Franchise and Business Opportunities

GNC Lowers Ad Costs for Franchisees; Expanded National Ad Campaign Supports GNC Brands

Developed by New York advertising firm Deutsch, GNC's new national advertising campaign will allow for increased exposure on national television during network early morning news and on targeted national cable networks, while the print campaign includes an expanded list of national magazine titles. In addition to the national print and broadcast campaign, a fully integrated promotion will also be executed for 3 months to support a national summer sweepstakes, leveraging GNC's NASCAR sponsorship.

In 2001, national gross media dollars spent on GNC brands will increase to $40 million, delivering 5.5 billion impressions to GNC's main target audience, adults 25 years old and older. The increase comes from the shift in regional advertising dollars from the local markets to a more expansive national campaign. The move increases GNC's national brand exposure while reducing franchisee expenses. The overall advertising budget remains the same.

Russell L. Cooper, GNC Franchising Senior Vice President and General Manager, said, "GNC has always listened to the concerns of its franchisees and we are responding by expanding our national advertising campaign. Not only are we supporting franchisees with advertising at the national level, we also eliminated the regional advertising requirements, allowing individual franchise store operators the choice to invest their savings into their own local marketing efforts or apply it directly to the profits of their stores."

Scott Taylor, multi-store franchise operator in Knoxville, TN and GNC Franchising National Advisory Council Representative, says, "having direct control over local market advertising while continuing to receive support from a national campaign is a great way for me to reduce my financial advertising commitment and at the same time increase my exposure. The campaign has also added value awareness of the GNC brand."

It is the mission of GNC Franchising to be a worldwide leader in franchising by developing the world's highest quality support services and awarding license agreements to qualified candidates who share our growth and customer service objectives. GNC Franchising was recently named by Entrepreneur magazine as the number one franchise in the vitamin and nutritional supplement sector for the 12th consecutive year and ranked among the top 10 best franchises in the world in the magazine's annual rankings.

General Nutrition Companies, Inc. (GNC), based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the largest nationwide specialty retailer of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements, sports nutrition as well as many personal care and related products. GNC operates more than 4,500 retail outlets throughout the United States and 26 foreign markets including Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. GNC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Numico N.V., a worldwide market leader in specialized nutrition that includes infant and clinical nutrition and nutritional supplements. Headquartered in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, Royal Numico's family of companies includes Rexall Sundown, Inc., a major supplier to the mass market based in Boca Raton, Fla., sports nutrition leaders Met-Rx and Worldwide Nutrition and the multi-level marketing operation of Enrich International.

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