It's good to talk

Great news http://is.gd/xGS1 from the FIA and the Leisure Database Company about the resilience of the health and fitness sector.

A few key facts from their latest piece of research:

3% annual growth
Market value of £3.77bn
Membership numbers have grown by 0.8%
12.1% of UK population are members of a health and fitness club/public owned fitness facility
114 new public/private fitness facilities
119,000 new members at these new sites

Let's hope this gives the private and public operators alike the confidence to keep investing in their facilities and their staff. It is too easy in these challenging times to batton down the hatches 'just in case' but qualified research like this should help justify a more 'business as usual' approach.

We have probably talked ourselves deeper into the recession than was necessary but equally we should be able to talk ourselves out of it too so spread the word.

Are we missing a trick?

At the LIW office today it is Digital Achievement Day (Twitter tag is #ubmdad) across the company where we are celebrating our digital successes. This is easier for some products than others as we run Technology for Marketing, Internet World etc. However, there is some impressive innovation from the less than usual suspects with Songs for Security (we kid you not), Through the Keyhole (from the Interiors Group) and a Venue Finding Competition (www.venuefinder.com).

LIW for it’s part has been blazing away on the digital trail for a few months and has built up communities across the breadth of the show on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and this blog.

During this exercise it has been interesting to note the differing levels of take up in these markets but none of them have really grasped the bull by the horns. This is surprising. The common factors that unite LIW visitors is that they want to attract more visitors, more often, increase secondary spend and keep them safe while they are there. Surely the ability to build up tight, loyal communities and engage with them regularly with their wholehearted permission should be leapt upon shouldn’t it?

We are no experts and are just finding our way but if we can be of any help at all we would be happy to try.

Nautilus UK MD, Alan Vickers

Shortly before witnessing the unveiling of the new Schwinn cycle, I take some time to chat with Alan Vickers, new MD of Nautilus, who shares his thoughts on the health club industry and what lies ahead for Nautilus in 2009. I'm sure that Alan's experience in strategic roles with global brands like Nike and Reebok, will stand Nautilus in good stead for the future.

Early morning Krank for LIW

Jonathan Monks, Tom Hammond, Jeff Davis and Jon Johnson, join Jonny G for an early morning Krank cycle. Jonny's passion and vision for the industry was inspiring and having worked out for 30 minutes on it I can assure you that it provides an effective CV and upper body workout!

Krank Cycle launch @ IHRSA 2009

In true American style, the Jonny G (inventor of spinning) Krank Cycle is launched at IHRSA 2009 alongside Matrix. Who would bet against this innovative, flexible, complimentary and inclusive fitness equipment becoming a central feature of health clubs all over the world?

Creative Fitness Partying

St Patricks day fun, lead by the Creative Fitness Marketing boys on the FIA boat party at IHRSA 2009 in San Francisco...

IHRSA president, Joe Moore's positive outlook for the global health and fitness industry

Three shows for the coin op market - surely not?

Following ATEI earlier this year we highlighted an interesting market situation regarding trade shows for the coin op and amusement markets. Scroll down to 30th January to see chapter one!

Last week this story took another twist at a meeting organised by BACTA, held in Birmingham and attended by BACTA members/ATEI exhibitors. The outcome of this meeting was for BACTA to seek a tenancy at ExCeL exhibition centre in east London on the same dates as ATEI in January 2010.

This will certainly be a challenge for Clarion Gaming, organisers of ATEI, to overcome but what will happen to the IGX event run by Intergame? On hearing the news Intergame’s David Snook said: "We have had some talks with BACTA's sub-committee set up to advise National Council on the new show project. We feel that there is a great deal of synergy between us. In the final analysis we must keep our promise to our exhibitors to listen to their views." This would seem to suggest that they are happy to compete with Clarion Gaming but would step aside if BACTA wish to proceed independently.

There will be twist and turns in this saga to come with all parties having the potential to take the moral high ground but who REALLY wins? Trade shows are designed to bring a marketplace together in a dynamic environment yet when there are competing events (potentially three of them in this case) those that really suffer are the visitors and exhibitors who are forced to make difficult choices while the market decides which event to support.

Long term of course the market will choose and status quo will be restored with one strong event that best serves the industry but in the meantime this situation will just add to all the other challenges this sector faces.

Fitwittering

Why should fitness equipment suppliers care about Twitter? Observations of a Twitter newbie.

Twitter is the fastest growing online networking tool and an internet phenomenon - it as grown tenfold in the last year in the UK. Source: http://is.gd/kcYI

There are already Twitter communities (predominantly US based) of fitness enthusiasts, semi professional athletes and professional sports personalities. See http://www.blogger.com/www.twittfitter.com as an example.

These communities swap training programmes, nutrition tips, diet ideas and performance updates. The vast majority of these communities regularly use fitness equipment. In addition, they are information hungry. Do you want to know what is being twittered about your company? Then go to http://search.twitter.com/ and put in your brand details. See below for Precor:

JPmicek: @GMicek36 LOL! I just tweet while I'm doing cardio on the Precor. No way I culd tweet during workout w only 30-45 seconds between sets :)
about 8 hours ago from Twittelator · Reply · View Tweet · Show ConversationHide Conversation

Tajah: 35min on precor: avg HR 154, cal burned 507.8, gluteal workout 2. Yay! It feels great now but I'm gonna hurt 2morrow!
about 8 hours ago from mobile web · Reply · View Tweet

Dallas_Listings: This Precor commercial treadmill were just inspected and serviced. There are 5 left to choose from. Features:... re: http://ff.im/1eVCT
about 9 hours ago from FriendFeed · Reply · View Tweet

PubKevin: Headed to the ymca gym on clement. To run or to precor?
about 11 hours ago from TwitterBerry · Reply · View Tweet

16thstreetj: The whole staff just worked off the hamantaschen by carrying new Precor dumbbells into the fitness center. Insert dumbbell joke here _____
about 18 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

FatBoyGetsSlim: @Smudged I used to love this one eliptical called the "AMT" (All Motion Trainer) made by PRECOR. We had one at uni. Shame it's about $8k!
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet · Show ConversationHide Conversation

LakersDotCom: Andrew Bynum is on a stationary bike and the Precor machine: http://sn.im/cn99q
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

adventuregirl: Going to go put my fat *ss on the Precor then off to Ikea...
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

FullLife: @wendybattles Traveling - my plan? - have a fridge in the hotel -plan to fill it with fresh fruits and veggies + hit the Precor fitness room
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet · Show ConversationHide Conversation

nimmons: Precor usa. Cardio theater. 956I.
2 days ago from twidroid · Reply · View Tweet

glasgowunisport: 2 demo Precor AMT machines are now gone. Tell us what you think though! sport@gla.ac.uk
2 days ago from Netvibes · Reply · View Tweet

reaqueen: Studying genesis. Good time this morning. Now at gym on precor.
2 days ago from twitterrific · Reply · View Tweet

amesburyma: For Sale: PRECOR 5.19 EFX Elliptical Cross-Trainer Elliptical Ellipse (Amesbury) $1250: Rated Recently .. http://bit.ly/18zwyd (expand)
3 days ago from twitterfeed · Reply · View Tweet

Nycromancer: youll be performing at Hell, so hit the precor to be in great shape when youre on stage on Wed.
3 days ago from txt · Reply · View Tweet

msurman: @dria I LOVE my Precor. I use it all the time. I find them way smoother and nicer than Life Fitness.
3 days ago from TwitterFox · Reply · View Tweet

Twitter was not designed to be a commercial business tool but it can be used to derive commercial benefit. The opportunity exists for fitness equipment companies to develop pull marketing from thousands of gym equipment users.

Users of Twitter are naturally sceptical about businesses using Twitter for commercial benefit so an entry must be well planned and well executed otherwise it could have quite the opposite effect. The biggest benefit of Twitter is knowledge sharing and suppliers have plenty of knowledge to share: how to use specific pieces of equipment, training techniques, nutrition etc is valuable and Twitter is the ideal platform to utilise this.

The utopia is for a fitness equipment manufacturer to build up a network of followers (both brand users and non brand users) through knowledge sharing. As the community grows and strengthens more gym/home gym choices will be made according to equipment or demand to install a particular line of equipment because of the support network that can be accessed via Twitter.

Don’t believe everything you read/watch!

It’s not all doom and gloom!!

Last week LIW conducted research (via surveymonkey which is a fantastic tool) to over 200 health clubs and gyms and findings were interesting and very encouraging. In almost direct contrast to the Bleak Britain Corporation in fact.

44.6% of respondents said that recruitment of members had been ‘much better’ or ‘better’ than expected while only 16.7% said it had been ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ than expected.

43.1% of respondents had more members than last year while 23.8% had less members than last year.

54.9% of respondents said they would be investing in new equipment this year and 25.4% of those would be spending more than £50,000.

68% of respondents were feeling ‘very’ or ‘quite’ confident about their business while only 5.8% were not feeling ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ confident.

86.4% of respondents were considering visiting LIW to source new equipment and suppliers.

Follow LIW on twitter at www.twitter.com/l_i_w