Welcome to Branding The Barbell,
We’re a collective and newsletter dedicated to branding and marketing in the fitness, sport, and wellness world. We’ll hang out here and share quick bites of news, longer debriefs, brand breakdowns, hot takes, lukewarm takes, and spotlights on the athletes, creatives, and brands doing the most interesting work in the industry.
This industry is built on the idea of becoming your best self, and we think the work should hold that same standard: sharper creative, fair and transparent partnerships with athletes, and a wider range of voices being highlighted.
We’re here to raise the bar together.
Subscribe and join the conversation. ↓
What’s up, we’re Tatum & MacKenzie.
Tatum Brandt has spent the last seven+ years designing brands and websites for the fitness industry through her creative studio, Brandt Creative Co, and now leads creative for APEX, a new (very rad) athletic competition. She’s deeply obsessed with the business of fitness and the creative strategy that makes it work or, in many cases, not work. She stays on top of the weird design trends, niche wellness brand news, and the latest marketing theories so you don’t have to.
MacKenzie Ludwig writes most of what you’ll read here. She’s a brand strategist and writer — she and Tatum worked side by side at the studio for years — and a lifelong athlete who came up through Division I sport and still trains and races now. She writes about fitness + wellness as someone who actually lives inside it, which is exactly the point.
We built Branding the Barbell because we were looking for something we couldn’t find: a central hub for news + exclusives about fitness branding that’s as serious about editorial and creative excellence as the best people in fitness are about their training.
What we have programmed:
Never before seen/read interviews with the creatives, artists, and athletes we can't stop watching.
Behind-the-scenes on the campaigns you couldn't scroll past: how they were built, what almost broke, why they worked, details you can’t get anywhere else.
Honest breakdowns on campaign flops, and what we'd have done differently.
A community of creatives who want to see and build the best brands and campaigns.
Let’s actually hang out.
Chances are you subscribed because you’re in the fitness, sport, or wellness industry yourself. We’re happy you’re here. Jump in the comments or reply to an email and tell us about your corner of the industry, and where you agree or disagree with what you find here.
For those insatiable in the pursuit of excellence.
In good form.
