VASA Fitness has appointed Liz Crisafi as Chief Marketing Officer, adding an experienced consumer-marketing executive to its leadership team as the fitness operator expands its footprint and competes for members in an increasingly crowded U.S. health and wellness market.

Crisafi will report to CEO Michael Osanloo and oversee VASA's enterprise marketing and growth strategy. Her remit includes brand strategy, performance marketing, CRM and lifecycle marketing, creative, communications, digital marketing and local-market activation.

The appointment comes as the U.S. fitness market reaches record levels of consumer participation. According to the Health & Fitness Association's 2026 U.S. Health & Fitness Consumer Report, 81 million Americans belonged to a gym, studio or other fitness facility in 2025, a 5.2% increase from the previous year. Nearly 7 billion visits were recorded during the year, while the industry's membership penetration reached 26.1% of the population aged six and older.

For operators such as VASA, that growth creates an opportunity but also raises the importance of differentiation, member retention and increasingly sophisticated customer marketing.

A marketing mandate tied to expansion

VASA ended 2025 with 68 clubs after opening seven locations during the year across Colorado, Illinois and Nebraska. The company also added more than 412,000 square feet of fitness space.

The operator has been investing in its existing estate as well. In November 2025, VASA announced a $30 million investment across 64 clubs, including expanded studio offerings and more than 1,000 new pieces of cardio and lower-body strength equipment.

Against that backdrop, Crisafi's responsibilities extend beyond conventional brand marketing. VASA says she will be responsible for connecting acquisition, digital engagement, CRM, lifecycle marketing and local activation with measurable business outcomes.

That structure reflects a broader shift in consumer businesses toward marketing organizations that are expected to influence the entire customer lifecycle rather than concentrate primarily on awareness and acquisition.

Crisafi brings hospitality and experiential marketing experience

Crisafi joins VASA after serving as Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing at Hornblower Group. Before that, she spent nearly a decade at IHG Hotels & Resorts, most recently as Global Vice President of Integrated Marketing.

At Hornblower, Crisafi's responsibilities covered brand, demand generation, ecommerce, analytics, pricing and lifecycle marketing across more than 50 U.S. markets. Hornblower appointed her SVP of Marketing in October 2024, citing her experience in global brand building, performance marketing and digital transformation.

Her IHG experience is particularly relevant to VASA's multi-location model. IHG operates a portfolio of 19 brands across more than 6,000 hotels and more than 100 countries, giving Crisafi experience managing brand consistency while adapting marketing to different markets and customer segments. VASA's own executive profile highlights her work across brand, loyalty, digital, partnerships and customer engagement at IHG.

Earlier positions at Kimberly-Clark, Ogilvy & Mather, Discovery Communications and Eastman Kodak add experience across consumer packaged goods, advertising, media and technology-enabled marketing environments.

Market Landscape

VASA operates in a segment where affordability and scale are becoming increasingly important competitive levers. Planet Fitness, for example, ended 2025 with approximately 20.8 million members and 2,896 clubs after opening 181 locations during the year. Its system-wide same-club sales increased 6.7%.

The competitive landscape extends beyond low-price gym operators. Premium chains such as Life Time compete through broader wellness ecosystems, while boutique fitness providers and digital services compete for specialized workout occasions and consumer spending.

This makes member experience and lifecycle engagement increasingly important. Operators need to acquire customers efficiently while keeping them active long enough to generate sustainable membership economics. Marketing therefore intersects with pricing, programming, club operations, customer data and retention.

VASA's combination of physical expansion and investment in studio programming suggests that its marketing strategy will need to communicate more than price. It will also need to establish why the company's experience is distinctive across different local markets.

Strategic Outlook

Crisafi's appointment could strengthen the connection between VASA's brand-building activities and commercial performance as the company scales.

The immediate challenge will be maintaining a consistent customer proposition while adapting campaigns to local demographics, competitive conditions and individual member behavior. CRM and lifecycle marketing will likely become increasingly important as fitness operators seek to reduce churn and improve engagement beyond the initial membership transaction.

The broader market provides favorable conditions. HFA reported that 2025 produced the highest U.S. fitness-facility membership level on record and the industry's lowest churn rate in a decade.

However, growth does not eliminate competitive pressure. As major operators expand and consumers gain more choices across gyms, studios, wellness services and digital fitness platforms, marketing effectiveness will increasingly be measured through retention, customer lifetime value, conversion and revenue contribution rather than reach alone.

For VASA, Crisafi's combination of hospitality, loyalty, digital and performance-marketing experience positions the CMO role as a potentially important component of the company's next expansion phase.

Top Insights

• VASA appointed Liz Crisafi as CMO as the company continues expanding its U.S. club footprint.
• Crisafi brings more than two decades of marketing experience spanning hospitality, travel, entertainment and consumer brands.
• VASA ended 2025 with 68 locations and opened seven clubs during the year.
• U.S. fitness participation reached a record 81 million members in 2025.
• Competitive advantage in the value-fitness segment increasingly depends on acquisition efficiency, member retention and differentiated experiences.

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