
Equinox: the most premium gym in the world
Equinox doesn’t mind putting all their energy to make their gym look like heaven. And they don’t mind asking € 400 a month for memberships. I’ll show you why branding is 20% strategy, and 80% guts.
What would you choose: A marble reception desk that costs € 20K or an almost equally beautiful wooden desk for € 5K?
Branding is 20% strategy and 80% guts
The people at Equinox make choices that might look insane, but they know very well what they are doing. What’s their secret?
Equinox is what we call a differentiator. It’s a brand that looks like no other. They are unmatched in what they do and try to achieve. And what is that special thing they strive for?

Let’s start with one of the most important marketing principles around: picking your value proposition strategy. There are 3 generic strategies: product leadership, operational excellence and customer intimacy.

Let’s walk through the 3 options:
- Product leadership: creating the best possible product
- Operational excellence: the lowest possible price & the least possible effort
- Customer intimacy: the best (personal) experience for each client
Now what about these 3 options: which one is the best?
That’s not the right question, because there is no “best option”. Each of the 3 strategies can be a good option, as long as you stay true to that direction.

I’ll give an example: if Equinox would replace all their marble reception desks with almost equally beautiful wooden desks, they would save more than a million dollars worldwide.
Wooden reception desks would save Equinox a million dollars worldwide
That money could be used to build 3 additional gyms. Additional gyms would mean more comfort for members, because their travel distance decreases. Everybody benefits, right?
No they don’t.
A very important rule in branding: you will never grow a powerful brand if you don’t stay true to the strategy. The more you stay true to one of the 3 options, the more your brand can differentiate itself.
So how does Equinox its strategy look like on the diagram?

Equinox clearly aims for product leadership (100%). At some points, they are customer intimate, at some points they are not (30%). And in general, they do not care for operational excellence at all (10%).
Paying 15K extra for a marble desk takes guts, right?
And what happens if you go for oak? It’s called stuck in the middle.
More about these 3 generic strategies? Read this in-depth post:
https://hbr.org/1993/01/customer-intimacy-and-other-value-disciplines
