January 2009
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine
Independents need better marketing By Mary Ferguson MORE people could be encouraged to work out if the fitness industry was marketed as a commercial brand, it has been claimed. An investigation by The King’s Fund claims that one-off measures such as financial incentives are not enough to encourage people to change poor exercise habits. Instead, it believes more sophisticated techniques should be used – and that exercise should be promoted using the same type of commercial advertising campaigns as some of the world’s biggest brands. FIA chief executive Andree Deane said that although the industry has always been good at running its own business-boosting campaigns, the independents sometimes struggle. She said: “In principle, I agree – the industry does need to get together to do more and better marketing. Online marketing and resources has been great for us, for example the Sweat In the City campaign, which also used text messages and social networking sites. “Some small, single-site operators though are not going to be able to invest in that degree of marketing.
“It makes it difficult for small operators so getting behind a big national campaign is a good idea.” Report co-author Dr Anna Dixon said data should be made available on what works and what doesn’t – to prevent wasting money on ineffective programmes and campaigns. She added: “The methods used to promote public health need to be more modern, using the most advanced techniques and technologies. ‘The reasons people persist with unhealthy habits are complex. It’s often about changing deep-rooted social habits that can become addictive, rather than just helping people make better choices as individuals. “Financial incentives and information campaigns can be useful but are far more likely to lead to real and long-term changes in people’s behaviour when paired with other interventions like tailored information and personalised support.” I What do you think? Contact Nicola Hyde on 01226 734453 or email nl@whpl.net.
No 184 £3
Contract review for all gyms?
Former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella joined a Workout reporter at the New You Boot Camp, a military style fitness camp that claims to help women drop a dress size in a week. Motivated by former Army physical training instructors, exercises include running, boxing, cycling, circuits and hiking, with an emphasis on encouraging women to join gyms and continue exercising when they leave. For a special feature on the camp see Page 23
ALL gyms could be forced to review their membership contracts after the UK’s biggest operator had to rewrite theirs following complaints that the ill could not cancel. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) intervened after receiving customer complaints about how clear Fitness First contracts were. The company has now made changes so that its contracts specify that members can cancel and receive some refund of fees during the minimum contract period if there are genuine medical reasons. Corrine Gladstone, spokesperson for the OFT, told Workout: “The complaints against the Fitness First contracts related specifically to what would happen if members needed to cancel their contracts because of illness. “It’s up to gyms to make their own decisions on what goes in a contract and it’s not so much about the language but the terms that are stipulated. “Again, operators are not obliged to encourage new sign-ups to read the terms and conditions but it’s a good idea to discuss them upfront.”