Crunch Fitness research revealed something most gyms suspect, but few know how to act on — members care about vibe above everything else. The music, the people, the atmosphere. But vibe can’t be photographed. Testimonials don’t capture it. Lifestyle B-roll falls flat. Justin Bajan at Richmond’s Familiar Creatures faced the challenge head-on: make the intangible tangible. The answer was Hype Williams, the legendary music video director behind some of the most iconic visuals of the 90s and 2000s, paired with Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It.” The campaign didn’t explain Crunch’s vibe. It embodied it — and delivered the brand’s best January ever for leads.
The Hype universe
Hype Williams doesn’t have a website. He’s not repped by a production company. The pitch to Crunch was simple: go to YouTube, type his name, and see what comes back. His name kept surfacing before Familiar Creatures even started the directing process. “Everyone kept saying it’d be like one of those Hype Williams videos,” Justin says. “So we just got him.” When you hire Hype, you get the whole ecosystem — his editor of 15 to 20 years, his cinematographer of 25 and a creative vision that’s non-negotiable. His demand from day one: cast dancers first, actors second.
Show, don’t tell. Be, don’t talk.
The target demo — young, strong and social — didn’t need to know what equipment was inside the gym. They wanted to feel seen and included. Justin’s philosophy meant no words as crutches, but the spot couldn’t drift into fashion-world abstraction either. The characters had to be infectious and accessible. “You could see yourself in their shoes,” Justin says. “But they also had that range to go into music video mode and feel like completely different people.”
The song as a strategic weapon
Licensing Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” wasn’t a needle drop — it was the campaign’s backbone. Justin describes the song as “ubiquitous but not hateable,” a rare combination that anyone from 11 to 111 recognizes. Williams directed some of Montell’s original music videos, which made the pairing feel inevitable. “He said, ‘I have to do this,’” Justin recalls. “‘I own the 90s.’”
Best January ever
Two metrics told the story. Leads increased year over year — Crunch had its best January on record. And in post-market testing, hundreds of thousands of respondents repeated back the exact words from the creative brief without ever having seen them. “We didn’t use words,” Justin says. “So how did they know to say the right ones?” The campaign extended into paid social, bus shelters, bus wraps, OOH and email with a “feel more” construct that kept emotional benefit front and center.
Fewer layers, more bravery
Familiar Creatures is now in its fifth year with Crunch, and the partnership deepens each year. Justin credits the indie model: fewer layers, less complicated processes and a faster path to genuine trust. “You become part of their team,” he says, “as opposed to two competing behemoths trying to meet in the middle.” The indie advantage for vibe marketing? Bravery. Brands default to testimonials and descriptive language because they think vibe is “too hard and too abstract.” It’s not — it just takes the courage to stop talking and start showing.
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