Bally Total Fitness Appoints Martin Pazzani as Chief Marketing Officer; Innovative Marketer and Brand Builder Named to Lead Company's Global Marketing Initiatives.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2003

Bally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT), North America's leader in health and fitness products and services, announced the appointment of Martin Pazzani as chief marketing officer. Pazzani will be responsible for leading the fitness giant's global branding efforts, as well as overseeing all consumer, enterprise and partnership marketing initiatives, and will report to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Paul Toback.

"Martin is a true global marketing decathlete with broad skills and 'hands on' experience in all parts of the marketing mix, as a corporate marketing leader, as an advertising agency senior manager and founder, as an entrepreneur, and as a global marketing consultant," said Toback. "He is one of today's top marketing thought leaders with expertise in building and growing some of the world's best known brands and companies, from both the client side and the agency side. His category experience is very wide, spanning packaged goods, automotive, fast food, financial services, retail, beverages, technology and personal care products."

Pazzani, 46, is a seasoned executive with six continents of experience in strategic marketing, brand building, integrated marketing, and leveraging consumer and competitor research and insights.

Prior to joining Bally, Pazzani ran an innovative marketing consultancy, which he founded following six years at Foote, Cone & Belding in NYC. At FCB, he was Worldwide Director of The Chess Team, the company's in-house management consultancy, where he led a global network of creative business and marketing strategists that he grew from four people in New York into a staff in 10 offices around the world who worked on key clients like S.C. Johnson, Kraft, Circuit City, American Express, Compaq, Samsung, and U.S. Postal Service (note that Bally Total Fitness is a client of Foote, Cone & Belding in Chicago).

Pazzani's past affiliations include DDB Needham, Western International Media (now Initiative Media), RocketScience Advertising, and 13 years at Heublein (now Diageo), where he fast tracked from entry level to the top marketing job in the company and helped build Smirnoff Vodka and Jose Cuervo Tequila into category leaders around the world.

Pazzani's background includes a B.A. in Psychology, a B.S. in Marketing, an MBA in Marketing and Finance -- all from the University of Connecticut -- and an intimate knowledge of Bally clubs, having trained at them since 1980 in the pursuit of his lifelong passion for mountaineering, which has taken him to the summits of major mountain peaks on all seven continents.

"I'm confident that Martin, working together with our professional marketing team, will refine the Company's marketing strategy and message with the goal of growing both the business and the brand, truly making Bally Total Fitness a world class marketing organization," Toback added.

"Bally has a great team already in place, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Even though we are already leaders in the fitness category, we have barely scratched the surface of this company's, and this brand's, full potential. I look forward to the challenge of unlocking that potential and helping to take Bally to the next level," said Pazzani.

About Bally Total Fitness

Bally Total Fitness is the largest and only nationwide, commercial operator of fitness centers, with four million members and approximately 420 facilities located in 29 states, Canada, Asia and the Caribbean under the Bally Total Fitness(R), Crunch Fitness(SM), Gorilla Sports(SM), Pinnacle Fitness(R), Bally Sports Clubs(SM) and Sports Clubs of Canada(R) brands. With an estimated 150 million annual visits to its clubs, Bally offers a unique platform for distribution of a wide range of products and services targeted to active, fitness-conscious adult consumers. For more information, visit www.BallyFitness.com.