What observations from living opposite a Park in COVID19 can teach the Health & Wellness industry
Blessed to live bang opposite Paradise Park in Islington, London, UK.. It is a real heavenly open space for everyone in the community right now
Paradise Park was built after the Second World War, on a site exploded by an enemy V2 rocket missile
Anyway I have frequented the park over last 2 years, even more in the last 2 months and my balcony gives me a good view of what’s happening there.
Based on this and the following reasons I think my on the ground observations on how the needs of people are clearly changing re worthing by those folks in the health & wellness industry:
- I’ve alwayd been a regular gym goer
- I’m incredibly open minded with my fitness choices, sports & have experimented across both mental & physical fitness (mindfulness, meditation, yoga, weigthts, running, free hand, equipment based → rings / bands, climbing & dancing)
- I’m a Senior Venture Builder at Sia Partners Growth & Innovation, so I am ultra observant of unmet needs, constantly looking tovalidate them & am an always onto technology / business innovation to fuel growth
Firstly, it’s so nice to see families working out and playing together in the park — might seem odd that this is not the norm, but relative to the past and considering the nature of the times, there seems to be a more conscious effort to get out and do things together.
What’s interesting here is
- The parents who used to workout separately / alone are now doing this with their children. They seem to be taking their children through the ropes too with some even getting equipment like cones, extension bands, free weights, etc.
- There are clearly a large number of parents who have not worked out before that are doing so.. This so great to see.. They seem to be either playing with their kids with frisbees, balls,games etc or just running around.
Secondly, there is a large number of single and coupled people on yoga mats, rings, etc.. either doing stuff they know or for a very high proportion, looking at a phone to guide their session.
Thirdly, the park is filled with people who if under normal condition would usually not tend to go to the park. This is an increasingly large audience, walking / jogging around and just grabbing fresh air.
So what?
The nature of the end user / buyer of your service is not changing, it has changed and these behaviors will influence how they make decisions about what you offer them. You cannot expect them to buy the same thing you sold them before at the same price.
For example, a famous gym customer acquisition strategy is to offer a fixed period of a free trial / let members bring a friend. Well this is going to be not very effective tomorrow for 2 reasons:
- One, digital providers are offering really long periods of free trials as they can pretty cheaply as compared to gyms that have a physical capacity constraint. For example, Centr by Chris Hemsworth’s team offers 6 weeks free trial right now.
- Two, your customers now know that free / more convenient free space at parks and at home is a viable option /
You will not only have your old regular customers with different dynamic, but also a new increasingly large segment that I will call the ‘second beginners’.
These ‘second beginners’ are people who have never given your service a shot before and as it has not been a consideration. You can also include those that have never stuck on with your service before as they have found it too intimidating / hard and are trying actually trying new fitness experiences now, from the comfort of their homes. This behaviour is being triggered by the celebrities they look upto offering free live streams and by high quality digital options being free / minimal cost in comparison to previously expensive physical alteratives. The way you communicate and connect with these customers is going to be very different. For example, glo does exactly this, giving affordable access to new, tailored & holistic fitness experiences.
You have really re-think your value model. Yes equipment, classes and a conducive fitness environment at different levels of premium-ness differentiated the gyms of yesterday. That will still be the expected normal from your target customer base, however what sets you apart will be different.
- These could be around products and services that account for the new environment and consider holistic fitness (mental & physical). Partnerships with firms in these spaces so that you reduce the ‘subscription overload / fomo’ for your customer and give them better value for the money they spend with you.
- More flexible, personalized gym membership models that couple services / package experiences outside the physical gym
Some more examples of companies getting loads of traction right now by to some extent catering to these needs. Honestly, they are not hard to find.
If you fancy having a chat about this in more depth / have any questions / add on thoughts please get in touch / comment. There is alot of finger pointing to the future going on and I am not the biggest fan of that when it is not validated in some way or even useful to anybody, so the above is in light of being aware of that.
