Apple press release breakdown: April 15 Fitness+ announcement
Let’s deconstruct Apple’s announcement to see what writing and public relations lessons we can learn.
What was announced? Apple is introducing new instructors and specialized workouts to make its Fitness+ service more accessible to pregnant women and older adults.
Apple Fitness+ introduces even more ways to make fitness welcoming and inclusive with new Workouts for Pregnancy, Workouts for Older Adults, trainers, and Time to Walk guest
What was interesting about the communication strategy? Apple seems interested in building up the profiles of its instructors. These aren’t people that are easily swapped in and out of prefabricated workouts. Apple wants us to know who the instructors are as people and what makes their workouts unique.
People become loyal to instructors they like, whether through Fitness+, Peloton, or in-person classes (remember those?).
How did Apple execute the strategy? The release includes photos and bios of new instructors that generally cover four areas. Let’s look at the bio for Anja Garcia:
1. Their backgrounds as people
[...] in addition to being a busy mom and pediatric nurse in an intensive care unit.
2. Instructor credentials
She brings more than 15 years of experience teaching workouts in gyms and online [...]
3. The fitness courses the instructor will teach
In addition to seeing Anja Garcia in the new Workouts for Pregnancy and her weekly Rowing workouts, users can now catch her in HIIT.
4. Teaching philosophies and unique wrinkles
Anja has an inspiring ability to coach with authority, vitality, and compassion.
Quickly and efficiently, we know a lot more about Anja. Apple took a similar approach with Jonelle Lewis, and includes names and photos of other instructors already on the Fitness+ team.
What else can we learn? Apple is working hard to build an inclusive, no-judgement zone with Fitness+. Take this simple word choice, for example:
For those who are just getting started, consider themselves a beginner, or are getting back into exercise after a long break
The use of the word break is a great choice. Apple didn’t say layoff, or absence. “Break” implies time off from exercise that was well-deserved, justified, and deliberately chosen.
Apple’s inclusive strategy is supported with a quote from Jay Blahnik, Apple’s senior director of Fitness Technologies:
“With more options for getting started, and staying active and healthy during pregnancy as well as at any age or fitness level, we hope even more people will be inspired to keep moving with our amazing team of passionate trainers.”
Big picture: Apple PR is supporting Fitness+ with a release that portrays the service as welcoming for people at all fitness levels and ages, and helps build familiarity with new instructors and classes.