March 31, 2015
CBX Helps Jazzercise Rebrand with Focus on Intensity, Results
Beloved brand emphasizes its hard-hitting, dynamic and challenging workouts via comprehensive rebranding campaign by CBX.
After an endorphin-boosting Jazzercise workout, you’re likely to feel toned, breathless, energized—and ready to come back for more. But what about those whimsical legwarmers and leotards? In its comprehensive rebranding project for Jazzercise, brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX is helping the $100 million company retire these outdated misperceptions.
“The reality is, Jazzercise has continually updated its workouts for the past 45 years to keep them in perfect step with contemporary fitness trends ,” said Gregg S. Lipman, CBX Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “Jazzercise continues to transform the bodies and lives of thousands of people all over the world. It is every bit as results-oriented as the likes of CrossFit or Zumba. Our objective was to modernize the perception of this brand by better telling its story.”
The new brand elements debuted on the Jazzercise website in January and are now being rolled out companywide to appear on retail products such as apparel, interior and exterior signage, promotional materials, advertisements and posters. Elements have also been incorporated in corporate and franchised Jazzercise centers.
As part of the rebranding, CBX body-sculpted the Jazzercise logo by ditching its serif-based font for a sleeker, more energetic look. The firm created a bold, clean color palette for Jazzercise’s background fields, typography and accents, employing shades of yellow, grey, blue and white. The new brand voice is conveyed in messaging such as “Jazzercise: You think you know us, but you don’t” and “We keep you moving, we keep it coming—you’ll transform.”
“We based our approach on extensive consumer research, and the messages we received were, in essence, ‘Inspire me’ and ‘Get me results,’” said Rick Barrack, CBX Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer. “These workouts are sweaty, real and challenging. They’re about intensity and results, which is precisely what we sought to convey in this rebranding.”
CBX’s effort focused in part on grittier, high-contrast photography, Barrack explained. “Visually, we zoomed in on the strength of women’s muscles and the sweat on their bodies, with brick backgrounds, close cropping and a color palette that really pushes performance and strength,” he said. “It is real, raw and empowering, which happens to be more in keeping with today’s trends, from the TV show ‘Girls,’ to the unapologetic ads of U By Kotex.”
Specific words on the brand guidelines list include pulse-pounding, beat-pumping, beats jumpin’ and bass droppin’, which is appropriate given that customers can incinerate up to 800 calories in one 60-minute Jazzercise class, Barrack noted. “We also added boldness and strength to the advertising copy with language such as ‘Our only throwback is our right hook’ and ‘Our new beats break 80s barriers.’ ”
Founded in 1969, Jazzercise has never stopped growing: its more than 8,300 certified instructors teach more than 32,000 weekly classes in 32 countries. However, the 45-year-old brand wanted to gain an edge on other fitness programs by focusing on the future, Lipman noted. “Jazzercise founder and CEO Judi Sheppard Missett wanted to reach out to a new audience with a bold new message: ‘You think you know us, but you don’t,’ ” he explained. “This rebranding has laid the groundwork for an enduring and engaging brand, one that acknowledges that sweat is sexy—no legwarmers required.”
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