Kuntokeskus
Liikku 

Kuntokeskus Liikku had excellent foundations for increasing media visibility and building thought leadership: a compelling growth story, credible leadership, and a broad membership base. Through strategic and long-term communications collaboration, we leveraged the chain’s strong operational work to increase visibility, supporting and reinforcing its core messages.

Client

Kuntokeskus Liikku is a Finnish fitness centre chain with a mission to provide affordable fitness services to as many Finns as possible. Founded in 2010, the chain has grown to become the largest fitness centre chain in Finland by 2025. The company is known for its green visual identity, spacious facilities, and birch trees that decorate the gyms. It currently operates 70 locations and has more than 80,000 members across Finland.

Challenge

When the collaboration began in spring 2024, Liikku was on its way to becoming the largest fitness centre chain in Finland, but its media work had been largely reactive and based on traditional press communications. The industry lacked a strong, unified voice representing the entire field, while the public discussion around the role of physical activity in public health was ongoing.

Liikku had the potential to step into this role. It was already a major operator influencing the daily lives and well-being of tens of thousands of Finns, and its rapid growth strengthened both its credibility and public interest.

At the same time, the operating environment highlighted themes where Liikku could provide concrete insights: the connection between physical fitness and overall well-being, making everyday exercise more accessible, the role of entrepreneurship and the private sector, and public health more broadly. Even conservative estimates suggest that physical inactivity costs the Finnish state €3.6 billion annually.

Solution

We set three core objectives for the collaboration: increasing media visibility, securing high-quality media coverage on key themes, and building CEO Johanna Riihijärvi’s thought leadership in topics related to physical activity, public health, and entrepreneurship.

Liikku’s mission—to provide affordable fitness services to as many Finns as possible—was clarified as the guiding principle of communications. To support this, we developed a proactive and service-oriented communications model that combined systematic media relations with active participation in topical public discussions. Communications and media work were strengthened through a data-driven approach, leveraging Liikku’s own data and commissioning the Finns at the Gym survey.

CEO Johanna Riihijärvi’s role as a leading industry voice was built through opinion pieces and media training. In addition, Riihijärvi appeared at several events related to physical activity and entrepreneurship. Personal trainers were also actively positioned as expert commentators for various media outlets.

Results

Media visibility increased significantly during the collaboration. In terms of editorial reach, Liikku surpassed its key competitors to become the clear market leader. The quality of coverage was also high: Liikku appeared positively in outlets such as MTV’s Huomenta Suomi, Helsingin Sanomat, Kauppalehti, national tabloids, and major local media.

CEO Johanna Riihijärvi has become a visible spokesperson for the industry, whom media outlets now approach proactively. Personal trainers have appeared in multiple media, including television interviews. Media events further strengthened media relationships and built trust in Liikku.

All initiatives supported Liikku’s ability to better fulfil its core mission: providing affordable fitness services to as many Finns as possible. 

“We value especially Republic’s proactive approach: journalist outreach, media events, creative ideation of media angles, data utilisation, training, and continuous sparring have made us a more approachable and interesting partner for the media.

Perhaps most importantly, beyond the results, it has simply been a pleasure to work together. When needed, either side can just pick up the phone and call. The dialogue is immediate.” 

Johanna Riihijärvi, CEO, Kuntokeskus Liikku