MarketingProfs Know-How Exchange : Fitness Club Marketing/Advertising

Hi:

I would suggest working with the club to create a brand identity that transends fitness training.

Ponder this - why is it that everyone calls it a club - but we never really feel like we are in a "club"? For the most part, we come and work out independently or take a class where we grunt and sweat together - there is no interaction. High end clubs have personal trainers and cooler classes - better refreshments and all - but still - do we feel a connection? Is there a community? Physical fitness is not our lives - so what's the answer?

Now ponder a club that focuses on personal success. This club has applications - you are not a shoe-in. You need to demonstrate that you are seriously interested in a more holistic "betterment" on all points - not just cardiovascular.

What if this club matched us up in smaller triads or groups where we could engage each other and set goals together? What if we all trained in the dojo style (karate) where more advanced members were expected to help teach newer members?

What if this club had not just nutrition information (or hire a dietician) but actual "healthy eating" cooking classes hosted by some of the best chefs in town at their restaurants? A red wine tasting series? What if the club hosted financial management seminars? Estate planning seminars? Wardrobe planning seminars (as you slim down and/or get toned)? What about links between the club and community services? Adventure trips? Organized ski vacations?

If your client could embrace a more holistic strategy and actually make the club unique - create a sense of "belonging" and/or "caring" - and celebrate this distinction - perhaps it would break through the clutter and have something truly unique to say. If the club is high-end - the members collectively represent extraodinary buying power in the community. They are most likely very interesting individuals with much to say and share. They could help each other in so many ways.

Make this club a place where they focus on personal fulfillment.

I hope this generates ideas.

I helped my father set up his "Stop Smoking" seminar business and website. (www.smokefreecanadaclinics.com). WE changed out marketing program away from costly "mass media" advertising to very targeted sales calls on large corporations' Human Resource and Employee Benefit officers. In a nut shell, we offered our stop smoking program as part of the employee benefit package.

Our services are provided by Clinical Psychologists, so our fees are covered by the Benefit package insurance under writer. We area zero cost to the employer service. WE found that a lot of Human Resource officers are looking for new and innovaticve ways of assiting their employees live a healtjy lifestyle. Smoking, over eating, lack of exercise are all factors to un healthy lives. Unhealthy lives, mean sick employees. Sick employees don't work, so...its in the companies best interests to keep their employees healthy. Thus, when we showed up with one health assssitance package, we were greeted warmly. Of course, we also found greater opportunity, and organized a health and wellness conference for all these folks we were meeting. Thus, we set up a new "health show" business.http://www.wellnessconference.ca/

This trade show featured some of the brighest names in Canadian health care and employee benefits. We had over 350 folks attend the show. 350 big companies, all solid leads!

Try calling on major corprorations, and offer them your high end club, your staff's services, and create a "employee health plan" you can sell to the HR folks. You might be surprised at how many folks will outsource a club membership as part of an employee benefit package. After all, after a heart attack, suddenly people are looking to get healthier...

Hpe this helps you, or inspires you.

Darcy (the Customer Loyalty Network)

Hi Adgirl,

Check out the website of one of the most successful high-end fitness clubs in the United States:

http://www.dmbclubs.com/

Browse their site, check out the section "five-start amenities". I think you will find their value proposition and reason for success to be clear and will provide you with good information.

I hope that helps.

The irony about a higher-end fitness club is that it's probably for people who are ALREADY fit. And according to magazines and newspapers, the U.S. is getting fatter, not fitter.

The freshest, newest approach that finally drew ME into a fitness club was the promotion of Curves, the low-stress workout for the rest of us. The advertising used "normal" people, not hard-bodied women.

The workouts cut into my time answering KHE questions, though, so I had to give it up. ;]

- Shelley

You could use 'Mug Shot' photos with 'Wanted - people looking for healthy alternatives'.

Or even something like - "If it's time for McD's to go healthy, it's probably time for you too"

then add '...but we don't make you eat salad, just meet great people'.

Maybe you could run a check list with already ticked boxes as an ad in the paper or on a brochure/flyer
Chocolate lover? - Tick
Chilli Dogs? - Tick
Cream Doughnuts? - Tick
Sweet bagles? - Tick
Too much TV? - Tick
and so on and so on.
Then have one box at the end that is unchecked
'Need an extreme makeover without the extreme?'

A high end fitness club should be worth the premium that customers pay. Therefore, it should reflect what those customers are looking for.

I would survey your customers as well as your potential customers. Then match the two. What are you current customers happy/not happy about? What is keeping away all your potentials?

That said, I'll tell you briefly what I'm looking for:
-flexible hours
-a variety of classes (why not have hip hop classes for beginners? what's up with all this pilates and yoga?) and at times when people actually can take a class. Either early in the morning or later in the evening.
-small classes, not ones that are bursting at the seams with sweaty people
-beautiful quiet areas, without the music or tv blaring. sometimes people just need to think while they are on the treadmill. I would even have a reservation sheet for the quiet room, allowing only one member at a time.
-a membership with benefits (discounts to a spa or local healthy eatery)
-member get member discount
-the possibility of starting your own class at no extra cost as long as you can get 2 others to join

Alot of times, people will join a club with the pressure ON. Need to get thin fast! I think you should position yourself as a fun part of the day. An exclusive place to play and to relax as well. Because the only people who get thin and stay thin are those who believe in themselves and have fun while they do it.

Make it more like a country club than a gym. Apart from various classes for alternative exercising, like spin classes, martial arts, aerobics, pre-natal classes, boot camp style classes, etc. you can have social events like cocktail night in the lounge, or sponsor golf outings, white water rafting trips, charity walks and runs. I think being exclusive also is attractive to the higher end clientel.

Be seen at events where the rich hang out. Be one of them. talk the talk, then invite them to your club to check it out.

Maybe you can make nice quality T-shirts with a classy, but cool design. Then your patrons can promote the club. Make it as if it is cool just to be in the club, an image campaign. If not t-shirts, then something else, like waterbottles, koozies, hats, towels, work out towels.

What about hiring a massuese? Or forming strategic partnerships with golf courses, chiropractors, and health professionals in the area. Maybe a sports team, like a AAA baseball team.

Hi

Can we shift the focus from only "fitness" to "wellness"? Ideas basically focussed on the lifestyle of each individual and ways to "enjoy and experience life". Laughter clubs are one such examples. The ideal way is to mix spirituality/ mental peace with physical activity. Tranquility may help

Hope this helps!!