...Executive Summary Fitness First was founded 19 years ago by Mike Balfour in Bournemouth in 1993. Fitness First is one of the largest health and fitness club business in the world. From a single club opening in UK, Fitness First has expanded in Europe, Asia, and Australia through a combination of existing businesses and continuous investment in new club openings. In this report I will outline Fitness First marketing strategy with different tools such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, etc. Additionally, I will give recommendations to improve and optimize the recent marketing strategy. Data and Facts: • Fitness First has around 540 clubs and roughly 1.1 million members since 2011 • Fitness First is broadly based internationally, with operations in 15 countries • Fitness First is the largest privately owned health and fitness provider in the world which is strongly positioned in all major markets • Fitness First has a total revenue of 670.3 million £ in 2009 and it is anualy growing Fitness First, 2010. CFO Report. [online] Avaialable at:[Accessed 6 June 2012]. Fitness First, 2010. History. [online] Avaialable at:[Accessed 6 June 2012]. Fitness First, 2010. Daten & Fakten. [online] Avaialable at:[Accessed 6 June 2012]. 1 Introduction The Fitness First Company is considered a leading health club chain company which operates worldwide. The reason why Fitness First is expanding rapidly is because it provides state of the art facilities, world...
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...An Analysis of the U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004 and the Role of Bally Total Fitness Executive Summary Introduction The rise of the U.S. health club industry can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s when the majority of health clubs emerged. By 2004, this $14 billion industry claimed 41 million members. Although the health club industry operated in a perfectly competitive market, several prominent key players gained large market share, including Bally Total Fitness and 24 hour Fitness. This perfect competition encouraged entry of smaller emerging firms into the industry. In 2004, the health club industry consisted of 26,000 clubs in the U.S. Of this growing market, the fifty largest firms were responsible for 33% of industry revenue and 38% of the clubs was not-for-profit. The for-profit industry was divided into the following formats: owner-operated clubs, franchised clubs, design and management companies and health spas. Bally Total Fitness, the largest publicly traded health club operator in the United States in 2004, claimed over 3.6 million members worldwide. This multi-million dollar company had earned a reputation as being the “largest and only nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers” in the United States, a substantial leap from the single modest club that first opened in 1962. Several advantages contributed to Bally’s success over the other health clubs in the industry. CEO Lee...
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...“The many advantages of joining a Health Club or Gym” Introduction I. Do you want to gain more energy naturally or just blow off some steam after a rough day at work? Want to prevent many life threating diseases or maybe drop a few pounds for summer, then a good workout at your local gym of health club is the answer.(Attention getter) II. By joining a gym or health club and starting a daily workout routine you will accomplish all these things and countless other positive benefits. (Thesis) III. Today, I will discuss some of those benefits and reason why joining a local gym or health club is a great decision that has positive life changing implications.(Preview) (Transition: So what are some of the positive benefits you get from joining a gym of health club.) Body I. Joining a local gym or health club is a great decision for anyone looking to improve their overall health. 1-Regular physical activity can help you prevent and manage a number of diseases. (MayoClinic.com) a.) Such as lowering high blood pressure b.) Heart disease c.) Strokes d.) depression 2-Regular exercise is also very effective for weight loss or even managing your current weight. (MayoClinic.com) 3-Daily exercise can also improve your mood and increase your energy naturally. (Transition: Now, I will explain some of the exercise classes and tools offer at your local gym or health club) II. When you join a local join you will have...
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...Sushil Nagar Market research and image Analysis Student No. 28044 Project on Fitness Studios Table of Contents 1. MARKET RESEARCH ON FITNESS STUDIOS page(4,5) 2. A)Introduction Page(5,6) B) After World War 2 page(6,7,8) 3. The Birth of American Health page(9,10) 4. Marketing (page 10,11,) (a) Television Viewing (b)Observation 5. Interviews (Page 11, 12, 13) (A)Face to Face Interviews (B)Household Interviews 6. Final Survey (Page 14) 7. Results of the Survey (Page 15, 16, 17, 18) 8. Negative Feedback (Page 19) 9. Customer Satisfaction (Page 20) 10. Unique Fitness Clubs (page 21) 11. Challenges and Opportunities (Page 22, 23) 12. Conclusion (Page 24) 13. Appendices (page 24) 14. References (Page 25) MARKET RESEARCH ON FITNESS STUDIOS Taking a practical action-oriented approach, and focusing on established, need to know subjects. This seminar paper of mine will reflect market research on Fitness Studios in International Business Environment. This series will concentrate on developing practical texts. I made best efforts I could to ensure that each title that this research remains international in both content and research and gives a clear picture. Overall this paper will produce a body of work that will enhance international awareness about marketing research on fitness studios. Note:- I made every possible effort to ensure...
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...“True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.” (von Humboldt, n.d.). As the public becomes more health-conscious and the aging population places greater emphasis on remaining healthy and fit, the fitness industry is maintaining steady growth because of better dietary practices and a resurgence to play and become more active. It is no surprise the demand for gyms and health and fitness clubs will continue to rise. Therefore, my paper will cover the critical concepts as it relates to Bally Total Fitness Case Study. I will highlight Bally’s history, macro environment, SWOT analysis, corporate-level strategy, business-level strategy, and my recommendation for Bally Total Fitness. History, Development, and Growth Dave “Wild man” Wildman is said to be the founder of Bally Fitness, but it was Raymond T. (Ray) Moloney back in the early 1930’s who decided to create an affordable past time of pinball. Anyone could play pinball at the price of seven balls for one cent or 10 balls for a nickel. In January of 1932, Ray founded the popular past time while working under Lion Manufacturing in Chicago. The Ballyhoo pinball game was easy to make and very profitable. With the creation of the “Goofy,” the “Airway,” the “Rocket,” and the “Bumper” pinball machines, Bally Manufacturing, under Moloney’s leadership, took off. Bally Manufacturing headquarters remained in Chicago at the same address for almost 50 years. In 1936, Bally Manufacturing...
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...Jim Hart 11.16.13 New York Sports Clubs and the UXF Brand When searching for a product, I wanted to pick something that was different and unique. I was looking for something that was not necessarily going to be stocked on a shelf or available for purchase at a local retailer. I wanted something dynamic. It is for those reasons that I chose UXF, or the Ultimate Fitness Experience, which is a product marketed by New York Sports Clubs, which also happens to be the company that I work for. The Ultimate Fitness Experience, or UXF as we will call it for the remainder of this paper, is aimed at competing directly with the ever growing and extremely popular new fitness craze of CrossFit. CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout that challenges even the most physically fit athlete. The program is based on functional movements and pits the athletes against others and against themselves for repetitions of certain exercises completed over time. CrossFit began in early 2000 and was founded by a former gymnast names Greg Glassman. The brand began with approximately 18 gyms nationwide and has grown exponentially to over 3000 estimated locations in the United States. These gyms are usually dark and dingy places with very few amenities and ancillary services offered. They are a “no frills” approach to health and fitness. These CrossFit gyms are also only for the physically fit, and individuals who are just starting out or individuals who have injuries or limitations...
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...Competitive Analysis The health club industry has continued to see an increase in the amount of health clubs/fitness centers. Since 1992, the United States has seen the number of health clubs increased by almost 40 percent, from 12,635 to 17,531 facilities. It has also seen an increase in membership by almost 60 percent, from 20.8 million to 32.8 million. What this all means for Fun 4 Life Fitness Center, LLC is that the market is ever growing which translates to more competition. Most fitness centers offer a variety of services to address the needs and convenience of the customers. Some of these services includes personal trainers, facilities with state-of-the-art equipment, and programs that cater to mostly every demographic. Fun 4 Life Fitness will seek to have a competitive edge by providing customers with stellar customer service along with offering a variety of programs and equipment that is sure to develop a following for Fun 4 Life Fitness Center, LLC. Key Competitors The key competitors that have fitness centers in the Corpus Christi area are Gold’s Gym, Freedom Fitness of Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Snap Fitness Center, and Corpus Christi Athletic Club. Gold’s Gym specializes in providing some of the best cardio and strength equipment to help people realize their goals. Some of their strengths include the programs they offer, their personal trainer staff, and most importantly, the Gold’s Gym brand name. They have built up a reputation for being...
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...Group 1 BALLY TOTAL FITNESS 10/02/2014 1. What is this case about? This case is about Bally Total Fitness, an U.S. health club industry founded in 1962. But more generally this case is about the health club industry in the USA and throughout the world. In a first part, there is a general presentation of the U.S. health club industry characteristics. We have some information about people who go to these clubs, proposed activities, equipment and facilities. It presents the different ways of formats in this industry, how the industry is organized: owner-operated clubs, franchised clubs, Design and management companies and health spas. We have some explanations about pricing, ways of sales, general operations and an analysis about the different trends within this industry. We In a second part, we have a deep presentation of Bally Total Fitness. We have information about its foundation, generated revenues, growing, current CEO (Paul Toback). We have a description of the process to sign in with Bally Total Fitness, how a typical club is organized. This part is about the strategic decisions of Bally Total Fitness about its marketing, accounting policies to attract clients. In a third part, we have a quick presentation of Bally Total Fitness’ competitors (YMCA, Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness and Curves International). We have crucial information about their histories, main leaders, policies, revenues and differences from Bally Total Fitness. Finally, there are some...
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...Total Fitness was a major leader in the $14.1 billion health club industry. With over 400 million facilities worldwide, Bally was the “largest publicly traded health club operator in the United States in 2003” (Wells, John R., 1-7). Bally’s success was fueled by many components including membership revenue, various products and programs, and their recognizable, worldwide image; however, in 2004, Bally faced a major shock to its reputation. Fraudulent accounting practices were discovered and examined, resulting in an uproar from shareholders, complaining of financial misrepresentation. As a result, Bally Total Fitness faced a drop in their stock price, lawsuits from current shareholders, and a damaged repute. The following analysis will evaluate how the general external environment affects Bally Total Fitness, examine Bally Total Fitness’s current standing in the health club industry, options on how to rebuild its status in this industry, and solutions to implement for eliminating any skepticism among shareholders and increasing membership numbers. Macro–Environment Analysis Gym and exercise equipment manufacturers are constantly upgrading current models of exercise machines as well as developing innovative designs for new machinery. The new machinery supplies health clubs with the opportunity to introduce new ways to “get fit” and “get healthy”, a sociocultural trend that will soon be addressed. Aside from the cultural health trend, gym and exercise equipment manufacturers are...
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...Corporate Histories History of Under Armour Under Armour is currently an athletic apparel, footwear, and accessory brand with the mission “to make all athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation” (Under Armour website). The brand was founded in 1996 by University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank in the basement of his grandmother’s house in Baltimore, Maryland. Based on his own athletic experience, Plank was inspired to create a sweat-wicking undershirt that did not get moisture-laden with sweat during games and practice. The company gained initial success with grassroots marketing among the athletic community. Under Armour did not reach mainstream consumers until the company’s products appeared in the 1999 film Any Given Sunday. It has continued to appear in other movies and television shows, and it has gained many athletic stars as spokespeople of the brand. Under Armour launched its first television advertisement, featuring football player Eric Ogbogu, in 2003. These marketing efforts have done well to expand consumer recognition of the brand’s initial product. Sweat-wicking shirts are now commonly known as “Under Armour” similar to the way tissues are now often just called “Kleenex.” With its evolving brand image, Under Armour has been able to expand beyond the athletic performance apparel market, which it dominated at 75% of market share in 2005. Following its initial public offering in 2005, which raised over $100 million...
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...BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW Bally Total Fitness was created in 1996 with Lee Hillman as its first CEO. Bally traces its existence to the Health and Tennis Corporation, run by Dave Wildman. Wildman had begun to purchase ailing gyms and aggressively expanded and acquired several other brands as well. In the 1990s, as part of a diversification move, Bally Manufacturing, a gambling equipment company, decided to purchase Wildman’s collection of gyms and other brands. This diversification of brands created what was known as Bally Entertainment. Bally Total Fitness was then created in 1996 as the health club portion of Bally Entertainment. Lee Hillman started the company off in an unusual path, Mr. Hillman used a retrenchment strategy by selling off outlets, rationalizing Bally’s brand portfolio, and closing several clubs, which then returned the business to profitability. During Hillman’s course of leadership, Bally developed a very broad range of products and services, which increased revenues out of the company’s existing membership base and added profit to the bottom line. The company faced a triggering event when Bally’s CEO Lee Hillman stepped down suddenly in December of 2002. Bally’s chief operation officer at the time, Paul Toback, replaced Mr. Hillman and moved to the top of the company. Toback’s started as CEO explaining that he expected changes to the company to be “more evolutionary than revolutionary”. Under Hillman’s lead, Bally was operating essentially as two different...
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...Paying Not to Go to the Gym By STEFANO DELLAVIGNA AND ULRIKE MALMENDIER* How do consumers choose from a menu of contracts? We analyze a novel dataset from three U.S. health clubs with information on both the contractual choice and the day-to-day attendance decisions of 7,752 members over three years. The observed consumer behavior is difficult to reconcile with standard preferences and beliefs. First, members who choose a contract with a flat monthly fee of over $70 attend on average 4.3 times per month. They pay a price per expected visit of more than $17, even though they could pay $10 per visit using a 10-visit pass. On average, these users forgo savings of $600 during their membership. Second, consumers who choose a monthly contract are 17 percent more likely to stay enrolled beyond one year than users committing for a year. This is surprising because monthly members pay higher fees for the option to cancel each month. We also document cancellation delays and attendance expectations, among other findings. Leading explanations for our findings are overconfidence about future self-control or about future efficiency. Overconfident agents overestimate attendance as well as the cancellation probability of automatically renewed contracts. Our results suggest that making inferences from observed contract choice under the rational expectation hypothesis can lead to biases in the estimation of consumer preferences. (JEL D00, D12, D91) “Saturday 31 December. New Year’s Resolutions. I WILL...
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...become leading firm in US Health club industry. Since 2002, Paul Toback as CEO has did a lot of intervention to avoid Bally from banckrupcy. Consumer demand for health club has been arise in USA. By 2004 US health club industry took in revenur of $ 14.1 billion with more than 26.000 health club operated in the United States, compare in 1987 only 11.800 health club (Exhibit 1). The demand cause Americans become more concern about their health since two third of adult population categorized as overweight and nearly one third as obese. The motivation to join health club are a disire to lose weight, to get in shape, to meet people or to reduce stress. The frequency of health club attendance in 2001 has arise compare to 1987. The people visited health club more than 100 days per year in 1987 only 31% become 41 % in 2001 (Exhibit 2). More people in younger age has increase as member in health club 12.3% in 2001 compare to 1997, and people in age 45-54 also increace 11.5% as well as age 55+ increase 13.1%. Most club equipped facilities with aerobic and weight machines. Some health club provide swimming pool. Total capital required for 40.000 – 50.000 square-foot health club was roughly $1.5 million, with $500.000 in equipment alone. Smaller health club can be built with cost $144.000 to buy equipment for 10.000 square-foot. Health club format in United States : * Owner-operated clubs : Operated by their owners. Has many location as chain health club. Centralize procurement...
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...Fall Comm 400 Health Club Industry Bally Total Fitness was a leading firm in the health club industry. Since market competition had intensified, Bally’s stock price dropped leading to an investigation by the Security and Exchange Commission. To improve Bally’s current position, we apply the Porter’s Five Forces Model to analyze its external environment. The competitive rivalry in health club industry is intense as there are many small or equally sized competitors. In addition, exit barriers are high because of higher capital costs and operation costs, indicating that the health club industry is hard to exit. Equipment makers are the industry’s major suppliers. Suppliers have high bargaining power because there are only a small number of well-known suppliers. Consumers are the buyers and have moderate bargaining power when choosing a health club, because there are numerous clubs in the industry. But once they are committed to memberships, they have a lower bargaining power. The threat of substitute products is high. Consumers can workout at home, outdoors, or at gyms within their workplaces. Besides, they can go to health spas designed for workouts. Nutritional and athletic products are complimentary to the health club industry. The threat of new entrants is rather low because it is difficult to acquire decent real estate or a good location; also, exercise equipments are highly valued. Consumers who have had a good experience with their health clubs tend to be quite loyal...
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...Bally Total Fitness Health Club Industry Bally Total Fitness was a leading firm in the health club industry. Since market competition had intensified, Bally’s stock price dropped leading to an investigation by the Security and Exchange Commission. To improve Bally’s current position, we apply the Porter’s Five Forces Model to analyze its external environment. The competitive rivalry in health club industry is intense as there are many small or equally sized competitors. In addition, exit barriers are high because of higher capital costs and operation costs, indicating that the health club industry is hard to exit. Equipment makers are the industry’s major suppliers. Suppliers have high bargaining power because there are only a small number of well-known suppliers. Consumers are the buyers and have moderate bargaining power when choosing a health club, because there are numerous clubs in the industry. But once they are committed to memberships, they have a lower bargaining power. The threat of substitute products is high. Consumers can workout at home, outdoors, or at gyms within their workplaces. Besides, they can go to health spas designed for workouts. Nutritional and athletic products are complimentary to the health club industry. The threat of new entrants is rather low because it is difficult to acquire decent real estate or a good location; also, exercise equipments are highly valued. Consumers who have had a good experience with their health clubs tend to be quite loyal...
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