Capturing The Nation’s Attention
…And all for a good cause.
This was one of my favourite ever things to happen in my career as Head of Creative at One Playground (formerly Fitness Playground).
Lockdown 2020 meant that businesses had to close their doors, and as a business that relied on having physical spaces, we were in a bit of a rough spot.
So, what could we do in such an uncertain time?
We sought opportunity. We wanted to encourage people to keep moving (and smile while doing it).
Part 1 | The birth of Virtual Playground
We launched ‘Virtual Playground’, an online content platform where we produced 180+ videos within a few weeks, across a series of workout categories including dance, strength, calisthenics, barre & more.
Filming these consumed our days during the first lockdown, they were back to back sessions, and our coaches & instructors worked relentlessly to design class programs that people could do from home.
The platform received publicity from:
Men’s Health
Financial Review
The Iconic
Vogue
The Daily Mail, and
The TODAY Show (twice)
Our first feature with the TODAY Show was just before we reopened our doors after the first lockdown. During the segment, Karl Stefanovic made a call out to one of our trainers, Joey, calling him ‘a handsome man’.
As soon as this line came out of Karl’s mouth on national TV, I knew the moment had to be exploited. So I tasked a mission to our videographer (Chris, aka the wizard), with a simple brief of: ‘Do whatever you can to make this a music mash-up.’ And he delivered.
As well as this, Virtual Playground then became a featured partner of Optus Sport, with our videos being available to consume on their OS Fitness app. But this was only the start…
Oh and, here is some BTS of how the shoots went down. The trainers put themselves through some gruelling workouts, all so our members could maintain their sanity at home. We named it ‘Real Trainers, Real Feels’.
And sorry, just one more. The days were long and we spent a lot of time together in close proximity (1m apart), so our humour became a little tainted. Note: David Attenborough was always a favourite voiceover of mine. Second note: Don’t underestimate the power of BTS footage.
Part 2 | Lift Your Mood * enters room *
Whilst Virtual Playground was underway, I had a call with Bossman (Justin Ashley), we knew we had to do something else.
The end of the conversation went something like this:
Justin: ‘Why don’t you spend half a day, create some entertaining content, and just show me what you come up with. Pick some of the coaches and take them with you.’
Alessia: ‘Ok yep, that can be done. I’ve got some ideas.’
So, we did a sporadic shoot in a Surry Hills alleyway (having to stop a few times for oncoming traffic). We scrambled some outfits, found a videographer, got two of our top trainers, and made up a routine on the spot.
During the first take, I came up with my alter ego: Regina. And had Cynthia and Josehita by my side. As you can see, they had zero practice or knowledge of what was coming.
Had we of known it would go on national TV, we would have hustled better outfits…
The first aerobics creative gained a lot of traction, and so did this next one.
So luckily on the day of shooting, we subjected Josehita and Cynthia to their own videos. This next one is called ‘Thirsty Thrusts’. All in the name of fitness! Prepare your eyes.
As you can see, Josehita was made for the camera.
As was Cynthia, and you’ll see what I meant about disgruntling traffic…
Part 3 | The live event feat. TODAY Show
To launch this series, on Friday 24-April 2020 at 5pm, we created a national online workout event, in support of the BlackDog Institute.
…But we had no idea it'd get Australia's attention to the extent it did.
Our was goal was to hold the ‘largest online fancy dress workout’. We had over 500 people register within less than a couple weeks of organising.
The TODAY Show picked us up, and featured us across the screens of Australia. This happened the same day as the online event.
Part 4 | The 2021 comeback
Due to the success of 2020’s ‘Lift Your Mood’ campaign, and as Covid-19 came back for another year, we decided to continue the legacy and create our next online virtual workout.
This time, it was a little different. The trio still returned, but this time as their alter ego’s.
Starting with Regina, uh, I mean Britney.
After Britney’s debut, we then had Mr. Motivator. Who better to get people working out than the man of motivation himself?
And of course, ending it with a bang.
The one and only Tarzan took over our screens, so if Mr. Motivator couldn’t do it, then Tarzan sure could. We were literally in tears filming this, pure hilarity.
We ran our second online workout event in October 2021, a week before Sydney was due to reopen its doors. It was bittersweet. We were nearing the end of a lengthy lockdown, and it was feeling nostalgic.
What is important to take away?
Take advantage of the downtime, what can you do that no-one else is thinking of?
In a time of uncertainty, when the world is experiencing the same thing, use the power of humanity and humour
Share you mission with other aligned brands. Can you collaborate somehow? Can you start a partnership? Can you share resources?
Keep your social media community (as well as your customers) wholeheartedly engaged
And most importantly, never underestimate the power of lycra
And that wraps up the evolution of a brand that decided to keep busy during Covid-19. The biggest thing for us was to keep doing something, as opposed to shutting down (just because the world was).
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Brand: One Playground
Creative & Art Direction: Alessia Murer
Videography (2020): Cass Brothers
Videography & Photography (2021): Chris Ramirez