| IHRSA Report | Member News Value Proposition Zumba Fitness, LLC
How can one company meet the needs of five million students, at 40,000 sites, in some 75 countries? This one has learned how.
I
n 1999, celebrity fitness trainer Beto Perez brought Zumba—a fitness dance workshop based on salsa, merengue, and other Latin music—to the U.S., from his native
Cali, Colombia. Perez quickly teamed with entrepreneurs Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, and, in 2002, Perlman and Aghion secured a deal with a large infomercial company to launch the concept nationwide, resulting in the
Driving Member Acquisition and Retention
students taking lessons at over 40,000 locations in 75 countries, which makes us the largest branded, dance-based fitness program in the world.” To date, Zumba Fitness, LLC, based in Holly- wood, Florida, has sold more than four million of its DVDs worldwide.
A good program alone won’t attract, or keep members coming back, to any facility. To that end, says Alberto Perlman, the CEO of Zumba Fitness, “We continually work on upgrading our tech- nology, marketing materials, and educational tools to make it easy for fitness facilities and instructors to obtain new members and keep them happy. A good example of this is when Zumba instructors post their classes on
zumba.com’s class locator and pull in new members to the facilities where they teach.”
“I get at least five new members every month from the online
class locator at
zumba.com, and my health club loves me,” reports Zumba instructor Bernadett Ferjez, who teaches at the Lifetime Athletic Club, in Boca Raton, Florida.
To help Zumba instructors market their businesses, Zumba Fitness recently revamped its menu of Web-based marketing materials so instructors can just “click and print” and have professional-quality materials delivered to them. They can use these high-end marketing tools with their own personal tag to advertise Zumba classes at their clubs. Among the other tools they can access are bimonthly Zumba Fitness choreography DVDs; written choreography notes; and an online video platform that teaches new steps, techniques, and marketing strategies. —|
Strengths “The Zumba program’s greatest strength is its evolution into something that’s much more than a fitness pro- gram. For Zumba class participants—or Zumba ‘fanatics,’ as we endearingly refer to them—the Zumba experience is a way of life. Zumba enthusi- asts enjoy seeing the positive side of life, and they truly love participating in their Zumba classes. A good comparison is yoga. Yoga helps peo- ple achieve balance; Zumba helps people feel happy, not to mention get them into fantastic shape. “It’s the tens of
thousands of Zumba instructors and 38 employees at Zumba Fitness who drive this company’s success with their passion
sale of hundreds of thousands of videos in the U.S. market. The Zumba phenomenon quickly
caught on and today, says CEO Perlman, “We have five million weekly Zumba
94 Club Business Internat ional | SEPTEMBER 2010 |
and dedication to the Zumba program and its philosophy. They wake up every day and know that it’s a win/win situation for everyone. Fitness facilities win because they have packed classes.
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Alberto Perlman »
“THE ZUMBA PROGRAM’S GREATEST STRENGTH IS ITS EVOLUTION INTO SOMETHING THAT’S MUCH MORE THAN A FITNESS PROGRAM. FOR ZUMBA CLASS PARTICIPANTS— OR ZUMBA ‘FANATICS,’ AS WE ENDEARINGLY REFER TO THEM— THE ZUMBA EXPERIENCE IS A WAY OF LIFE.”
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