Evolving Trends in Fitness and
French Fries
Background and Goal
Your close friend has finally saved up enough money to open up their dream business – a fitness gym!
He hopes to one day turn his gym into a national chain, but for now he plans on opening just two
locations in a large, U.S. city that in convenient for him. He recently read a news article about how
fitness trends in his city are consistent with overall trends in the U.S., so he asked you to do a li#le
research about fitness membership trends in the U.S. In addition, he asked you to look up membership
trends for three likely competitors: Planet Fitness, LA Fitness, and 24 Hour Fitness. In addition, your
friend has noted that some recent trends for gyms have included some rather curious practices, like
giving away free pizza and candy to its members! He is wondering if you may be able to provide some
insight, even if indirect, about such trends and how they may apply to his new gym.
You used GfK’s Media Mark Report tool to find information about U.S. adult gym membership trends in
2012 and 2014. Your plan is to use the two different time points to make some inferences about where
the future of fitness gym marketing may be heading. In addition, you also found historical trends about
U.S. adult spending at fast food restaurants. While not exactly the same as free pizza at gyms, you
decided to look at the data to consider whether you can glean any insights. You also found some
information about the types of cable channels and websites/apps used by different fitness consumers;
you plan on using this information to give some advice to your friend about how to advertise for his new
gym.
The Data
The data in the report is all reported in the millions (000,000s) and interpreted in a similar way:
“Bought Fast Food” and “Spent Over $100 on FF”: Both questions deal with someone’s fast food
consumption in the past 6 months from either Spring 2014 or Spring 2012. The first question is a
simple count of whether someone spent any money on fast food, while the second question
estimates the number of people who spent over $100 on fast food in the past 6 months.
“Member of Gym”: This question is an estimate of U.S. adults who have had a membership in
any sort of fitness gym in the last 12 months from either Spring 2014 or Spring 2012. This
number includes any gym, not just 24 Hour Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness.
“LA Fitness”, “24 Hour Fitness”, and “Planet Fitness”: These questions are the estimated count of
U.S. adults who had a membership to the gym within the last 12 months from either Spring 2014
or Spring 2012.
Bought Fast
Food
Spent Over $100
on FF
Member
of Gym
LA
Fitness
24
Hour
Fitness
Planet
Fitness
Year 2012 2014 2012 2014 2012 2014 2012 2014 2012 2014 2012 2014
Total 169.0 168.5 55.3 56.5 43.2 52.1 2.9 4.2 4.5 3.6 2.6 4.9
HH < $40,000 49.9 50.3 12.3 12.5 7.5 10.9 0.5 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.6 1.3
HH $40,000-$74,999 48.5 45.8 15.5 15.2 10.5 12.2 0.7 1.2 0.8 0.9 0.6 1.3
HH $75,000+ 70.6 72.4 27.5 28.8 25.2 28.9 1.7 2.0 2.9 2.0 1.3 2.3
Men 81.4 80.8 29.4 30.0 20.4 24.3 1.3 1.9 2.5 1.9 1.3 2.3
Women 87.7 87.8 25.9 26.5 22.8 27.7 1.6 2.3 2.0 1.6 1.2 2.5
All numbers reported in millions (000,000s)
Which of the three income groups had the largest increase in gym membership from 2012 to
2014? If this was expressed in terms of percentage increase, which income group experienced
the largest increase from 2012 to 2014?
Which of the three gyms had the largest market share in 2012? In 2014?
From 2012 to 2014, does it appear that LA Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Planet Fitness comprise
a greater or lesser share of the total gym membership market? Why?
Discussion
Compare the membership trends between LA Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Planet Fitness. Are
membership trends similar or different across genders and income groups? Consider the
different marketing mixes of the three gyms; what do you think may account for the difference
in membership trends? (Tip: You can use a tool like Google News to search for news articles
about each gym in 2012 or 2014)
Your friend told you that he envisions his gym being a place where people who are “intimidated”
of going to the gym will feel safe and empowered to work out. Assuming this aspect of your
friend’s gym is going to be part of his positioning, which of the three competing gyms would you
consider to be his most serious competitor? Why?
Which income group has experienced the greatest increase in fast food spending from 2012 to
2014? Do you think this information is relevant for your friend when thinking about the
marketing mix of his gym? Why or why not?