The Pinnacle Club was once viewed as downtown Omaha’s premier fitness facility. The club’s early business model focused on corporate memberships for companies with a significant downtown presence. Since then, many corporations have added their own workout facilities, and Pinnacle has had to shift to a more consumer-based marketing. In recent years, the facility has been showing its age, and a slow but steady decline in membership has been occurring.

Late last year, Pinnacle began discussions with Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture about the long-overdue renovation to their boutique fitness facility. At that same time, Oxide was invited into the mix to refresh the brand of the Club. We partnered with them to clarify the brand of Pinnacle and create an external identity consistent with that brand. We feel strongly that a company’s brand should be pervasive through the institution — from the identity, advertising, and marketing, to the architecture and interior design, to the staff answering the phone.

Oxide’s research process for the branding began with extensive interviews of the Club’s decision-makers and thorough research of the marketplace of downtown Omaha fitness facilities. We also conducted broad surveys of key constituencies, including staff and employees, current Club members, past Club members, and the general public who have never been a member of Pinnacle.

One of the display boards posted in the Pinnacle lobby to share the rebranding with members

Our research and subsequent collaboration with Pinnacle resulted in a clear definition of the brand of Pinnacle, which will be used as a guidepost for all of their decisions moving forward. There are four key components of the brand, ranging from concrete to abstract:

Ultimate goal — the “why” that drives everything Pinnacle does:

To inspire health and community in our membership.

Methods — the ways in which Pinnacle achieves their ultimate goal:

Grow

Pinnacle is a long-term solution for healthy living, a resource for growth, and a nurturing, sustainable environment.

Serve

Pinnacle is a full-service club, designed to be accessible and accommodating, with a committed staff, always willing to listen.

Inspire

Pinnacle is a friendly place where everybody knows your name, and the experience is fun, motivating, and inspirational.

Educate

Pinnacle is not just work out equipment, but a place focused on sharing knowledge through individual training and group classes.

Include

Pinnacle is an inclusive community of diverse people from all fitness levels sharing a comfortable, non-competitive space.

Keywords — the concepts that define the personality of Pinnacle:

health, restore, connections, comfort, energy, grounded, bold, inclusion, social, vibrant, true, light, community, color, boutique

Overview statement — the succinct description of who Pinnacle is:

Pinnacle is a full-service fitness center in downtown Omaha that is interested in the physical and emotional well-being of our membership. What sets us apart is our desire to build an inclusive and comfortable community where people can grow, not just work out. We’ve created a healthy environment where you’re always among friends, and inspired to be fit.

The previous Pinnacle logo(s), which did not accurately reflect the Club's brand

We’ve incorporated these findings into the design of a new identity for the facility. The identity will be implemented throughout the Club and its marketing efforts over the coming months. Oxide’s thinking behind the new logo was shared with Club members as part of the communication process to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of rebranding and renovations:

The new logo maintains the imagery of the peak to symbolize the pinnacle of physical and mental fitness we all strive for. But it also has a deeper meaning: lines in the logo trace the trajectories of different Club members. Each strives for their own personal best, but it is collectively that they make up the complete community.

The colors of the new logo symbolize (from bottom to top) water, valleys, and mountains, capturing the three core types of physical activities. The natural colors also make an intentional nod toward our more eco-friendly thinking and the “green” materials and processes being used throughout the renovation.

A display board for the Pinnacle lobby showcasing some of the upcoming renovations to the Club. Renderings by Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture

World-class renovations to the facility will be complete in early 2011. If you live or work in the downtown area, we encourage you to consider Pinnacle Fitness Club as your fitness facility.