Club Insider

About Derek Barton

Derek BartonDerek Barton

Derek is a much sought after public speaker on marketing, advertising, branding and customer service. He is the former Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Gold's Gym International and was responsible for helping build Gold's Gym into one of the most respected and recognized brands in the fitness industry. During his tenure, Gold's Gym received numerous awards and accolades for its innovative marketing, with many ads being reprinted in advertising and educational textbooks. In Derek's 20th year of building and protecting an American Icon, Gold's Gym was listed in America's Greatest Brands book. Derek now runs his own marketing consulting and entertainment production company.

Phone: N/A
Email: derek@bartonproductions.com


Previous Articles

Showing 1 - 25 of 25 Articles


"Insider Speaks"
Cool People Like Cool Things

April 2015 - So, I was talking to my long-time friend, Norm Cates, at IHRSA 2015 in Los Angeles. I always enjoy his passion for the health and fitness club industry. In the course of our conversation, he says, "Our industry should be more important to America." Read Article...

"New & Improved!"
August 2013 - To rebrand or not to rebrand? That is the question. To stay the way you are and hope that people will change their minds about you or rebrand yourself and inspire them to change their minds about you? Read Article...

"Take 2"
December 2020 - Those of us who have worked in the Motion Picture & Television industry have heard the command, "Take 2." As an Actor, you say your lines to the other actor, and he says his. You hope the sound engineer records it perfectly, you hope the Director of Photography gets the desired shot, and most of all, you hope that the Director is satisfied. And, when they are, the whole film crew on the set will hear that Director happily say, "Cut. That's a print!" Read Article...

Advertising
Don't Spend Good Money on Bad Ads

January 2010 - The big question posed to me is, "How do I advertise in these tough economic times?" Whether in good times or bad, my answer is: Don't spend good money on bad ads. Read Article...

Attaboy!
November 2019 - Remember the compliment, "attaboy?" Remember when you got an "attaboy" and how good you felt, especially when it came from your father or your first boss? They even made a silent comedy film back in 1926 called, "Atta Boy." I don't remember that either. In case you are visiting planet Earth and just picked up a copy of Club Insider (a wise choice), you may not know the term, "attaboy." Read Article...

Brand Passion
Advertising and Branding That Works

August 2009 - Good branding, advertising and customer service are things that allow us to know the heart of a company even if we've never met the owner. If I don't get that emotional connection, you've lost me. It's like an ad with an asterisk. Read Article...

Celebrity Marketing
February 2011 - Some say Michael Jordan helped make Nike, and others say Nike helped make Michael Jordan. I say it was a little of both. I remember the first Nike commercial, with Michael Jordan flying through the air in slow motion from the foul line, his right arm high above him holding the ball like the Statue of Liberty holding her torch, and as he hovered over the rim, he slammed the ball through the net for the most amazing dunk I ever saw. Read Article...

E Pluribus Unum
November 2018 - I always smile when our "Tribal Leader" and Club Insider Publisher Norm Cates states in his monthly column, "Is America a great country, or what?" I love Norm's passion for his country and the health and fitness club industry! America IS great, but sometimes, the politics of our nation doesn't always paint a pretty picture. The canvas of our democracy always seems to be painted with two opposing colors, Red and Blue. We have been nicknamed, "The Divided States of America." In a recent poll, the majority of Americans do feel we are divided. That got me to thinking about the motto that our congress adopted in 1776, E Pluribus Unum. Read Article...

Embrace the Truth
January 2018 - A long time, I remember hearing that, if you survive five years in your own business, you've done very well. They say most businesses close before that benchmark. What amazes me are those companies that were once so successful for many decades, but today, they are a distant memory. I'm happy to say that my long-time friend, Norm Cates, and his son, Justin, are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Club Insider. Now THAT'S an impressive milestone, especially in the publishing business. Read Article...

Got Milk? Yes. Got Fitness? No.
June 2010 - I was thinking about the award-winning ad campaign from the Milk Advisory Board, "Got Milk?" and how sales for milk went up dramatically across the nation after the launch of that campaign. Then, I thought of other advisory boards and associations that boosted their members' sales from a national ad campaign. Read Article...

Hire Smart
July 2018 - A friend of mine sent me a picture of Steve Jobs, which included a quote of his that read: "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." My friend knows that I am in the consulting business and that I would appreciate that quote, especially from my business hero. When you really think about that quote, it becomes thought-provoking to say the least. Read Article...

Looking for Mr. Know-it-All
July 2012 - I miss Mr. Know-it-All. Not the guy who thinks he knows it all, the one we never liked. I'm talking about the guy who actually does know it all, the expert in his field, the one we liked and respected! Read Article...

Never Stop Learning
April 2018 - Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten - The title of a thought-filled book on life lessons. Maybe you've read it. I was thinking about that title recently as I'm coming down the home stretch of remodeling my house. If I wrote a book like that, my title would be: Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Building a House. This experience has reinforced what I always believed to be true; you cannot build something great unless you have a great team! No matter your vision or goal, you have to find the best people who will embrace your vision and help you achieve that goal. Read Article...

Sell The Dream
August 2014 - When I was at Gold's Gym, I said to my colleague, Neal Spruce, the head of our nutrition department back in the late '80s, "I wish we had a computer program that showed people how they look now and what they could look like with our help." Read Article...

Shake Things Up!
January 2017 - It's a new year; time to shake things up! I know what you're thinking, "Didn't the 18-month Presidential race shake things up enough?" Yep, it sure did. What a ride that was, huh? Nobody predicted the outcome, including Trump himself. The Russians aside, his success was all about marketing, and I first wrote about it in this publication back in September, 2015 in my article entitled, "The Emotional Cocktail." Read Article...

The "Insider Speaks"
Think Steve!

November 2011 - Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify them or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Read Article...

The Emotional Cocktail
September 2015 - Whenever Norm Cates asks me to write an article for Club Insider, I do it gladly. Besides Norm being an icon in the health and fitness club industry with his signature hat, I can't help but be caught up in his passion for his publication, which by the way is celebrating 23 years in early December. Read Article...

The Power of Persuasion
March 2020 - As a marketer, I'm always fascinated about the power of persuasion. In the movie industry, they have to be so good at their marketing in order to win us over in a short period of time. If they fail to attract a big audience for their opening weekend, the movie usually fizzles out. The same goes for politicians in an election year trying to persuade us to support their campaign. If they fail to connect with people, they're out of the race. And, the same is true in the health club industry. Bottom line, the ability to persuade people leads to success. Read Article...

The Top Ten Marketing Tips
April 2013 - Why do we love Top Ten lists, whether it's the Top Ten Movies of all time, the Top Ten TV Shows or the Top Ten Dumbest Pick-up Lines? I guess we love to see if our favorites are on those lists. When they are, we love it. When they're not, we're astonished, "What were they thinking!?" Read Article...

Trust Marks
November 2009 - If you ask a woman to name an important trait she loves about a man, a sense of humor usually tops the list. And, if you ask a guy which trait is the most important to him when it comes to a woman? Read Article...

We Got This!
April 2020 - I have never experienced anything like this Coronavirus pandemic, and I'm sure you haven't either. I remember the '50s and taking the polio sugar cube vaccine. We were also trying to dodge measles, mumps and chickenpox. I even dodged a bullet twelve years ago from a blood clot in my leg, which later moved into my lung. Last year, after walking around in a friend's yard that was sprayed with the weed killer, Roundup, I woke up that night out of a deep sleep and couldn't breathe, but somehow, I survived. When we look back on our lives, we have all survived a lot of things, and I am confident we will survive this Coronavirus if we work together. Read Article...

What's in Your Product?
October 2017 - The Capital One credit card has a long-running campaign with celebrity actors like Samuel L. Jackson. Their mantra is "What's in your wallet?" You may or may not have given any thought to that question, but you may stop and think about this question directed at your own company, "What's in your product? No matter how long you have been in business, you always have to stop and ask yourself, "Is my product or service still relevant? Do people still like it or need it?" One of my health club clients a few years ago said to me, "I know that people really don't need to come to my gym to get in shape." That insight and honesty floored me, but he was right. Read Article...

What's Your Reputation?
March 2019 - Recently, I attended a funeral service for a friend's father. As I sat in the pew listening to the eulogies, I couldn't help comparing their reflections with what I thought of Fred. I didn't know him as well as the family members, but it seemed we had all arrived at the same conclusion: his reputation was that of a good and honorable man. As I have written before in this great publication, we all have a story, whether it be our personal story or our business story. We also have a personal reputation and a business reputation. I like knowing both stories and both reputations. That information helps me better understand or connect to that person or business. I think most people feel this way. Read Article...

What's Your Story?
April 2017 - How many times have we looked at someone inquisitively and wondered, "What's his story?" Other times it's, "What's he smoking?" The truth is, we all have a story. If we tell our story right, it could inspire people and open many doors. Told wrong, it could turn people off and even become a deal breaker. Read Article...

Who's Got Your Back?
November 2014 - Have you ever seen a Disney car? You may never see one on the road because of the Brand Manager at Disney many years ago. What may seem like a perfectly logical brand idea to many may seem like a very bad idea to one. And that ONE just might be what most companies call their Brand Manager, or as I was nicknamed at Gold's Gym, the "Keeper of the Brand." Read Article...

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Showing 1 - 25 of 25 Articles


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