When the Lebanon-based health club was being built, the branding subject eventually surfaced and the health club needed a branding strategy to position themselves; This was a bit of a challenge, the investors insisted on many things which I wouldn't do myself otherwise, but I took this as a challenge. They approached me, but insisted on copying the name and logo shape of the "One Life" Gym which exists not in Lebanon. They insisted on the shape of the logo to be similar to the "foreign One Life". I tried to make the brand as different in identity as possible from the existing one, and made sure of it in other forms of brand communication, the slogan and the color use. The investors' requests included the logo, slogan, color palette, visuals for posters, flyers, corporate identity (corporate flyers, membership cards, business cards etc...).

We set up a meeting in which we discussed/brainstormed together what we could create from the name, what it could stand for to us and what the customers entering the facility should identify, as well as the look & feel of the health club. A number of ideas came up in our sessions, and I convinced the guys to come up with our own slogan. The most relevant idea of all arose after I asked the board one simple question: "If you only have One Life, how should you live it?" the answer should obviously be related to Life and Sports, and hence was born the slogan "Live It Well" to stand for living life to the fullest and engaging in a wellness-oriented lifestyle as long as we live.. They liked the relevance and creativity of this slogan, it was beautifully received by customers and inspired them to be part of the promise.

When it came down to designing the brand image, the owners loved gray-scale brand identities, yet we advised a contrasting color to make things more interesting and dynamic. With every piece of the gray-scale visuals, we added red elements consistently to break the black & white cycle, because we know that gray-scale could be used in any brand. The owners already had a logo style in mind, they showed us the foreign brand's logo, we suggested other approaches that would be more distinct and unique, but their minds were set, so I had to work with the vision they had. But I took this copying as a small challenge, and I was able to communicate a new and different identity, a well-positioned brand that would convey a different mood than the ordinary, that is also consistent with the interior design, machine colors/styles, and the target market that the investors were going after.

A strong brand personality was created, prospects immediately got a taste of what the health club felt like before entering it. The journey from the entrance to the different facilities was entertaining as well as inspiring based on their customer's feedback. The mural with the lion was huge and was a big success, customers and athletes would constantly take photos around it and share. The ROI was much higher than their initial investment.

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NB: If you were checking the Lebanese One Life Health Club online, please make sure to note that I do not handle any of their online presence. And that I did provide a detailed brand guideline manual and presented / emphasized its importance in brand consistency, brand loyalty, and therefore ROI..