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Mainland connected local openings, leadership news and franchise growth into a coordinated PR campaign that brought USA Ninja Challenge's expansion story to a national audience.
Every new franchise opening creates an opportunity for publicity, but most of that attention comes from the surrounding community. After a few days, the news fades, and the brand misses an opportunity to use that coverage to tell a bigger story about its growth to prospective franchisees.
As USA Ninja Challenge expanded into new markets, brought new executives onto its leadership team and introduced its obstacle course programs to more families, Mainland* brought those developments together, giving local openings and company news a place in the brand's broader expansion story.
USA Ninja Challenge was expanding nationally, entering new markets and opening locations across the country. That growth created an opportunity to increase awareness of the brand among prospective franchisees, families and the local communities it was entering.
The challenge was making sure that growth was visible beyond each individual opening. USA Ninja Challenge needed to build broader recognition of the brand, demonstrate its national momentum and give prospective franchisees and consumers a clearer understanding of the concept as it expanded.
At the beginning of the year, USA Ninja Challenge established a goal of 12 placements in local and national news publications that would place the brand's drumbeat beyond the markets where new locations were opening. New openings, an expanding leadership team and growing local awareness needed to reinforce the same message: USA Ninja Challenge was a brand with national momentum and room to grow.
Mainland built its campaign around the brand's growth, leadership and local impact rather than promoting each opening separately. That gave the team different stories to pitch to different audiences while keeping the focus on USA Ninja Challenge's expansion. After each opening, the news would be syndicated onto their 1851 Brand page, creating a portfolio of growth.
The seven new openings in Leander, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Howell, New Jersey; Appleton, Wisconsin; Humble, Texas; Dublin, California; and Santa Maria, California, gave Mainland a reason to introduce USA Ninja Challenge to families in each market. In San Antonio, that meant announcing the brand’s first gym in the city, at Northeast 410 Plaza. Together, the openings told prospective franchisees a broader story: USA Ninja Challenge was steadily expanding its footprint across the country.
Mainland also looked beyond new locations for stories that showed what was happening behind that growth. The appointments of Thomas Dievart as chief marketing officer and Somerset Buchanan as chief operating officer created another proof point. USA Ninja Challenge wasn’t just adding locations. It was investing in the leadership needed to support its next stage of growth.
Local franchise owners brought the story back to the communities USA Ninja Challenge was entering. Paul Ryan, for example, spent about four years watching his son train at USA Ninja Challenge before opening his own gym in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Stories like his gave families a closer look at the programs and showed prospective franchisees the kind of owner the brand attracts.
With the narratives set, Mainland matched each story to the outlets where it would matter most.
Leadership and growth stories went to franchise industry media. One of the campaign’s most prominent placements appeared in Franchise Times, which profiled Dievart and the company’s marketing efforts as USA Ninja Challenge approached 50 locations.
Opening and owner stories went to local media in each market. KHOU in Houston featured Shaun Ramautarsingh, owner of USA Ninja Challenge Humble, who explained how the brand’s obstacle courses help children build confidence, focus and physical skills. The segment also introduced Houston-area families to the new location.
Throughout the campaign, Mainland tracked the reach and value of each placement to see whether the coverage was building the visibility USA Ninja Challenge needed with each audience.
The 23 media placements were the measurable output, but the larger result was a consistent stream of third-party coverage supporting USA Ninja Challenge’s growth story. As new locations entered their markets, the coverage gave those openings a local voice. As the brand strengthened its leadership team, the coverage turned those investments into evidence of a franchise system preparing for more growth.
Against the original goal of 12 placements, Mainland secured 23, an increase of nearly 92%. The campaign generated $153,790 in reported PR value and supported publicity around seven new openings.
Coverage appeared across online publications, newspapers, trade media and local television. Eight online placements ran in publications reaching more than 1 million unique visitors per month, carrying the growth story well beyond the markets where new gyms were opening. Over the year, the coverage that collected on their brand page began to show a clear story - USA Ninja Challenge was growing into a national system.
“Mainland went above and beyond in creating awareness of USA Ninja Challenge’s expansion efforts into key regions,” said Dale Grant, co-founder and president of USA Ninja Challenge. “Their team captured our momentum and secured placements on local and national channels that kept USANC at the forefront of a growing sector of brands that are leading the conversation on children’s fitness and well-being.”
Mainland’s campaign brought greater visibility to USA Ninja Challenge’s growth. Now the brand’s next chapter is about what supports that growth. In the first half of 2026, USA Ninja Challenge focused on strengthening the systems behind its franchise owners so it’s better positioned as new operators join the brand.
That calls for a different set of stories. Openings and leadership announcements showed momentum. The next round needs to show prospective franchisees what they’re joining: the training, support and systems behind every gym. Mainland is building that plan the same way it built this one, starting with the business objective and then deciding which stories will move it.
For more information on how Mainland can support your franchise development, visit https://1851franchise.com/mainland.
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