NEWS SOURCE: Active Marketing Group

SAN DIEGO, CA (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Claiming a stake in the fast-growing health club industry, Active Marketing Group, a division of The Active Network, Inc. and a full service, integrated marketing and consumer promotions agency known for its direct access to active consumers, announced today that the company has acquired Denver, Colo.-based Promote It International (www.promote-it.com), the nation’s largest health club promotions agency.

Through its network of 5,500 health clubs and fitness facilities, Promote It offers Fortune 500 companies targeted exposure to more than 15 million active consumers at health clubs, corporate fitness centers, YMCAs, recreation centers, wellness facilities, college fitness centers and spas in cities across the country. Promote It has earned a reputation for its effective onsite promotions and sampling programs that create strong associations between brands and healthy lifestyles, working with a client base that has included Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal USA and The Quaker Oats Company.

Both agencies have excelled at helping major brands promote health and fitness, executing programs that deliver direct access to the millions of active consumers involved in sports and activities. The acquisition will merge the operations of both agencies and create significant opportunities for targeted promotion and integrated marketing within the diverse, fragmented health club and fitness industry, a market that attracted more than 40 million members in 2005.

“This represents another extension of our active consumer reach, strategically providing brands valuable touch points with consumers through this tremendous network of active adults who are making fitness and health part of their lifestyle,” explained Eric Magnuson, managing director, Active Marketing Group. “We have the ability to pair brands with active adults in an environment that they are passionate about, creating the ultimate opportunity for brands to converse with this audience in a meaningful way.”

“Promote It has established strong relationships with a network that represents 20 percent of the entire fitness industry, offering an immense active adult audience that captures the true depth and diversity of this market. By merging our agency strengths, the potential for brand marketers and health club owners is extremely powerful.”

The combined agency will be able to provide brands a comprehensive, one-stop shop of services, including an effective, turnkey sampling program that can target specific demographics, psychographics and geographics while eliminating the distribution and resource headaches for brand managers.

“We’re excited to join forces with Active Marketing Group,” said Barbie Gummin, founder and chief executive officer, Promote It International. “We share a true commitment to helping brands market products and services to people who truly care about health and wellness while ensuring health clubs and fitness facilities have access to programs that drive membership and retention. With our reach and combined portfolio of services, we have the ability to make a valuable impact in a market that is growing phenomenally.”

Promote It has helped thousands of health clubs and facilities enhance their membership and retention through the agency’s Fitness Rewards program. The popular program offers health clubs a range of customized programs designed to boost membership and participation. For health club and fitness facility owners, the acquisition will provide new opportunities to attract and retain members through Active Marketing Group’s portfolio of integrated marketing resources.

Last year, Promote It ranked 11th fastest-growing promotion agency by PROMO Magazine, growing its operations by 184 percent from 2002-2004. In the same ranking, Active Marketing Group was 9th among PROMO’s fastest-growing agencies with two-year growth at 258 percent.

Active Marketing Group

Active Marketing Group, a full-service, integrated marketing and consumer promotions agency and division of The Active Network, Inc., helps brands develop authentic relationships with active consumers through innovative programs that reach this influential, yet fragmented, demographic. Active Marketing Group’s direct access to the active consumer market, through the resources of The Active Network, its unique understanding of consumer behavior and its strategic, consultative approach, set the agency apart.

The agency excels at creating high-yield, integrated marketing platforms with a portfolio of services that includes event and mobile marketing; brand sampling; database marketing; peer-to-peer marketing; sponsorship activation; online advertising and Web site services; youth sports marketing; trade marketing; municipal marketing; strategic consultation and more. Active Marketing Group was ranked among the top-ten fastest growing promotions agencies in the nation by PROMO Magazine. Headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Boston, New York and Huntington Beach, Calif., the agency serves a client base that includes Unilever, PepsiCo, Inc, Timex, Kraft Foods Inc. and Choice Hotels International, among others.

For more information, visit http://www.ActiveMarketingGroup.com or call 858-964-3834.

All trademarks acknowledged.

News issued by: Active Marketing Group

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Original Story ID: (1460) :: 2006-03-0322-001

Original Keywords: The Active Network, Inc., Promote It, health clubs, fitness industry, Active Marketing Group, health club promotions agency, Promote It International, San Diego, California, integrated marketing and consumer promotions agency, Fitness Rewards program Active Marketing Group

NEWS SOURCE: Active Marketing Group | Published: 2006-03-22 15:04:00


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