Why Snap Fitness Has Made the Mid-Tier its Home

The 24/7 gym chain is reaping the rewards of positioning itself between HVLPs and luxury brands with a value-oriented price point and premium offerings

Snap Fitness, the global fitness franchise with headquarters in Minnesota, is strategically situated in the middle. Positioned as a premium, mid-tier gym chain, the brand offers top-rate experiences and products at a manageable price. This strategy is specifically designed to satisfy consumers’ growing appetite for this exact equation.

“This is a category that I see standing out from the crowd at the moment,” said Ty Menzies, CEO of Snap Fitness. “Yes, we’re premium, but we’re still value-led.” 

While Snap Fitness identified this elevated yet consumer-attainable market long ago, recent events and shifts in consumer demands have only made it stronger. 

How We Got Here

After the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers reentered the world wanting more from gyms and fitness centers. Isolation prompted a demand for community-oriented experiences. The necessity for and consequential exposure to at-home fitness options increased everyone’s appreciation and desire for digital offerings. It all occurred while a pressurized macroeconomic environment took form as well. Altogether, this led gym goers to look for an elevated breadth of offerings at an accessible price. 

As consumers started huddling toward the middle, Snap Fitness already occupied that sweet spot.

“We’ve positioned ourselves in what we call ‘value-premium led,’” Menzies said. “We play at a price point certainly closer to that of a HVLP (high-value, low-price) and give members a premium facility led by a local operator, with high-end equipment, individual and lockable bathrooms, digital support and in an accessible location, not to mention Reformer Pilates, Recovery and Wellness Zones. ”

Snap Fitness has continued fine-tuning its offerings to reflect post-pandemic consumer behavior as well, with digital solutions including personalized recommendations and programming. It also reinvested in premium equipment from providers like Technogym, Life Fitness and Matrix. The price point, however, has remained within reach for average consumers. 

Mindfulness & Recovery Lead the Way

Part of the brand’s post-pandemic efforts to deliver more at a tangible rate was its move into fitness-adjacent concepts. During and shortly after the pandemic, Snap conducted an extensive amount of research to reevaluate its identity. Snap’s findings revealed an abundance of consumer interest in verticals related to mindfulness. 

“10 years ago, when you asked a new member what they wanted to achieve, nine times out of 10, they’d say they wanted to lose weight,” Menzies said. “Today, if you ask that same question, you rarely get that answer. Most of the time, people say they want to be stronger, feel fitter and reduce stress. A lot of it is related to how they feel.”

Consumers indicated such a strong interest in mindfulness and recovery, it even prompted Snap Fitness to adjust its marketing strategy. 

“We moved away from a performance-driven tagline — being fast, affordable and convenient — to mental positioning and feeling,” Menzies went on. “Everything we do today is about how exercise makes you feel rather than how exercise makes you look. So, mental wellness and recovery are a big part of ensuring we deliver those components.”

That philosophy is reflected across the member experience, both in club and digitally. Through the Snap Fitness app, members can access mindfulness content 24/7, while clubs are equipped with dedicated recovery spaces designed to support physical and mental wellbeing before and after training. In smaller clubs, you’ll find Theraguns, foam rollers and exercise balls. Larger facilities house HydroMassage beds, CryoLounge chairs, infrared saunas and red light therapy service. 

“When you’ve finished your workout, just go up to the screen and spend three or four minutes doing a little bit of stretching, maybe some time with the massage guns, or anything to just cool your body down,” Menzies added. “We try to make it convenient more than anything else.”

A Flexible Model

With its place firmly solidified, Snap Fitness has no plans to vacate the premium, mid-tier. However, the brand wants to remain flexible within it. While Snap doesn’t expect the demand around its core offerings to ever fade, and will continue to invest the majority of its space and capital in strength, cardio and functional training, it wants to leave a bit of room to adjust around what’s hot. 

Menzies references Pilates as one example illustrating his brand’s strategic pliability. After recognizing a surge in demand for the concept, Snap Fitness recently converted rooms that were formerly used for less popular classes into designated areas for Reformer Pilates at more than 50 clubs.

“It’s fortunate for us because those classes were a very small part of our clubs,” Menzies said. “Cardio, strength, functional training and the other items will continue to be 80% of what we offer, and then we can adjust the 20% as trends come and go.”

Weaving in new modalities or concepts isn’t a new challenge for Snap Fitness, but rather a continuation of how the brand has always evolved and been designed in a way that is agile enough to move with the times. Menzies remains confident in Snap’s ability to adjust where necessary, like it has with the mind-body, digital and machine additions. 

“The reality is, we’ve moved with the times,” he said. “The makeup of our clubs is in a really great place. We just make the right tweaks to the brand experience to reflect trends and demands from the consumer and indeed the market, from a price point perspective.”