 2,000 units and close to 2 million members worldwide, Anytime Fitness also has to use caution when making decisions that will change its own culture.

“We have to make sure we take our time, that each individual affected by our brand is in the know,” he said.

Forecasting the Future

So what’s on the horizon for Anytime Fitness and its franchisees?