Information is Key

At a recent health & fitness industry dinner someone described our industry as a ‘fact free zone’ which made everyone in the room laugh...nervously, as we know that there was more than a grain of truth in what he said.

Of course every time an operator decides to open a new facility he/she does some modelling to determine potential demand, competitor impact, etc. Yes, we are good at collecting and tracking new joiners and leavers data and yes, the TwentyTen Commission – the strategy development exercise currently in place, designed to help us develop a five year (macro) plan for the industry – is reviewing the whole issue of ‘data and consumer insight’ but the truth is, as an industry we are miles behind other sectors, such as retail, in understanding:

- What consumers like about us
- What they don’t like
- Which age, socio-economic group, ethnic minority use us most
- Which uses us least
- The ‘why’ question to both the above
- Which service is ‘consumed’ most/least
- Trends
- What impact have we made on people’s lives (mental, attitudinal and physical improvements against a benchmark)

I could go on, but I won’t.

I know this sounds like a rant, but as business people, we know that market intelligence is key to managing and growing our business and yet, on mass, we do not seem to be very good at it. I think it’s a cultural thing; we never did it so we haven’t got into the habit of doing it. Together we have built a £4bn industry based on limited data and considerable ‘gut feel’.......so, perhaps that wise man who said “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” was right.

Mind you, I am surprised that market intelligence which does exist – the FIA Media Review for example – is not consumed by the 200K people who work in our industry, every day. Viewer figures are good, but nowhere near 200K a day. And yet, what could be more important than to know and be prepared for comments from members when they’ve just read some article based on dodgy research claiming that exercise isn’t good for you or that we are all a bunch of charlatans and thieves.

If you don’t know what they read in their morning papers, how can you prepare a compelling case to rebut it?

How else do you keep abreast of trends and new ideas which will influence and affect the people walking through your door.... and most importantly, walking past your door.

If you currently get the Media review I urge you to read it daily. If not and you are an FIA member get on the phone 020 7420 8560 and get your email address added to the list today!

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association

FIA FLAME Conference 2010 - When trust disappears

Week 3 – 26th Jan

One of the industry's foremost marketing and branding experts worldwide, Derek Barton is the former Senior VP of Marketing for Gold's Gym International. Based in Los Angeles, Derek currently operates his own marketing, consulting and entertainment production company. He will be speaking at the FIA Conference on July 14th in Cheltenham.

Following on from Tim's comments, I wanted to talk about trust. In the US, consumers don't trust health clubs.

One day they're open and the next they've closed. There's so much price slashing that the consumer inevitably gets the message that the fitness product can't be of any great value.

Maybe if they just wait, someone will charge $10 a month. And then, right on cue, Planet Fitness shows up.

Low priced clubs are capitalising on the failures of the average health club today, and good for them. But bad for the health club industry, because if Planet Fitness continues to grow - and other gyms continue to copy them - Planet Earth i.e. the masses, will believe that getting yourself in good physical shape is only worth $9.99 a month.

I wish my satellite TV bill was $9.99 a month. I wish my cell phone, my electric, gas and water, my gardener, house keeper, groceries, golf fees, car payment, gasoline, mortgage, and my wife's Starbuck's tab were all $9.99 a month. They aren't.

Look at what we're willing to pay every month to live our comfortable lives, but the most important item, our health, has been devalued down to $9.99 a month.

Will this happen in the UK? Only if you let it. Looking forward to catching up with you all in July.

Derek Barton
Owner
Barton Productions

2010 FLAME Conference - The Little Things Are Now the Big Things

Dave Stalker's assertion that in order to stay relevant in the next decade and beyond, the industry needs to change its DNA, is right on the money.

Having said that, our service standards remain the elephant in the room, and unless we improve them, everything else has that Dave refers to has the potential to become mere window dressing.

Phil Dourado, one of this year's speakers (more from Phil in a few weeks), believes that simply delivering on our core competencies is no longer enough and that the new competitive edge lies in the detail. In short, the little things - the moments of truth - are now the big things. He's right.

What we have done extraordinarily well over the past twenty years is drive the big things - more facilities, better facilities, more members, better programming and so on. But if we want to increase our overall market penetration we have to both explore ways of attracting people who are not turned on by the current fitness model i.e. the majority, and do a much better job of looking after those who are.

While Dave is, quite rightly, looking ahead and talking about change at the macro level, I am still focused on the day-to-day experience of the average club member right now. And one of the questions I have is this: Are our current operating systems designed to suit the needs of the organisation or the needs of the customer?

That's a big question that is probably beyond the scope of this blog, but here are a couple of thoughts:

1. Suffocated by the need to generate an ever increasing amount of management information, I wonder how much time our managers spend getting a feel for their businesses in the old fashioned way i.e. by interacting with customers and staff on a daily basis? It used to be called management by walking about (MBWA). In short, would the average health club member benefit from our managers (who should set the tone for their teams) being much more visible? I know of at least one major operator who thinks they would and is adapting its systems accordingly.

2. Research says that starting the member's visit on a positive note and - even more importantly - ending on an "uptick", significantly enhances the customer experience. Given the technology at our disposal, shouldn't reception staff be able to use my name when I arrive and say goodbye when I leave? This is just one small example of how we miss little opportunities to make a big impression, but I wonder if it is symptomatic of a much broader malaise?

Dave paints an intriguing and exciting vision for the industry going forward - one that we can all buy into - but we should be mindful of the fact that it's what happens to our customers on a day-to-day basis that will determine the size, scope and sustainability of our businesses going forward.

Tim Webster
Consultant
Fitness Professionals

2010 FLAME Conference

As we start a new decade 'change' seems to be the key theme - we might have a change of government: the economy will look and behave differently from the way it did in the last 10 years: the way we view the health agenda - politically, professionally and as 'consumers' of healthcare services - has to change, because as a nation and as tax payers, we have no option.
The question for us as an industry is what does ‘change’ look like. Not just in terms of how will we change but more importantly, how do we have to change. For me it’s not enough to talk about improving service levels. We have to change our DNA – what we offer, how we deliver it, when we deliver it, where we deliver it, to whom we deliver it to, how we measure what we have delivered, how we assess and analyse that information, what we learn from it and what we do with it.

Who will be our new partners? If the noughties were about partnering with Government (tick: done that) who are our new partners?

Doctors?
Food companies?
Media companies?

The industry is like a teenager becoming a youth. There are things we cannot and should not change – our personality, our energy, our ability to innovate and adapt – but there are qualities and attributes we have to evolve and cultivate IF we want to be taken seriously. What are these things?

Coming up is a starter for 10, from experts who think as passionately as they do innovatively about where we are and what we have to do. They are the keynote speakers at the industry’s 2010 FLAME Conference (date for your diary.......14th July 2010........Cheltenham race course).

What do you think?

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association

More people (MP) I more active (MA) I more often (MO)

After the blizzards and  the snowstorms, we were expecting the inevitable seasonal avalanche of  negative publicity which cascades from journalists pens (if they still used them) at this time of year – the articles which portray us as scheming, thieving pantomime villains who prey on poor unsuspecting yuletide gluttons.

But – luckily – it never came. Instead we had  Fred  Turok  outlining a strategic approach to delivery of public health  (The Times), the FIA supporting the more people  (MP)| more active (MA) | more often (MO) philosophy whilst outlining why supervised  gyms and  leisure centres are safer places to exercise in than outdoor gyms (BBC Breakfast).

In the spirit of  MP | MA| MO, Fitpro, Lifetime and the FIA  were featured in an article about exercising at home (The Independent) and  the FIA advised consumers on how to choose a gym (The Express). There were also negative stories which were killed as well as research fuelled  stories which featured FIA members.

So as we breathe a sigh of relief, I wonder if the tide really has turned and journalists will no longer reach for the cliché when new year comes round. Perhaps they now realise that fitness is for life not just for Christmas bashings.

We can live in hope ......... but we will still carry on planning for year end and start building the editorial equivalent of road salt and grit.  

(Enough of the weather references: ED)

David Stalker

Executive Director  

Fitness Industry Association

Making a difference and Merry Christmas

A few weeks ago I raised the issue of a BHF report condemning the fact leisure centres offered unhealthy food options. I remember thinking at the time that this was a thorny issue and that perhaps we might be guilty of this, to a lesser or greater extent.

However, having obtained some fantastic feedback from over 20 individual leisure centres and a number of the Contract management groups (a big thank you to every one of you, because your feed back was invaluable), I realise that we have no reason to be apologetic.

We met with the BHF earlier this week and told them that

• 100% of respondents told us that they offer healthy food options

• 25% do not offer chips or chocolates and only retail healthy drinks

• 65% offer low sugar/low fat foods, as well as non-fat fried crisps

What was interesting was the fact that Consumer choose to buy:

• 25-40% more Coke than health drinks

• 66-100% more chocolate bars than health bars

These were the facts. But more importantly was the issue of effecting behavioural change. A very strong theme in all the responses was the fact that we cannot force consumers to eat healthily. We must allow them to choose to do so by underpinning choice options with engaging and informative education. As one respondent said, “Removing choice drives them round the corner to satisfy their needs – after all, prohibition didn’t stop Americans drinking alcohol in the 30s.”

The arguments were compelling and BHF could not fault the logic. To give you a feel for the responses:

o “Whilst we can influence people’s purchasing choices, we do need to meet our customer’s needs.”

o “.......we mustn’t patronise them or force their choice.”

o “We cannot force our customers to buy something they personally do not find appealing”

o “....foods like chips, pizzas and burgers sell more. If these were taken off the menu then the cafe would close.”

o “There is no question that cutting income received through vending machines would directly affect the service we would be able to offer. During lean economic times perceived luxuries, such as leisure centre membership, are often the first costs to be looked at by families and therefore maximising income in the current climate is of paramount importance.”

The good news is that the BHF has agreed to work closer with us moving forward – at FIA CMO/BHF Associate Medical Director level: giving us sight of future reports before they are publicized: offering to help us develop guidelines for POI/POS.

Addressing adverse commentary is half the battle: preventing negative commentary is the other half so with the New Year around the corner and in anticipation of the media backlash as per my last blog entry, get those case studies over as quick as possible. The BHF response shows that when we unite together we will be listened to.

Finally this is it from me until January so wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Tonight is the Promote PR Christmas party I suspect the BHF would not rejoice at the much anticipated excesses we will all enjoy but hey Ho it Christmas, time for the “Calorie in” brigade to rejoice!

David Stalker

Executive Director at the FIA

LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK

‘Exercise in middle age can cause arthritis’ screamed the headline and sure enough, some PhD in California decided that after talking to 236 45-55 year olds, over exercising caused most damage to their knees – therefore“...a high risk factor...” for arthritis.


Walking, sports and even gardening could trigger osteoarthritis – the learned PhD went on to conclude.

The common sense rebuttal was as compelling as it was forthright “We have known for years that certain high impact sports and jobs are associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis ...but for the vast majority of people exercise is good...it’s a matter of balance and sensible moderation .....The risk of developing osteoarthritis as a result of too much exercise is outweighed by the risk of being overweight and sedentary.”

Job done, the response came from ‘a spokesperson for the Arthritis Research Campaign’.

As I read this two things struck me:

- I am so sick of reading shock-horror claims, based on some spurious research, from a thesis-writing-publicity-hungry ‘expert’, based on counter-intuitive thinking ... such as exercise is bad for you..... Exercise has no effect on obese children..... Leisure centres should be banned from offering chips (even though they also offer lots of fruit & veg choices and their customers would just go down the road to buy their chips anyway!)

- Why do the media give these guys airtime/column inches?

I guess it’s the price we pay for democracy.

However, what was particularly pleasing about this article was that the rebuttal did not come from someone in our sector (and therefore be dismissed with the ‘well, you would say that wouldn’t you’ claim), but from a third party expert.

If ever I needed proof that we have to point our CMO at all the Royal Colleges and disease NGOs to ensure that they promote the benefits of exercise on our behalf, this was it. So John (Searle, our Chief Medical Officer), get on your bike and keep pedalling until all our ‘strategic partners’ do as good a job as the Arthritis Research Campaign.

The strongest and most compelling cases are often the case studies and real life changing stories that are common place in our industry. So with New Year approaching and the inevitable press backlash at all things fitness, please send in your stories and help your governing body drive forward the Fitness industry as the most important part of the UK’s health agenda.

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association