Topic

For this project, I will be rebranding and proposing a new business plan for Pivotal Training CrossFit. My parents have owned this CrossFit gym for 10 years, and ever since it opened, I have considered working out as one of my top favorite hobbies. My goal is to take over Pivotal Training one day, and I feel that this project will be a good start in helping me get my thoughts together about the business changes that I would like to make. I will create a brand book including all of the modifications I will be making to the gym itself, pricing changes based on what you would be getting, as well as an updated floor plan.

Form

My brand book will be presented in the form of a digital book. I would like for it to be side-by-side pages that you will flip through. Pivotal Training’s current colors and red and black and I will continue to work with these colors. My brand book will follow that color scheme throughout and will include many pictures/graphics. I want to create a brand book that captures the audience’s attention by being very visually appealing. With that being said, I will keep each page simplistic and free of clutter. I do not want the audience to be overwhelmed with graphics when the main point is to inform them about Pivotal training.

I am going to use Woove’s brand model as a mentor. The brand book for Woove was straightforward and visually appealing. Something that will be different in my project is that I will also have words to describe the changes I will be making. For example, I will do a page comparing the pricing from before, and showing the new rates with the new services that will be offered. I will also structure my brand book differently. For Woove, it was one continuous page that you scrolled down on. My brand book will be side-by-side pages that you will flip through. 

A second mentor brand book that I came across was for Flex Vibe. This caught my attention because they also had a merchandise aspect as well, which I never thought about including before, but I would like to add now. They also used professional photos of people working out in the gym, and that has inspired me to include my own photos in my project as well. After research, I discovered that the Flex Vibe brand book was created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, so I will be using those as well during my creative journey. 

Audience and Impact

Since this is a CrossFit gym, the primary audience has always generally targeted middle-aged men. For this brand remodel and the goal of gaining revenue and members, I would like to shift the primary audience to the millennial female generation. My marketing communication will directly target females ranging from 28-43. The previous primary audience of males will shift to the secondary audience. The secondary will still be affected indirectly because they can participate in the specific workout classes that are targeted to females, but the overall goal is to get more female participants through the door. The classes would most likely appeal more to females, but males are still welcome to participate. My goal is to create a welcoming and encouraging workout environment for people of any gender.  

Prior Experience

In a previous course, I created a personal brand book about all of the things that make me the person that I am today. I also created a brand book for a class called Beautiful Social. We worked with the nonprofit Water is Life Kenya, creating social media content. We created a brand book to share with the administrator to make sure all of our ideas of colors, fonts, and photos, aligned with their vision. This is a similar layout to what I would like to create. With that being said, I will be using several different software rather than being limited to what they have on Canva. I have used In-Design, Illustrator, and Photoshop, so I would like to use all of those to create the best product possible. Since I have experience with all of these, I feel that the biggest challenge I will face is the research. Since the goal is to target a specific audience, the research phase is crucial. 

Click here to see some previous coursework: https://www.canva.com/design/DAE5xu_V0YU/DJtrkIZKQpTU__C7ccdtow/edit?utm_content=DAE5xu_V0YU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFwIyGhkOw/SSsNhsAp_M4byl2iq3UbvQ/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bGSQEYLb5aLcSJx8GRjbzcEggWGehed0djdN4w1kRYE/edit?usp=sharing

Educational Experience

In the communications department at SJU, I have learned many skills that I will carry with me throughout my life. Two skills that have stood out to me that will be reflected through this project are design/creativity and marketing communication skills. I have learned the best ways to communicate with individuals that you are trying to do business with. I have also learned how to present it in a way that is designed to capture the audience’s attention. In visual design, we created icons, posters, and a webpage. These are all ways in which you can advertise and market to a specific audience. With practice in creating these marketing communication tactics, I believe that I will be successful in doing this while creating my brand book.

Research

Pivotal Training currently has a primary focus on muscle building and bulking. To maximize potential attendees, I would add more amenities that would appeal to women. I would like to conduct research on the body type preference of women and find different workout classes that would help women achieve this physique. 

I will also conduct interviews with females in the millennial generation, trying to better understand their fitness goals. Once I have this information, I will have a better understanding of what services need to be added to Pivotal Training. I have already interviewed one female so I could include an example of the information I will be looking for.  

“With Pivotal Traing’s focus being primarily on muscle building and bulking, I would be more inclined to sign up if there were more options for fat loss and muscle toning.”

I have already decided I would like to add the service of pilates and cycling classes. These types of classes invite anyone, no matter your gender, to participate, but appeal most to females. Due to the research I have already conducted, I have learned about the benefits of Pilates, and they have been backed up by science. Pilates can improve your posture, and change your body shape through toning. I have also started some research on the benefits of cycling and why it is especially beneficial for women.   

Read more about this here: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pilates-benefits#for-weight-loss

https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/julie-rand/think-cycling-especially-beneficial-women

I will also need to research the pricing for the new equipment that will be needed to have these classes. I will look at pilates reformer prices, cycling bikes prices, and I will use these prices to determine how much money a class package should cost.  

Obstacles and Resources 

I have experience with all of the software that I will be using for this project, but an obstacle that I foresee is figuring out which software would work best for what I am creating. I want to collaborate with each of them so I can get the best product in the end, but I think it will be challenging to pick which one I should use to get the best result. I’m sure that I can overcome this obstacle by using the trial and error method. I will have to play with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Canva to see which best suits my project.

Timeline

Week 3: Create a more detailed proposal. Have a proposal conference to make sure I am on the right track. Once approved, I will dive right into planning my ideas on paper and picking a template for my brand book. 

Week 4: My next step will be to complete some background research. I’m going to start by looking at all of the current rates that the gym offers now. I will then research why women gravitate towards cycling and pilates and how it is beneficial to the female body. I also will eventually conduct a few interviews, so I will decide who I will be speaking with and I will schedule a time. 

Week 5: Research is due this week. Once my research is complete, I will use the information I learned to decide what advancements and changes I would like to make to the current business. 

Week 6: This week the focus is on inclusive design. I also hope to be in the starting stages of creating my brand book. I will create a cover and some basic graphics that I will include. 

Week 7: This week the midterm progress report is due. At this point, I hope to have the brand book started. I hope to be at a place where I can plan out exactly what pages I will be working on each week. 

Week 8: At this time, the project should be 50% complete. At this point, I will have plenty of research and would like to start putting that research into the project. At this point, I will start creating the research-based pages. These will be the most difficult and time-consuming since they involve research, but once the research is complete, it should be easy to design the pages and plug the information in. 

Week 9: Take photos in the gym to include throughout. I am going to take photos of my friend working out and lifting. I will edit these in Photoshop. I will also start the updated floor plan.  

Week 10: Finish up the floor plan. Create some basic merchandise that could be sold at the gym. 

Week 11: At this point, I will be putting all of the pieces together. I will make sure the book is structured in the proper order. I will add last-minute graphics and design elements that it is missing. 

Week 12: Tie up all of the loose ends. I would also like to have someone look over my work with a new set of eyes to make sure I didn’t miss any important information. 

Week 13: Final presentation preparation.

Week 14: In-class presentations.

Week 15: Final presentations.