Xponential Taps Gary Vaynerchuk’s Media Agency, Links With Gympass
Vaynerchuk will lead Xponential’s marketing and content efforts across its ten boutique fitness brands as it plans a global expansion
Boutique fitness franchisor Xponential Fitness made two noteworthy announcements as part of its inaugural Analyst and Investor Day, including a new partnership with corporate well-being platform Gympass and the hiring of Gary Vaynerchuk’s VaynerMedia as its new global media and creative agency.
The global fitness franchisor also reiterated that it’s confident it will achieve the high-end ranges of its full-year 2023 outlook and is aiming for 500 new studios as one of its three-year targets. Despite the updates, shares of XPOF dropped around 15% on Wednesday.
The Gympass Partnership
Xponential’s new partnership with Gympass will see its ten boutique fitness brands available on the corporate wellness platform in October.
The boutique fitness franchisor says the deal with Gympass, which currently has over 15,000 corporate customers and two million paid subscribers, will allow it to use its excess inventory to offer classes to new customers and drive incremental studio revenue.
The news comes as Gympass just hit a $2.4 billion valuation after a recent funding round.
The Marketing Plan: Xponential Taps Gary Vaynerchuk
VaynerMedia, the firm co-founded and led by entrepreneur and social media pro Gary Vaynerchuk, will assume marketing and creative responsibilities for all of Xponential’s ten brands effective October 1, 2023, with Vaynerchuk himself leading the marketing efforts.
The partnership will see VaynerMedia support Xponential’s global expansion and develop a comprehensive content plan designed for each of Xponential’s fitness brands to drive awareness, capture new audiences and optimize marketing spend.
The media agency has worked with notable companies such as TikTok, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Tinder and WeWork.
“I am thrilled to work with Xponential and its suite of iconic boutique fitness brands,” said Vaynerchuk, VaynerMedia’s CEO. “Our social-first model and deep bench of marketing and creative talent is perfectly suited to meet Xponential’s dynamic needs. Together, we will be able to reach new levels of growth for Xponential globally.”
Xponential founder and CEO Anthony Geisler commented that the boutique fitness franchisor is impressed with VaynerMedia’s ability to build brand awareness and create consumer loyalty.
“We look forward to working with Gary and the entire team to leverage their unique data and insights-driven approach, as we continue to drive growth and provide customers a best-in-class boutique fitness experience,” Geisler said.
The Financials: Xponential’s 2023 Outlook & Three-Year Operating Targets
Xponential says it expects new boutique fitness studio openings in the range of 540 to 560 for this year, an increase of 8% at the midpoint compared to full-year 2022. It also expects North America system-wide sales in the range of $1.385 billion to $1.395 billion, an increase of 35% at the midpoint compared to full-year 2022.
The fitness company also anticipates revenue in the range of $295 million to $305 million, an increase of 22% at the midpoint compared to full-year 2022 and Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $102.5 million to $106.5 million, an increase of 41% at the midpoint as compared to full-year 2022.
Xponential also provided three-year operating targets of 500 new studio openings, North America system-wide sales of $2.330 billion, revenue of $405.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $190 million.
