Planet Fitness CEO, Colleen Keating, recently addressed the ICR Conference in 2025, outlining the company’s strategic imperatives for growth and emphasizing a commitment to enhancing the member experience. With a focus on brand redefinition, product refinement, and accelerated club openings, Keating detailed how Planet Fitness aims to solidify its position as a leader in the fitness industry. This comes on the heels of a successful 2024, marked by significant growth in membership and system-wide sales.
Strategic Imperatives for Growth
Keating emphasized four key strategic imperatives driving Planet Fitness’s growth: refining the brand promise, enhancing member experience, refining the product, and accelerating club openings. These pillars are designed to work in tandem, creating a holistic approach to sustained success. The company is focused on ensuring that its marketing and messaging align with a redefined brand promise that resonates with a broader audience.
Refining the Brand Promise
Planet Fitness is actively working on refining its brand promise and ensuring that its marketing efforts accurately reflect this new direction. This includes a focus on inclusivity, aiming to appeal to a wider range of fitness enthusiasts, from beginners to more seasoned gym-goers. The brand has also been actively comparing its offerings to higher-priced competitors, emphasizing that similar results can be achieved with a Planet Fitness membership at a lower cost. This approach aims to position Planet Fitness as the go-to option for anyone looking to start or continue their fitness journey.
Enhancing Member Experience
A significant focus for Planet Fitness is enhancing the member experience both inside and outside its physical locations. CEO Keating has personally visited over 50 clubs, engaging with franchisees, managers, and members to gain firsthand insights. This “feet on the street” approach has been instrumental in understanding member needs and preferences. The company is working on modernizing the experience by optimizing equipment layout and floor plans to better serve its members.
To further enhance the member experience, Planet Fitness is also investing in digital strategies. The Planet Fitness App has been redesigned to offer enhanced functionality and ease of use, providing members with a “gym in their pocket”. Features include simplified navigation, club details, real-time crowd monitoring, and access to digital key tags. The company’s partnership with iFIT allows them to expand and enhance digital content offerings, creating value for members both in and out of the gym.
Refining the Product
Planet Fitness is actively refining its product offerings to meet the evolving fitness needs of its members. This includes expanding strength training options, with the introduction of new plate-loaded equipment like the Magnum Supine Bench Press and Hack Squat in over 1,700 locations. These additions are part of a larger strategy to shift the company’s equipment mix to cater to the growing interest in strength training. The company anticipates this new equipment to be in almost all of its 2,600+ locations by 2025.
The company has also made changes to its floor plans, modifying the mix of cardio equipment and weights. The aim is to create a more efficient and effective workout environment. These changes reflect the brand’s commitment to adapting to consumer preferences and industry trends.
Accelerating Club Openings
Planet Fitness is focusing on accelerating club openings to expand its footprint both domestically and internationally. In 2024, the company opened 150 new clubs and placed equipment in 124 new franchised locations, bringing the total number of clubs to 2,722. While most of these locations are in the United States, Planet Fitness has also been expanding internationally, including recent openings in Spain. The company aims to open 200 new locations, but acknowledges that it will take a few years to reach that goal.
The brand’s franchise model, which makes up 90% of its locations, continues to be a significant factor in the company’s rapid expansion. The company provides training, branding, operational guidance, and support to its franchisees, leading to a consistently high level of profitability. This approach has enabled the company to grow while maintaining high-profit margins and generating positive free cash flow.
2024 Performance and 2025 Outlook
Planet Fitness experienced a strong financial performance in 2024. The company ended the year with approximately 19.7 million members, a 5.0% rise in system-wide same club sales, and 150 new club openings. In the third quarter of 2024, Planet Fitness exceeded analysts’ expectations, reporting revenue of $292.2 million. These numbers reflect the company’s strong position in the fitness market.
In addition, the company undertook strategic initiatives like refinancing a portion of its debt and initiating a share repurchase program, demonstrating a commitment to shareholder value. For the first time in over 25 years, the price of the new member Classic Card was increased, and the company introduced an enhanced economic model for club operations. These steps, along with an evolved brand strategy, have positioned Planet Fitness for further success in 2025.
Looking ahead, Planet Fitness is set to release its full fiscal year 2024 results and provide a 2025 outlook on February 25, 2025. Analysts remain positive about the company’s prospects, with some naming it a “Top Pick” for 2025. The company’s management team is confident that its focus on brand redefinition, member experience enhancement, product refinement, and accelerated club openings will benefit all stakeholders, including franchisors, franchisees, members, and shareholders.
Leadership and Team
In addition to its strategic initiatives, Planet Fitness has also strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Chip Ohlsson as Chief Development Officer and Brian Povinelli as Chief Marketing Officer. Both executives bring extensive experience in leading consumer-facing brands through periods of growth and working with franchisees to drive profitability. CEO Colleen Keating herself was appointed in June 2024, bringing over three decades of experience in hospitality, real estate, operations, and franchise management.
The Planet Fitness Approach
Planet Fitness differentiates itself with a “high volume, low price” (HVLP) business model. This approach is designed to make fitness accessible and affordable for a broad audience, particularly those who are not currently gym members. The company’s “Judgement Free Zone” aims to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for people of all fitness levels. The gym chain has been described as the “Walmart of Gyms,” offering a basic membership for $15 per month, attracting millions of members.
While the company’s core offering remains affordability and accessibility, Planet Fitness is actively working to enhance its services and offerings, including through its investment in technology. By focusing on both the in-club and out-of-club experience, the company aims to provide a comprehensive fitness solution to its members.
Conclusion
Colleen Keating’s presentation at the ICR Conference 2025 made it clear that Planet Fitness is not resting on its past successes. The company is actively pursuing strategic growth initiatives, from refining the brand to enhancing member experience, and the company is committed to maintaining its position as a leading fitness provider. With its focus on a broad range of consumers, a strong franchise model, and investments in new technology and equipment, Planet Fitness is poised for continued growth and success in 2025 and beyond.
