Overview
January is critical for gym membership. Unfortunately, this often brings out the worst in our industry, with competing gyms shouting about sales and waived joining fees. Where’s the enjoyment? The motivation? We saw a gap for a brand that celebrated fitness, not as a fad or something to dread, but as something to enjoy and support the rest of your life too.
The Great Indoors
Exercising in winter is often a toss-up between overcrowded and soulless gyms, or getting caught in bad weather. Going against the begrudging ‘new year, new you’ clichés of January, we decided to showcase Third Space’s luxury facilities and bring the outdoors in, with a seasonal campaign that celebrates the joy of health and wellbeing in a quintessentially British way.
A wry smile
We wanted to speak to Londoners directly, but they’re busy and not in the mood for another bland fitness campaign, that is if they notice them at all. To get their attention, we used expansive photography that captures the big open spaces of the Third Space clubs, with action shots that show the ‘greatness’ of their members.
The beautiful photography is juxtaposed with copy that draws on British weather tropes and invokes a wry smile: ‘Another wet London morning’ set against a swimming pool; ‘Heating cranked up’ in the sauna; and ‘Another blustery winter day’ on the assault bikes. This approach also allowed us to talk about the wide array of facilities and classes on offer: from combat training and HIIT classes, to yoga and swimming.
As Roly Grant, founder of Without, summarised: “When you have big, beautiful pools, natural spas and wide open spaces, it’s time to show the British weather where to go. Welcome to The Great Indoors.”
The campaign launched at the start of January and runs across digital, social, online and OOH.
Brand building
January campaigns often go wrong because they don’t support the brand. We knew we needed to buck this trend, so The Great Indoors sticks to Third Space’s distinctive tone-of-voice and builds on the ‘Training For Life’ platform we established during their rebrand in 2015. Breaking with the language of traditional gyms, we took the opportunity to position Third Space as an aspirational investment for London’s urban elite.
Where fitness used to be about guilt and short term ‘goals’, Third Space developed an offer that went beyond cost and convenience. Third Space isn’t about sweating off guilty carbs, short-term six-packs, or rows of sad TVs. Instead, it believes in training for life; in commitment, not a fling. This won’t appeal to everyone - and that’s why it works.
The Third Space tone of voice is an expression of the ‘Training for Life’ behaviour. Last year, for example, we highlighted that "the work you do here, makes you stronger out there": Third Space members' ambitions aren't limited to within the club walls, to lifting the heaviest weight, cycling the furthest distance, swimming the fastest length. Our words express how training makes them feel when they step outside, too.
When the pandemic hit, we tapped into the never-give-up mentality that unites Third Space members: "rolling with punches" because "we won't quit".
Our approach has seen Third Space grow from two clubs to nine (with at least three more in the pipeline in 2024) by celebrating fitness and movement as a life-long inspiration.
About Without:
Without was created to bridge the gap between graphic design and strategic consultancy. As a result, they aren’t your usual type of setup, and that’s a good thing. The team thrives off working with brands that want to be different, specialising in the food and drink, luxury, leisure and hospitality sectors. Key brands that Without has collaborated with include The Wolseley, Third Space, The Thinking Traveller, and Wahaca. Find Without online, on Instagram, on Twitter, or on LinkedIn.
Overview
January is critical for gym membership. Unfortunately, this often brings out the worst in our industry, with competing gyms shouting about sales and waived joining fees. Where’s the enjoyment? The motivation? We saw a gap for a brand that celebrated fitness, not as a fad or something to dread, but as something to enjoy and support the rest of your life too.
The Great Indoors
Exercising in winter is often a toss-up between overcrowded and soulless gyms, or getting caught in bad weather. Going against the begrudging ‘new year, new you’ clichés of January, we decided to showcase Third Space’s luxury facilities and bring the outdoors in, with a seasonal campaign that celebrates the joy of health and wellbeing in a quintessentially British way.
A wry smile
We wanted to speak to Londoners directly, but they’re busy and not in the mood for another bland fitness campaign, that is if they notice them at all. To get their attention, we used expansive photography that captures the big open spaces of the Third Space clubs, with action shots that show the ‘greatness’ of their members.
The beautiful photography is juxtaposed with copy that draws on British weather tropes and invokes a wry smile: ‘Another wet London morning’ set against a swimming pool; ‘Heating cranked up’ in the sauna; and ‘Another blustery winter day’ on the assault bikes. This approach also allowed us to talk about the wide array of facilities and classes on offer: from combat training and HIIT classes, to yoga and swimming.
As Roly Grant, founder of Without, summarised: “When you have big, beautiful pools, natural spas and wide open spaces, it’s time to show the British weather where to go. Welcome to The Great Indoors.”
The campaign launched at the start of January and runs across digital, social, online and OOH.
Brand building
January campaigns often go wrong because they don’t support the brand. We knew we needed to buck this trend, so The Great Indoors sticks to Third Space’s distinctive tone-of-voice and builds on the ‘Training For Life’ platform we established during their rebrand in 2015. Breaking with the language of traditional gyms, we took the opportunity to position Third Space as an aspirational investment for London’s urban elite.
Where fitness used to be about guilt and short term ‘goals’, Third Space developed an offer that went beyond cost and convenience. Third Space isn’t about sweating off guilty carbs, short-term six-packs, or rows of sad TVs. Instead, it believes in training for life; in commitment, not a fling. This won’t appeal to everyone - and that’s why it works.
The Third Space tone of voice is an expression of the ‘Training for Life’ behaviour. Last year, for example, we highlighted that "the work you do here, makes you stronger out there": Third Space members' ambitions aren't limited to within the club walls, to lifting the heaviest weight, cycling the furthest distance, swimming the fastest length. Our words express how training makes them feel when they step outside, too.
When the pandemic hit, we tapped into the never-give-up mentality that unites Third Space members: "rolling with punches" because "we won't quit".
Our approach has seen Third Space grow from two clubs to nine (with at least three more in the pipeline in 2024) by celebrating fitness and movement as a life-long inspiration.
About Without:
Without was created to bridge the gap between graphic design and strategic consultancy. As a result, they aren’t your usual type of setup, and that’s a good thing. The team thrives off working with brands that want to be different, specialising in the food and drink, luxury, leisure and hospitality sectors. Key brands that Without has collaborated with include The Wolseley, Third Space, The Thinking Traveller, and Wahaca. Find Without online, on Instagram, on Twitter, or on LinkedIn.
