Technogym, Gambettola, Italy, is best known within the U.S. club industry as a manufacturer of fitness equipment, but the launch of two new products could help more operators see them in a new light.
Along with showing off some recent updates to a few of its equipment lines, Technogym used the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) show, held earlier this month in San Francisco, to introduce its new business service concept, Club 2.0.
With Club 2.0, Technogym aims to help club owners who purchase the system differentiate their clubs from their competitors and connect with prospective and current members by appealing to them on a more personal level.
The system classifies prospects and members according to six types—Shape, Power, Fun, Move, Balance and Sport—based on their answers to a brief quiz. Each of those types is based on the members’ core aspirations. For example, “Shape” people are motivated by the wish to improve or maintain their figures and look good, while the social opportunities and the chance to try out new things attracts the “Fun” group to join clubs.
Technogym says that encouraging prospects to take the aspirations quiz not only piques their interest but also establishes the club as uniquely prepared to help them achieve their personal goals.
Technogym recently piloted Club 2.0 in five locations of GLL, a group of public fitness centers in London and Southeast England. The clubs reported positive results. The “aspiration mapping” page on GLL’s website has so far attracted more than 4,000 visitors, and 3,000 of those went on to complete the profiling quiz. GLL also reported that about 80 percent of prospects who took the Club 2.0 quiz on its website became members.
Identifying the aspirations of prospects and members also benefits the club, according to Technogym, because it enables operators to tailor their marketing, programming, member communications and even club design to appeal to the six key types in the club population and make each member’s experience seem personalized.
Club 2.0 is now available to clubs in the United States and Canada and is offered as a complete package that can be customized to work with the facility’s current branding strategy, marketing and advertising materials. The package includes everything from the rights to offer the aspirations quiz on the club’s own website to inspirational images illustrating the six types, which can be used on everything from mailers to large-scale decorative banners.
Technogym also introduced mywellness key, a USB-enabled device that records its user’s daily physical activity. It works in the gym by plugging into Technogym equipment. It also monitors movement when worn outside of the gym, similar to a pedometer. The data can be uploaded online so users can track their progress, but Technogym says it also is a good tool to encourage communication between members and trainers, who can work together on assigning and achieving goals based on the data.