Though fall may be known more as a season for indulging in caramel apples and Halloween candy than a season for fitness and nutrition, Smoothie King is using the season to encourage its customers to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
The concept’s “Fall Fit” campaign, which launched last week, offers educational opportunities, promotions, and incentives to get customers focused on their lifestyle choices.
Bobby Williams, vice president of marketing for Smoothie King, said in an e-mail to QSR that fall is typically one of the busiest times of the year, and that Smoothie King wanted to make sure people took time out to care for themselves.
“This is the season when most people generally tend to neglect their fitness and health and put it off until the New Year,” Williams said. “Our ‘Fall Fit’ campaign is an opportunity for us to educate and connect with our guests in a way that is helpful and supportive, and motivates people to stay fit.”
The “Fall Fit” campaign includes several components over the course of three months. First is a Facebook campaign, the “Oath of Oh Yes You Can,” that asks customers to make a pledge to stay fit. In return, they are entered into a drawing for two tickets to Super Bowl XLVI and $1,000 for travel.
Another component is a relationship with Journey Gym, a compact, portable gym product. Smoothie King will offer video content, motivational quotes, and health tips through Journey Gym. It will also give 10 customers free Journey Gyms and two-year memberships to the Health is a Journey virtual gym, where they can interact with trainers, track their progress, and access premium content.
“Our promotional programs are intended to be helpful, fun, and include experts such as celebrity fitness trainer Kim Lyons … and body-mind psychotherapist, yoga teacher, and weight-loss expert Ashley Turner,” Williams said.
Finally, Smoothie King will offer promotions on its healthy Lean1 smoothie product throughout the “Fall Fit” campaign.
Williams said Smoothie King was founded as a health-food and nutritional lifestyle store that evolved into a smoothie chain. He said it intends to remain a store focused not just on healthy food, but also on healthy lifestyles.
“Smoothie King guests are repeat customers who enjoy our functional smoothies as meals, and health and wellness is a part of their life,” he said. “By sharing information on good eating habits and fitness tips from renowned experts, we continue to engage with our guests outside the store on their path of health.”
Williams said the “Fall Fit” campaign reflects Smoothie King’s “true mission” and also communicates authenticity as a brand.
“We continuously encourage our fans to be good to themselves by offering great-tasting, nutritious food choices, and by offering exclusive content and offers to our Facebook fans, we are sharing our values, as well as the journey of getting fit,” he said.
By Sam Oches