David Lloyd Leisure

From performance to brand building: A story of growth for David Lloyd Leisure

David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) is Europe’s leading health, sport, and leisure group. In the UK, where their business is most established, they sit at the premium end of an increasingly competitive marketplace, with new entrants from low-cost gyms and boutique studios providing greater choice to the consumer.

Prior to our appointment in 2017, DLL had been through a business transformation and a renewed cultural shift. Our challenge was to build on this new direction by accelerating growth and sustaining the trajectory.

AWARDS FOR DAVID LLOYD LEISURE

Media Week Awards - Long-Term Media Strategy

What we did

To generate short-term revenue to fund long-term growth and build the confidence for DLL’s investors to reinvest, we mapped out a four-year journey from performance to brand, using data to inform an evolving strategy that would change the game for David Lloyd Leisure.

What we did

Year 1: We used a DRTV-focussed approach with the addition of a clear call-to-action and employing linear attribution. We cut the cost-per-enquiry (CPE) by 66% in our initial test and spot-matching enabled us to optimise further, enabling us to halve CPE again.

What we did

Year 2: Using three years of media spend data, we built 92 econometric models that showed the impact on enquiries plus the effect of offers, seasonality, key events such as Wimbledon, and competitor spend. This insight informed budget allocation for the rest of the year to deliver 3X growth year on year.

What we did

Year 3: This was the first full year we could apply our renewed understanding of channel effectiveness. Our modelling gave us confidence to invest heavily in Q1 to win SOV. We used the year to stress test channels such as online display and social media to feed more data into the econometric modelling.

What we did

Year 4: We designed our first brand-response campaign that would focus on boosting understanding and consideration with Prosperous Families using the creative platform ‘Have More We Time’. Underpinned by our scenario planner to ensure efficiency, we invested heavily in TV advertising and book-ended commutes with high impact OOH.

Enquiry volumes and sales saw a step-change in growth from year one, continuing an upward trajectory. Leading up to the UK lockdown, DLL achieved the highest volume of sales ever recorded.

This campaign also set us up for a strong rebound from the national lockdown seeing a surge in demand from prosperous families over the summer of 2020.

13% growth in annual enquiry volumes from 2015-2019
28% uplift in enquiries achieved in Jan-Feb 2020 vs 2019
Brand Understanding increased by +5% among non-DLL members following the Q1 2020 brand campaign.

Our long-term media strategy helped take David Lloyd Leisure from pure performance to brand building, without ever compromising business effectiveness. Most recently our work with David Lloyd Leisure was awarded Gold at The Media Week awards for Long-Term Media Strategy.

13%
Growth in annual enquiries from 2015-19
28%
Uplift in enquiries in Jan-Feb 2020 vs 2019
+5%
Increase in brand understanding