Leo Australia's First Work For Fitness First is Illustrated

Fitness First Australia has launched its first major brand campaign since appointing Leo Australia last year, unveiling ‘Let’s Put Fitness First’ -- a call to put fitness firmly back on Australia’s agenda.

The average Australian spends 76% of their workday sitting down and physical inactivity is now the second biggest health risk in Australia. With busy lives, demanding careers and more stress than ever, Aussies are becoming increasingly inactive, putting exercise goals on the backburner and missing out on the holistic benefits movement can provide.

To dive deeper into the physical inactivity crisis, Fitness First commissioned research into the nation’s fitness habits. The findings reveal concerning insights, including that only 15% of Aussies take the stairs over escalators, and one in four have never attempted to run 50 metres.

The campaign features illustrative creative from Robin Davey, a refreshing take on health and fitness advertising, with a focus on the statistics designed to encourage Aussies to rethink the role movement plays in everyday life and quite literally, “put fitness first.”

Tommy Cehak, executive creative director at Leo Australia said, “The fitness category in Australia is dominated by a lot of posturing in activewear, abs, and bicep curls at 12 paces. Our flex as a leader in the fitness industry is to stand up and put the fitness of Aussies back on the national agenda in a refreshingly fun and ownable way.”

With media led by Spark Foundry Australia, the campaign will roll out across OOH, digital, radio, and social, with takeovers of Sydney and Melbourne’s Central Station steps, digital across Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra, and will run in 30, 15, and 6 second audio and video formats.

Kimberly LeQuire, GM, Spark Foundry Australia said, “Launching this new creative message is a defining moment for Fitness First, and we’re proud to partner with them on a campaign of this scale. By combining standout creative with a high impact paid media approach, we’re supporting the brand to lead the conversation in fitness and encourage all Australians to put their health first”.

Today, 78% of Australians are missing out on the benefits of regular exercise, despite being a sport-loving country. ABS reveals that only one in five (22%) Australians aged 18-64 meet physical activity benchmarks -- that’s roughly six million Aussies.

Sara Dunseath, executive general manager, marketing, and PR ANZ, fitness and lifestyle Group, said, “For 25 years, Fitness First has shaped how Australians engage with fitness. 'Let’s Put Fitness First' builds on that legacy as a call to action to make everyday movement central to Australian life.

“We continue to invest in our clubs, our people, and our experiences to make fitness feel more human, more inclusive, and easier to start. With physical inactivity now one of the country’s biggest health challenges, we believe established brands like ours have a role to play in shifting the national conversation from perfection to progress.”

Ken Griffin, CEO, AUSActive, said, "We welcome initiatives like Fitness First’s campaign, which take a refreshing and positive approach to engaging people with fitness and making healthy lifestyles more accessible and inspiring for everyone."