LA Fitness is trying to call it a comeback . . . but we're not here for it.
In our Ad of the Week this week, we measured our brains as we watched LA Fitness's new spot featuring plenty of fit, healthy folks lacing up their tennis shoes and picking up their gym bags while they explain what their fitness comeback is in the New Year.
Perhaps it's because it's a story we've heard a million times before. Perhaps it's because there was minimal storytelling in the ad. Or maybe we are all just sick of hearing about working out this January . . . but our brains were not having it.
You can see that our overall measurement was 16 points lower than the industry norm of 53 for this content. And when you evaluate the second-by-second replay - it's clear why.
Our two lowest points of immersion while watching the ad - an average score of 29 to start the ad and 19 to finish it out - happened when there was no storytelling in the narration.
In the beginning, we see a montage of scenes of folks not feeling like going to the gym, then pumping themselves up mentally and going anyway. No strong story within the montage leads to the 29 average measurement in immersion.
When we begin to hear voices narrating what the comeback means to them - our brains perk up and average around 44 for the duration of this section of the ad. This is further proof that our brains love to follow a story. Storytelling is key to driving Immersion and we know that a 10 point increase in Immersion can predict up to a 5% sales increase.
The ad ends with another dip in Immersion towards the end of the ad, which is unfortunately for LA Fitness as it's the key talking points for their brand.
If we've said it once - we've said it one million times: storytelling drives Immersion and Immersion drives sales.
Still skeptical? Watch the full ad and see the full measurement HERE.
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