So How Did That Super Bowl Rejection Affect GNC's Sales?
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Fox Broadcasting’s decision to kick GNC out of the Super Bowl is still smarting at the vitamin and supplement seller, which reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday that were on the decline.
GNC had been hoping for a sales boost with the big game spot. But for the quarter ended March 31, the Pittsburgh-based brand’s same-store sales fell 3.9%. Revenue for the period was $644.8 million, a 3.6% drop from the year-earlier period, while net income was $23.9 million, roughly half of what it had been in the first quarter of 2016. Even so, analysts were impressed that the company beat expectations.
Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, believes that GNC’s loss would have been less had the retailer been allowed to air its Super Bowl ad as originally planned. The ad, with a pricetag near $5 million, was the highlight of the 82-year-old’s rebranding campaign to combat slowing sales amid online and grocery store competition. The turnaround effort also included a store redesign and revamped, more clear-cut loyalty program with better pricing all under the One New GNC platform.
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