event review


Kate Cracknell asks delegates from the recent IHRSA European Congress for their thoughts on the event’s highlights


EUROPE EUROPE


FOCUS


food for thought


Miles Rimell Head of marketing, Precor EMEA & APAC


A


n underlying theme, which permeated the extensive range of topics covered at this


year’s congress, was benchmarking – something we don’t currently excel at as an industry. Whether it was the need to create KPIs in order to more actively benchmark ourselves, the success that looking to other industries for expertise can bring, or the need to be selective in who we benchmark ourselves against, it was a notable undercurrent in a series of different presentations. Nick Burrows, then MD at Nuffi eld


Health, talked about the need to further benchmark member activity in order to measure their achievements and subsequently reward them. Accurate member activity data is also a necessity when in dialogue with third parties such as health insurers and governments. Burrows also discussed the need,


when attempting to build a brand identity, to benchmark against companies such as Coke and Nike that – in spite of their size and broad portfolio – have successfully delivered a simple, compelling brand proposition.


72 Christian Majgaard, former head of


global & business development at Lego, revealed that the company’s success was in part down to the realisation that, although they had a successful team, they needed to bring in people with specialist outside skills to really drive the business forward into new areas. And Ray Algar, speaking about the


growth of the low-cost gym sector, referenced extremely lucrative low- cost models that already operate in other sectors, including easyjet and Aldi. Budget gyms may be in their infancy in our industry, but the low- cost proposition has been operating successfully for decades. Algar argued that we can learn valuable lessons by looking to the business models of these trusted and profi table low-cost brands. Benchmarking aside, the theme of


Algar’s session – the rise of the low- cost sector, how it’s transforming the European market and what other operators can learn from the model – was the overriding topic of the Congress, often under discussion during break- outs. Based on his 2010 UK Low-cost Gym


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


We must benchmark member activity to motivate and reward them


Sector Report, Algar illustrated how the shift to low-cost has gained momentum in the recessionary environment of the past year, which has encouraged consumers to test low-cost brands. The move away from conspicuous


consumption is not to be under- estimated and, as customers are likely to remain interested in genuine value once they’ve experienced the quality of low-cost products, Algar argued that it’s a concept that’s here to stay. Budget gyms have helped create a


new consumer proposition that disrupts the rules upon which the fi tness industry was fi rst built. And the compact, tightly- run and effi cient operation of low-cost offerings is a business model that other operators will be challenged by and need to ensure they learn, or differentiate themselves, from.


january 2011 © cybertrek 2011 T


he 10th annual IHRSA European Congress took place in Barcelona, Spain in October, with a record


attendance – over 500 delegates from 26 countries, of which more than 260 were first-time attendees. “There was excellent feedback


following this year’s Congress, as well as the highest ever attendance. It’s clear that European industry leaders value this event and the opportunity it gives them to come together and learn from one another,” says IHRSA’s European director Hans Muench. “Our sponsor showcase brought


20 companies together with club personnel, networking extended to include an outing to the Champions League game on the fi nal evening, and the educational programme provided valuable, thought-provoking insights from a varied range of speakers.” We ask a selection of delegates for their thoughts on the congress.


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