{"id":70293,"date":"2014-07-11T17:10:53","date_gmt":"2014-07-11T17:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/insight\/ad-of-the-week-equinox\/"},"modified":"2014-07-11T17:10:53","modified_gmt":"2014-07-11T17:10:53","slug":"ad-of-the-week-equinox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/ad-of-the-week-equinox\/","title":{"rendered":"Ad of the week – Equinox"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hip fitness club chain Equinox is unashamedly brash in its approach to marketing, as evidenced by its latest campaign built around the hashtag #preapologize. We came across this \u2018official pre-apology\u2019<\/a> (sans hyphen) on the Equinox Twitter feed, which apologises for the boisterous confidence-fuelled behaviour expected from its members after a winter of toning.
\nThe hashtag also ties in with an Instagram campaign featuring images overlaid with further pre-apologies, and a quick glance at the Equinox website makes it clear that the brand is targeting those who consider themselves to be eccentric and unconventional. But it\u2019s the letter we\u2019re focusing on, as it has received a largely negative response with \u201ccrap\u201d and \u201cmisogynistic\u201d the verdict of two tweeters.
\n\u201cI preapologize for the woman at the beach going \u201cEuropean\u201d\u201d, was highlighted for particular objection, while it was made clear by a commenter that no woman should pre-apologise for \u201cSaturdaying a Tuesday night\u201d. There\u2019s no explicit mention of male behaviour, however.
\nIt seems Equinox has used a colloquial tone of voice<\/a> and provocative content<\/a> to attract a certain customer, arguably those with a single-minded mentality, and a willingness to throw dumbbells around at 6am perhaps. There is of course nothing wrong with this approach, but the response suggests they may have gone too far and begun to alienate even their own customers. Many businesses have experienced a backlash on Twitter after posting insensitive or offensive messages, and there\u2019s a fine line between being bold and being arrogant on the platform.
\nWhen developing a brand and tone of voice that appeal to a tightly defined audience – and particularly when the aim is to stand out – the messages need to be precise for maximum impact. This leaves little margin for error, and greater risk of pushing away the target group if you miss the mark.
\nAlthough some firms have courted controversy to raise their profile, it isn\u2019t without risk. Judging by Equinox\u2019s latest campaign, it is one they\u2019re happy to take.<\/p>\n

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Hip fitness club chain Equinox is unashamedly brash in its approach to marketing, as evidenced by its latest campaign built around the hashtag #preapologize. We came across this \u2018official pre-apology\u2019 (sans hyphen) on the Equinox Twitter feed, which apologises for the boisterous confidence-fuelled behaviour expected from its members after a winter of toning. The hashtag […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[314,312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copywriting-us","category-social-media-copywriting-us"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAd of the week - Equinox - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Strategy Agency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/ad-of-the-week-equinox\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ad of the week - Equinox - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Strategy Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hip fitness club chain Equinox is unashamedly brash in its approach to marketing, as evidenced by its latest campaign built around the hashtag #preapologize. 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