GymNation has removed all weights from a number of its gyms to mark World Mental Health Day.

The UAE and KSA based gym has made the decision to remove the weights to encourage people to ‘unload’ themselves on World Mental Health Day.

The experiential approach underlines the power of brands meeting people where they are, in this case, the gym, to spark a much needed conversation about wellness. A challenger brand mentality sees all aspects of the customer experience as a creative canvas. 

GymNation has a community of over 150,000 members across the UAE and KSA region and is successfully breaking new ground in challenger marketing across the region.

The brand released a series of images featuring empty weight racks, dumbbells piled-up outside the gym, alongside signage on the gym floor to highlight the campaign to gym-goers.

Rory McEntee, CMO at GymNation, explained: “The only weight we want people to lift on the 10th October, is the weight off their mind”.

The campaign is designed to highlight the importance of mental fitness, as well as physical fitness, with GymNation organising drop-in mental health classes on the 10th October across selected gyms in partnership with leading mental health organisation, Sage. 

McEntee added: “For World Mental Health Day, we wanted to do something with maximum impact to encourage people to think about their mental health, as well as their physical health.” 

He continued: “Unloading all the weights on the gym floor caught their attention, and in partnership with Sage, we want to encourage gym users to ‘unload' and remove the weight off their mind with one of our dedicated mental fitness classes”.

Placing emphasis on mental fitness is timely, with research revealing that almost 60% of the population in the UAE and 40% of young adults in the KSA suffer from at least one mental health disorder. Both social media and financial stress are blamed as significant factors.

The dedicated mental fitness classes, organised in collaboration with Sage, can be booked online at GymNation.com. The class will focus on both sides of health, starting with a selection of favourite themed classes from HIIT to Dance, followed by a mental health talk and question and answer session. In addition, GymNation members will also be offered discounts for personal consultations with Sage’s team of experts dedicated to the mental health and wellbeing of individuals, couples and families.

Dr Gurveen Ranger, from Sage, explained: “We loved GymNation’s bold idea to ‘take the weight off’ this World Mental Day. It’s a significant moment in the calendar, with people all over the world doing different things to prioritise mental health.

She continued: “While physical fitness is crucial for mental health providing a natural boost to mood, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improving self-esteem and cognitive function - it’s the perfect time to remind people about the importance of talking, or unloading, to support their mental wellbeing.”

Redefining what it means to be a challenger brand

The campaign is the latest challenger marketing move from GymNation. Earlier this month, McEntee shared the first outdoor ad launched in the region by the brand. He highlighted the challenges of time and bureaucracy, which make reactive campaigns very difficult to pull off. A challenge which is also seen in other markets, as corporate sign off processes struggle to keep pace with the speed of culture. 

At a time when every brand wants to be a challenger brand, McEntee’s mantra of ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’ is a marketing leadership ethos which successfully builds disruptive campaigns. 

Campaigns that on World Mental Health Day are successfully sparking an urgent conversation on mental health and the weight so many carry every single day.