Question

- you are required to describe the profiles of two different customer segments in the gym/fitness club market. Then after you have posted the details of your segments, you are required to further analyse one of your classmates' identified segments.

Start by looking again at the "snack food market segments" that were presented in lesson 6.4. You should use a similar structure for this activity (but only two segments are required, not six!).

• Describe the characteristics of two different customer segments in the Australian gym/fitness club market.
• Make sure that you use as many of the different segmentation variables as possible (as long as they are relevant to this market).

The industry report from IBISWorld may also be of assistance if you currently don't have a good understanding of this industry.

Answer 1

The australian gym and fitness market has been growing for the last 5 years driven primarily by 2 trends :

1. Rise of the budget gym chains

2. the fully premium and functional fitness based gyms.

Basis the above and some excerpts from the trends in the IBIS world report , the 2 segments that we can analyse are :

1. Jack and Jane Mathews , 60 and 55 respectively have retired after many years of working in various corporates. Jack was a corporate lawyer and Jane ,an accountant. They live in a small bunglow in the suburbs outside sydney. Their children live across the world and they see them once or twice a year. Jack and Jane are well read, well travelled and love experimenting with new cuisines - their second favourite pastime is to try out new restaurants in Sydney. Extremely fitness conscious, they want to enroll iin a gym - however they are bored of routine and want to constantly try something new. Their frend told them about Meyer's the new fitness chain that had opened a franchisee - they signed up for a free session to check out the facilities and were impressed with the world class equipment and the quality of the trainers. The gym also had a steam room and massage centre. In addition , it boasted of a swanky cafeteria which ofered the latest keto and vegan delicacies. Jane wanted to go through the list of classes that were being offered - she found that it was a big list ranging from Yoga to cross fit to spinning , zumba etc. Jack was fine with the hefty price that the gym was charging. Jane posted a few pictures of the gym on her instagram and was thrilled that so many of her friends liked it and egged her on to join.

2. Jill Billing , 35 , single mother of a toddler and teacher wants to join a gym but doesnt know if she can afford one or find the time for one. Jill leads a hectic life - she lives in a tiny one room appartment in order to save her the commute and the rent money . Her mornings are rushed , with preparing Andy Jr for his playschool , getting him to have milk and fruit, packing some snacks ,packing her lunch bag and then rushing out to drop Andy at playschool and day care before boarding the bus to her school. She is back home by 5 after picking up Andy on the way. Her hectic schedule means she often eats unhealthy food and as a result is almost 10kgs over weight. She wants to look pretty and hence she would like to join the gym. She has to manage multiple things on her salary and is not sure if she can afford a gym. She wants a place where they help her lose weight and is neat, clean and functional. She can go to the gym from 4 PM to 5PM only and the gym has to be close to Andy's playschool. It should not charge the moon and ideally they should also advise her on the best diet to supplement the exercise.