SAN DIEGO, CA – September 25, 2006 – Active Marketing Group, a full service marketing and promotions agency known for its direct access to active consumers, will launch a health club guest pass promotion next month for Russell Athletic’s Dri-Power® Fleece brand that offers free passes to local gyms. The promotion will engage more than 600 sporting goods stores across the nation, including The Sports Authority, Sports Chalet, Modell’s and Bob’s retail chains, and 500 local health clubs and fitness facilities.
Beginning October 1, consumers who purchase a Russell Athletic’s Dri-Power Fleece item at participating sporting goods stores will receive a free two-week pass to a health club in their community. Purchasers will visit a custom-designed Web site to view the list of participating health clubs. The promotion runs through October 31, but offers a 60-day window to use the guest pass. Following the promotion, ten sweepstakes winners will be chosen and awarded a one-year membership to a local health club, compliments of Russell Athletic.
“The health club market is growing rapidly and we really wanted to align ourselves with a promotion tied to fitness participation. Working with Active Marketing Group, we will be able to effectively promote our brand while encouraging health and activity through some great health club incentives. It’s also a natural tie-in with our retailers. If you join a gym, you need workout apparel and our Dri-Power® Fleece is the first fleece with moisture management technology to keep you drier and more comfortable before, during and after your workout,” said Alex Hodges, vice president of marketing, Russell Athletic.
To execute a nationwide promotion of this type, Active Marketing Group tapped its network of more than 5,800 health clubs, choosing specific facilities in close proximity to the retail locations. The agency’s network offers clients targeted exposure to more than 15 million active consumers at health clubs, corporate fitness centers, YMCAs, recreation centers, wellness facilities, college fitness centers and spas in cities across the country. Active Marketing Group also created the promotion’s ‘health club locator’ Web site.
Russell Athletic will support the program with point-of-sale signage that includes posters, rack toppers and counter cards where Dri-Power Fleece items are folded and stacked at the stores. A print campaign will also run through October in publications that include Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health.
"We believe the guest pass promotion will encourage our consumers to get active and at the same time, we're confident that it will help drive sales of Russell Athletic's new Dri Power Fleece," said Stan Poladsky, marketing manager for The Sports Authority. “We’ve worked with Russell Athletic on previous promotions and value the benefits this type of exposure brings to our stores.”
Russell Athletic's Dri-Power technology is a dual moisture management system that first pulls sweat away from the body and then transfers it to the top layer of fabric, keeping the wearer's body drier and cooler than with untreated fabric. Although introduced four years ago by Russell Athletic for its baselayer and everyday performance pieces, the technology for fleece is revolutionary and was rolled out in August 2006, offering a significant breakthrough to America’s most classic clothing icon, the sweatshirt.
“We turned to Active Marketing Group for the agency’s experience executing health club promotions and its deep access to the health club market,” added Hodges. Additional clients that have implemented Active Marketing Group’s health club guest pass programs include Knouse Foods’ Musselman’s brand and The Dannon Company’s DANNON® Light & Fit® brand, among others.
About Russell Athletic
Russell Athletic serves as the main operating division and flagship brand of Russell Corporation. Russell Athletic is dually headquartered in Alexander City, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia, and employs 1,800 people worldwide. For more than 100 years, Russell Athletic has supplied America's athletes and teams with the latest innovations to help them perform at their best. This year Russell Athletic will outfit more than 500 Division I teams and offer more than 200 pieces in its fall 2006 retail line alone.
About Active Marketing Group
Active Marketing Group, a full service marketing and promotions agency and division of The Active Network, Inc., brings direct knowledge, insight and access to healthy, active and on-the-go consumers. The agency helps brands develop authentic relationships with active consumers through innovative programs that reach this influential, yet fragmented, demographic. Active Marketing Group’s direct access to the active consumer market, its unique understanding of consumer behavior and its strategic, consultative approach, set the agency apart. The agency excels at creating high-yield, integrated marketing platforms with a portfolio of services that includes strategic consulting; event and mobile marketing; brand sampling; database marketing; peer-to-peer marketing; sponsorship activation; online advertising and Web site services; youth sports marketing; trade marketing; municipal marketing and more. For the past three consecutive years, the PROMO 100 (www.promomagazine.com) has ranked Active Marketing Group among the top 50 promotions agencies in the U.S. Headquartered in San Diego, with offices in New York, Boston, Denver and Huntington Beach, Calif., the agency serves a client base that includes Unilever, PepsiCo, Inc., Timex, Kraft Foods Inc. and Choice Hotels International, among others. For more information, visit www.ActiveMarketingGroup.com or call 858-964-3834.
Media Contact:
Shelly Burnside, The Active Network, Inc.
shelly@active.com or 858-964-3813