Why The Best Brands Train Like Athletes

I work out every day. Not to get bigger. Not to And honestly, so should your brand.

When you think about it, fitness and advertising are both built on sculpting perceptions.

Both demand discipline and evolution, the perfect balance of consistency and disruption. They are fueled by human psychology, motivation and at their peak, transformation. Here's some stuff to consider when flexing your advertising muscles.

The Power of Reps (and Danger of Ego-Lifting)

Repetition builds reputation.

In fitness, progress is a long game. There’s no shortcut to strength—only repetition, refinement, and time. The same goes for branding. The most iconic brands aren’t defined by a single campaign but by a sustained identity, reinforced again and again, in ways that evolve without losing essence.

______

Form matters more than weight. Period. A 200-pound squat means nothing if your form is sloppy. The same goes for advertising—execution matters more than extravagance.

Mekanism’s “We All Have Our Reasons” campaign for Peleton showed ______In a world where brands chase virality, the ones that last prioritize control over chaos.

The Plateau Problem: Shocking the System

Every athlete dreads the plateau—that moment when progress slows, no matter how much effort they put in. The same thing happens to brands. When you do the same workout for too long, your muscles adapt, and results fade. When brands rely on the same formulas, audiences tune out.

The key to avoiding plateaus? Introducing new workouts. The best advertising does the same.

Take Pablo's "Start Line" campaign for Gymbox—an OOH campaign that flipped the script by making the starting point of fitness feel as epic as the finish line. Or Leo Burnett's "Bar-Bell" OOH campaign, which took gym culture and made it feel woven into life.

These campaigns didn’t just break through the noise; they changed how people saw fitness in the world around them. Or look at BarkleyOKRP's "Mother Fitness" campaign for Planet Fitness featuring Megan Thee Stallion

But here’s the thing: shock without strategy doesn’t work. If you go too heavy, too fast in the gym, you get injured. If a brand disrupts just to be loud, it rings hollow. The real art is in progressive overload—pushing the audience just beyond comfort, but never beyond belief.

The Warm Up & Cool Down

A great workout doesn’t start when you lift or run (or post); it starts with the warm-up. The best brands understand this too.

Take "Ability Signs" by Rethink—a campaign that transformed handicapped parking signs into symbols of athletic achievement.

That was the warm-up, prepping people to engage before the main message even hit.

And then there’s the cool-down. A good campaign doesn’t just end—it leaves an afterglow. Forsman & Bodenfors’ “For the Workout Called Life” campaign did this beautifully, reminding people that fitness isn’t just about gym sessions—it’s about everything they do. It left something lingering long after the ad ended.

The Mind-Muscle Connection

In fitness, the mind-muscle connection is real. Athletes know that focusing intensely on a movement increases engagement, activation, and results. The same holds true in advertising—when people feel something deeply, they engage more, remember more, and act more.

Consider Argonaut's "What's Strong With You?" campaign for Fitbit. Instead of just showing workouts, it ___

or look at Without Studio's "The Great Indoors" campaign for Third Space, a luxury gym

Great advertising, like great fitness coaching, doesn’t just tell people what to do. It makes them feel why it matters.

Conclusion

Fitness isn’t just about muscle. It’s about mindset. It’s about resilience, progression, and pushing past comfort zones.

Advertising, at its highest level, does the same.

So, whether you're in a sauna or a status meeting, Keep pushing. Keep evolving. And most importantly—keep showing up.

Keep it 100, Luka