Strengths Endorsed by Celebrities - Gold's Gym has the support of several celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This means that all of these celebrities' followers will immediately see Gold's Gym as the only option for a gym membership. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Additionally, endorsements act as an advertisement that simply draws attention to the gym, which will encourage potential members to look into the gym and its equipment. Established in American culture, Gold Gym embodies the American dream due to its nature as a small start-up business conceived by the mind of American Marine Joe Gold. Gold's opened in Venice Beach to cater to the restricted and excluded bodybuilder subculture. On top of all this, he was featured in the American docudrama "Pumping Iron", establishing Gold's as the "Mecca" ("About Gold's Gym") of bodybuilding. After gaining prominence, Gold's began hosting many well-known American actors, further ingraining it into American culture. Many Locations - Since Gold's began franchising, it has opened hundreds of locations around the world, including Russia, India, Australia, Costa Rica, Japan, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Egypt , Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Peru”. , Indonesia, Spain, Poland, Venezuela, Mongolia and the Philippines. ("Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain"). This has expanded the market that Gold's exists in and opened the door to thousands of members and allowed Gold's to get its foot in the door of each of the aforementioned countries. , paving the way for future locations. Extensive Support Services – Gold’s offers more than just dumbbells and squat racks to its customers. Members can enjoy several other services ranging from smoothies to t-shirts. To see the effectiveness of offering such services, one need only look further than Gold's own story: "The logo of a bald, brooding weightlifter caught the attention of Sprague, who immediately began to put on Gold's Gym t-shirts... The strategy paid off. Also. At one point, Sprague was selling t-shirts faster than he could mail them” (Heffernan, 2015). Weaknesses Involved in many scandals - Over the years, Gold's gym has been involved in many scandals which have damaged the trust Gold's places in its members and prospective members. One such case occurred in 2006, when Gold's attempted to change a contract signed seven years earlier. The most recent case occurred in 2017 as part of a class action lawsuit filed for fraudulent misrepresentation. Intimidating to Newcomers - To understand why Gold's might be intimidating to newcomers, we need to look back at the type of consumer Gold's was initially aimed at, bodybuilders. Seeing a room full of muscular men can frighten newcomers who feel self-conscious about not being at the same performance level as some of the older members. This could potentially limit the company's growth. Large Chain Gym - Gold's Gym is considered a large chain gym and as such can easily be considered an impersonal entity. This may alienate some potential members who would much rather have a local gym where they feel welcome and like someone close to employees rather than just members. High staff turnover – One.