The Background
A New Chapter in Fitness: More Than Just a Gym
At Crunch Fitness, growth doesn’t just mean opening new doors—it means unlocking new possibilities for people walking through them. Across hundreds of locations, Crunch has become more than a gym. It’s a place where members show up not just to sweat, but to feel supported, connected, and seen.
That shift didn’t happen by chance. It was driven by a deep understanding: today's fitness journey is as much about mental strength and emotional well-being as it is about physical transformation.
“People are showing up for more than workouts,” says Danielle Pakradooni, who leads Crunch’s brand and digital marketing strategy. “They’re coming to feel a part of something. They want community, not just classes.”
At a time when the industry chased trends, Danielle and her team chose a different path. Instead of flash-in-the-pan tactics, they doubled down on real connection by equipping their franchisees with tools to lead meaningful engagement in their own neighborhoods. Their franchisees are a major driver behind the brand’s success, and members are at the core of everything they do.
The Challenge
A New Generation of Wellness Demands a New Kind of Leadership
The fitness industry has evolved rapidly. Success is no longer defined in the cardio section. Today’s members are seeking personalization, flexibility, and authenticity. They want to lift heavier, but they also want to feel lighter mentally. They want options that reflect their unique goals and lives—valuing strength training and amenities designed for longevity.
This change created a real challenge for franchisees. How could local gym owners keep up with rising expectations without losing touch with the communities they serve? How could they move fast without corporate red tape? How could they market like pros while staying connected with the Crunch brand team.
Crunch saw what was coming and acted decisively. The team understood that transformation couldn’t be top-down. The real opportunity was in giving local leaders the power to lead authentically, with tools that respected their time, understood their members, and made professional marketing feel personal again.
The Solution
Turning Franchisees Into Local Champions
That’s when the strategy shifted.
Danielle and her team reimagined their marketing engine—not as a centralized machine, but as a decentralized ecosystem built to empower.
They created systems that allowed every franchise to operate like a nimble, fully staffed marketing team, without needing one. Franchisees could now build and launch their own emails. They could run region-specific campaigns tailored to local events, member behaviors, or seasonal promotions — without waiting on HQ.
And these weren’t just small efforts. The scale was enormous:
- Over 15 million emails sent every month
- More than 2 million leads collected in 2024 alone
- 1+ million landing page views, across markets
But scale wasn’t the goal. Relevance was. Every campaign could now speak directly to the members it was meant for, in a voice that felt local—because it was.
Crunch’s marketing became personal at scale, blending enterprise-grade systems with neighborhood-level empathy.
Human Tools for Human Results
To sustain this growth without sacrificing authenticity, Danielle’s team doubled down on smart, accessible technology—designed not for marketing experts, but for busy gym operators trying to serve their communities.
Franchisees can now:
- Use AI-powered tools like Copilot to generate content in minutes
- Segment email audiences by region, behavior, or lifecycle stage
- Personalize content using dynamic tokens, ensuring every member feels understood
- Track performance across locations through unified dashboards
- Capture leads with tablets that trigger real-time follow-up via text or email
“We wanted our franchisees to have the ability to create email campaigns on their own,” Danielle explains. “We wanted them to act fast, move with confidence, and focus on what matters most—building relationships with the community.”
Even small teams can now act big. And big teams? They’re moving even faster—with better data, smarter targeting, and a clearer view of what’s working.
The Transformation
Local Impact at Enterprise Scale
What started as a marketing system has become a growth engine that touches every corner of the Crunch network.
Before, campaigns were bottlenecked through central teams. Personalization was limited. Feedback loops were slow.
With HubSpot’s Marketing Hub at the center of their strategy, Danielle’s team finally had the infrastructure to match their ambition. The platform gave them the flexibility to empower local franchises while also creating space to optimize their own operations at HQ.
By centralizing data, automating workflows, and streamlining content creation, the team unlocked a new level of operational efficiency that allowed them to shift from reactive support to proactive enablement. Now, instead of chasing down one-off requests or manually managing campaigns, Danielle’s team focuses on scaling what works, testing smarter strategies, and delivering resources that help every location thrive.
Now, 500+ franchise teams across 500 gyms operate with real autonomy and real clarity. They can create, test, and optimize campaigns that speak directly to their members and do it all without waiting on corporate approval.
The results speak for themselves:
- 15M+ emails/month sent with high engagement
- 2M+ leads generated in just one year
- Personalized journeys that nurture both new joiners and longtime loyalists
- Operational efficiency that saves time and drives better member experiences
- AI-driven audience targeting to grow smarter, not just bigger
And it’s not just the numbers. The culture has changed. Franchisees feel more confident. Members feel more connected. The system has become more resilient—and more human.
“We’ve built a marketing engine that works for real people,” Danielle says. “It’s not just about performance metrics. It’s about helping our franchisees become stronger partners to their members. That’s how we win.”
The Bigger Picture: Growth That Feels Personal
Crunch Fitness isn’t just scaling operations. They’re scaling impact. They’ve built a model where franchisees are trusted to lead and where members feel like more than just a number.
It’s people-first growth in action: a unified strategy that celebrates individual voices. With every landing page launched, every email sent, every class filled, Crunch is proving that growth and authenticity go hand in hand.
In a world where fitness brands talk big, Crunch delivers - locally, personally, and at scale.
_logo_2018%20(3)-1.png?width=215&height=50&name=WW_(rebrand)_logo_2018%20(3)-1.png){kind=logo}
%20(1).png?width=215&height=50&name=Fusion_Logo_Vert_4c_RGB%20(2)%20(1).png){kind=logo}