Why your brand should inspire the look of your gym.
by Rebecca Behrens
CBN Feb/Mar 2010
When an athlete walks into Rockstar Cheer in Greer, SC, she’s transformed into a VIP—a supremely confident “rock star.” The Rockstar logo, purple walls and edgy-yet-classy decor make it clear that every athlete is there to shine and perform.
The vibrant, six-foot-tall orange sun in the main entry of Pacific Coast Magic’s gym in Murrieta, CA, along with the interior’s blue accents, symbolize the bright sunlight and dazzling blue water for which the Pacific coast is celebrated.
Rockstar Cheer and Pacific Coast Magic have both hit the mark for integrating their brands into the design of their gyms. As a result, athletes and staff are constantly reminded of and inspired by their gym’s mission. Decorating with your brand in mind isn’t just essential for energizing your athletes and staff; it’s crucial for building product awareness and growing your business. Read on to find out why, and learn how you can bring your brand into every facet of your facility.
Communicating Your Values and the “Starbucks Factor”
Decorating your cheer gym with your brand can be a smart business move. Raymond Connelly, principal and CEO of RFCY Fitness, has more than 11 years of experience with national and international fitness design and development projects. He urges gym owners to recognize that “your clientele should understand your philosophy each and every time they enter your facility.”
Incorporating your brand into your gym’s design is an essential way to make sure that your cheer gym’s values are communicated to athletes, staff, parents, guests—and prospective customers. “The way our gym is decorated is a great selling piece to new customers,” says Kellie Elliott, co-owner of Pacific Coast Magic. “They love how fun and professional the gym looks, and they get the feeling that we care about our facility.”
Connelly emphasizes that a cheer gym’s personality is communicated through design and decoration. It’s important to be consistent, especially when you have multiple locations. He cites the “Starbucks feeling” as a good example—no matter where you pop into the famous coffee chain, the environment always feels familiar and, more important, tranquil. Part of the Starbucks brand is that sense of comfort and calm.
Connelly suggests creating a consistent feeling in all areas of your facility—from the main floor to the locker rooms to the bathrooms. You don’t have to go overboard; subtle hints work just fine. Try using the same team colors throughout your gym, or small logos or decals in every room. By decorating with your brand, you can make your gym more energetic and appealing.
Frills and Gimmicks
Before beginning a renovation or redecorating project, Connelly suggests owners evaluate their budget and the overall services the gym needs. Because cheer gyms are such high-activity areas, it’s best to stick with commercial materials for building and decorating. Some gym areas require spending money for high-quality, durable materials—such as flooring.
Themed accents around your gym can go a long way.
It’s also true that some areas of a cheer gym will give you more bang for your decorating buck. The front entrance is your opportunity to make a great first impression and the best place to make a statement about your brand. Don’t forget about signage, either. Rockstar posted a large sign outside of its building near the road, as well as another on the building. The roadside placement is particularly important for the gym, according to coach and founder Kathy Foster, since the facility itself sits back from the road.
Ultimately, you don’t need to make big design changes to incorporate your brand into your gym. Cheerleaders at GymTyme All-Stars are inundated with clocks and stars around their gym—constant reminders that when they’re at the gym, it’s “tyme” to be an all-“star.” GymTyme manager Cindy Becton says that motivational slogans, such as “Tyme for another world championship” and “It’s about that Tyme,” cover the walls. These simple touches help boost morale and remind athletes about the brand every time they’re in the gym.
Picking Up the Paintbrush
At Rockstar Cheer, only staff participated in decorating the facility, while Pacific Coast got parents and coaches involved during a facility move. If a decorating project is going to consist of paint and pictures, it’s probably not necessary to enlist professional help. For more involved projects, seek out an expert to make sure the job is done right and safely. When choosing an architect, interior designer or contractor, Connelly suggests making sure that he or she has at least five to seven years of experience and has worked on fitness center or gym projects before, as these projects have unique needs. Ask prospective hires if they have professional certifications, and always get references for past work.
Whether you’re inspired to revamp your gym’s decorations from head to toe to emphasize your program philosophy, or you simply want to update the paint in your lobby to coordinate with new uniforms, it’s always worthwhile to use your brand to design your gym. Connelly suggests asking yourself “where your facility is today and then imagining where you want it to be tomorrow.” So amp up your brand today and watch your gym take off tomorrow!
Rockstar Cheer’s Rockin’ Brand
Kathy Foster, coach and founder of Rockstar Cheer, emphasizes that its brand is used in everything the gym does and can be described in two ways. First, Rockstar’s athletes act like rock stars—they stand out in the crowd, and their confidence puts them at the top of the talent pyramid. “We coach our athletes not only to perform like rock stars, but to truly believe that they are rock stars.” Second, every person who enters the facility—from the athletes to the parents—receives what Foster describes as “the rock-star treatment,” complete with “VIP privileges.” 
This rock-star treatment isn’t just limited to attitude—the gym environment was “specifically designed and decorated to create our image and enhance our brand,” Foster explains. Upon entering the gym, clients and athletes see the large Rockstar logo on the back wall of the entryway. The viewing area resembles a rock star’s lounge, with a large zebra rug, black leather sofas, silver accents, “I Wanna Rock” decals on the walls, bright purple and orange flowers (the team colors) and guitars. On the wall above the sofa hangs a pixellated blowup of an old Scorpions album cover. To continue the athletes-as-rock-stars theme, Foster and her teams made the far wall of the viewing area a “Wall of Fame,” where shadow boxes display both real band memorabilia, as well as current team pictures.
Rockstar Cheer even carried its brand into the gym area. The center floor is purple, surrounded by wooden trim that’s painted orange. The safety poles are also painted purple, and a motivational poster above the water fountain reminds athletes what it means to be a “Rockstar.” The front desk, “Rock Shop” and the gym’s café have musical touches like Bon Jovi record clocks, disco balls, bold orange walls, mounted vinyl records and the “Rockin’ News” wall. The bathrooms and hallways are decorated with album posters from artists such as Elvis, The Killers, The Rolling Stones and The Ting Tings, groups that were the inspiration for some of Rockstar Cheer’s squad names. From the front door to the practice mat, this gym certainly is rocking.
Pacific Coast Magic’s Sunny Brand
When Pacific Coast Cheer began in 2005 (it recently merged with the Magic All-Stars to become Pacific Coast Magic), co-owner Kellie Elliott wanted a logo that was different from any other cheer gym in the country. The program developed the symbol of a vibrant orange sun as the gym’s logo and brand, representing the sunshine that the Pacific coast is known for. It also adopted black and blue as accent colors to represent the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
When Pacific Coast Cheer moved into its current facility three years ago, “the gym’s decoration played a large part in the atmosphere and love for our brand,” says Elliott. “Moving into our second location, we really wanted to make sure that there were no white walls.” In fact, Pacific Coast’s gym has barely any white in it at all. The walls are covered with lines painted in the team colors—orange, blue and black—giving the gym its edgy look and “providing it with character and depth,” says Elliott.
The sun logo is a recurring theme in the decor. In the main entrance, there’s a hand-painted, six-foot sun with the program’s name. A flat-screen television playing a video of the past year’s competitions hangs over the logo, along with team pictures. The viewing area is covered with wall-to-wall orange and blue paint and a zebra border. “Adding color to your gym gives it character and love,” says Elliott. The sun logo is also found all over the team’s gear, so whether the athletes are in their gym or at a competition, Pacific Coast shines brightly.
Cheer Gym Feng Shui
One trend in interior design that’s gotten a lot of buzz is feng shui. Feng shui refers to an ancient Chinese system of design and aesthetics in which attention is paid to creating a balanced, harmonious environment. While many of the principles of this ancient practice have been lost to oversimplification as it has been incorporated into modern design use, some of the basic ideas of feng shui can provide guidance in decorating projects.
Incorporating feng shui principles into a gym’s design means taking the basic elements of the facility and the needs of the individuals who use it into consideration during the design, according to Raymond Connelly, principal and CEO of RFCY Fitness. A good example of this is making sure that during the day the sunlight coming into the gym never gets too strong for the people inside, he explains. Another feng shui principle is to make interior spaces uplifting by using pleasing, energetic colors—avoiding anything that can get dingy or add negative, dark vibes.
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