CrossFit: Challenging the Fitness Industry to Pick Up the Pace

How do you create a deeply relevant consumer brand from scratch with no advertising in an extremely crowded and competitive category? One thing is certain: You don’t do it by trying to copy the market leaders.

When his first gym opened in 2001, the fitness category heavyweights couldn’t have foreseen the “functional training” revolution Greg Glassman and his CrossFitupstart was about to unleash. A decade later, CrossFit has powered its way to more than 2,500 locations worldwide. That’s more than five times the number of sites of fitness club industry leader 24 Hour Fitness.

Glassman created the pattern for CrossFit’s success by disregarding every conceivable category convention. The list of broken rules includes long-held industry standards for what a workout entails, the role of the gym owners, and the way customers are invited to engage in the experience through shared interests in physical development andcompetition. Read more about the CrossFit model and Glassman’s vision for changing the rules of the game at his website.

It’s an inspiring challenger brand success story full of lessons for marketers willing to do the heavy lifting it takes to break from the pack.