INTERVIEW
All together now: 70 per cent of members regularly take part in group exercise classes
with 70 per cent of members regularly taking part in classes. He continues: “Strategically, we also
have the low-cost operation Fresh Fitness in our portfolio, and that’s enabling us to compete in a different segment of the market. “But that leads me onto our main
weakness: the fact that, with SATS and Elixia, we have a ‘one price fits all’ mid- premium product – one price, one typical format. Value for money in the product is being strained – either it’s too expensive for those who aren’t doing group exercise, or it’s actually too cheap for those who do a lot of classes – and the whole model is very, very hard to target. “Going hand-in-hand with that, we have
too high a market share of mid-premium clubs in the Nordics, leaving space for the more innovative low-cost players and niche players to grow. That’s a fundamental challenge we must address.” So how will they go about this?
“We need to be much, much more differentiated, and I believe we have the scale and the brands to do that. We’ll use Fresh Fitness to fight in the low-cost segment, and on the SATS-Elixia side we’ll probably create a limited number of premium clubs in the main cities. “But our main product – which I
think over time will fall under one brand rather than separate SATS and Elixia brands – needs to be much more differentiated. We’ll create different formats, with smaller clubs alongside the larger sites to fill the gaps within each key cluster, ensuring we’re geographically
close to customers. We’ll take the next three to five years to migrate into what we think is an optimal footprint. “We’ll see how ‘micro’ the clubs
become, but we’ll certainly vary the format to a much larger degree. We could have some group exercise-only gyms, for example, or personal training studios, or cardio-only clubs. We’re thinking about yoga studios too, and maybe specialist cycling venues. We’re looking at how we better integrate indoor and outdoor training too. But whatever we do, I want to keep everything within the family so the customer can always choose to go wherever he or she wants. “In addition, we’re looking at our
pricing model to make sure the customer, whatever they pay, gets value for money – and I don’t think that’s the case today. If you don’t do group exercise, if you don’t have children in the daycare centre, why should you pay for it? On the flip side, if you want to book into popular classes, perhaps you’ll pay a booking fee to guarantee a spot.”
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD He continues: “We’re looking into the corporate market too, at companies that want some kind of programme for their employees as a way of reducing sick leave. We’ve traditionally had very poor products for that market – we’ve essentially just offered them a discount for their employees to become members of our clubs, instead of really trying to understand employers’ challenges and developing products for them. But we have some very cool programmes now, including using apps and gamification to make it fun to participate, and it’s working really well. “And even for our general members, I
want to get away from the idea that you become a member of a club. Instead, you become a member of the SATS world – and that might even mean you don’t attend a physical club. “What I want is for members, wherever
they may be, to come to us as their destination for the resources and information they need to reach their health and fitness goals. I want us to have the best technology, the best information, the best resources. Members should be able to stream our group exercise classes into their homes. We should have specialised one-to-one programmes, online personal trainers, we should follow up on activity tracking data… Anything and everything we can do to give people the encouragement they need. “I also want our personal trainers
The company aims to try out new formats and sizes for its clubs
42 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
to be much more like key account managers than PTs. If you look at the education sector, it’s been completely transformed by technology: it’s much better to sit at home watching a lecture on YouTube and then, when you’re in the classroom, to actually work together and learn from each other. “It should be the same in the fitness industry. If we have good enough
July 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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