Premium Essay

How to Grow a Premium Brand

In: Business and Management

Submitted By lazyninja
Words 7842
Pages 32
op yo rP os t www.hbr.org H B R CAS E ST U D Y

Can Transition expand without losing its elite aura?
Six commentators offer expert advice.

AND

COMMENTARY

How Do You Grow a
Premium Brand? by Regina Fazio Maruca

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No tC •

Reprint 95205

H B R CAS E ST U D Y

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Transition is the Tiffany of health clubs. Now its owner wants to expand. op yo How Do You Grow a
Premium Brand?

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COPYRIGHT © 1995 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

by Regina Fazio Maruca

It was a great idea. The first of its kind. A series of ultrapremium health clubs located in major cities throughout the world. Targeted at senior executives too busy to eat. Frequent business travelers. Singles. People who just plain liked the extra attention and pampering and could afford to pay for the best.
And it really had taken off. Since its flagship club had opened at one of New York City’s most prestigious addresses 15 years ago, Transition’s sales had doubled each year. The first location, a
25,000-square-foot facility with 14 full-time staff members, plus numerous sales associates, was almost maxed out at 2,300 members. Within its first two years of operation, Transition had opened similarly popular facilities in other major cities: Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles,
London, Paris, Milan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Within five years, it was also operating through the five-star Printemps hotels, offering its services to guests.

harvard business review • march–april 1995

It wasn’t just clever marketing. True, the initial campaign—a targeted direct-mail effort featuring an endorsement from four-time Wimbledon winner Julia Sonoma—had generated a solid response. And Transition advertised regularly in publications such as the New York Times, Town and Country, and the

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