As a content creator, you want total control over the way you present yourself and your content online. Your brand depends on it.
As an exerciser, you want a steady stream of fresh new ‘go-to’ content from your favourite names and faces.
As an operator, you want your members to be engaged with the exercise experiences you’re providing for them, wherever they may be.
Channels – a new feature in the Wexer Web Player – puts a huge tick against all of these requirements. Allow us to explain…
What is Channels?
With the launch of Channels in January, anyone logging on to the Wexer Web Player – the white label ‘any time, anywhere, any internet-enabled device’ platform – will see a new section on the home page.
Connect remains at the top. Unique to each operator and accessible only by members of its clubs, Connect will continue to provide the operator with their own TV channel: a space to stream whatever live and on-demand content they choose, from workouts to nutritional seminars, mindfulness workshops to cookery classes.
Directly beneath this sits Class of the Day. And then, replacing Class Collections, you’ll find Channels.
Channels is where we’ll shine a spotlight on the platform’s top content creators, whether that’s our global content providers – the likes of CYBEROBICS, Zumba and BOXX – or individual influencers and rockstars with great content and legions of active fans. Each will have their own Channel where all their content can be found; they can also create sub-channels within this to make their class menus even easier to navigate.
Why does that matter?
First of all, it hands additional creative freedom to the creators, as well as an incentive to create great new content.
The Web Player’s back end has been redesigned with a new, dedicated partner portal that supports instant, easy uploads. This portal also hands the creator far greater control over how their content is presented on the Channel, by giving many more options to add detail around each upload.
That additional detail is great for the creator’s brand, of course, but it’s great for the end user too, fuelling an enhanced search engine that ensures it’s easy to find precisely the workout they’re looking for. And if that workout proves to be one they particularly enjoy, fantastic – just click through to view everything else in that creator’s Channel. It’s one easy step to discovering a rich vein of new favourite workouts!
Alternatively, from the home page, users simply scroll across the Channels until they find the content creator they’re looking for, then click to see the full library of workouts by that provider or individual. It ensures users can quickly and easily find the latest new uploads from their favourite providers.
But here’s the vital piece of information for all Channel owners: the Channels that are visible the moment you log on, without having to scroll to see them, will be those with the freshest, most recently uploaded content.
It gives content creators even more motivation to keep new content flowing into the Web Player – great news for variety-seeking exercisers.
It also means it isn’t just the big players who dominate. Even one-man-band content creators can be in pole position on the home page if they’ve just uploaded a new workout. Again, it promotes variety, keeping exercisers engaged by giving them new things to try all the time.
The operator in mind
Importantly, while we’ve put more power in creators’ hands, we haven’t forgotten about the needs of the operator.
Of course, by incentivising creators to upload more and more great content, members will find more on their club’s white labelled Wexer Web Player to keep them motivated and active – and that platform, and workout experience, is owned by the operator.
We can also fine-tune the content around individual operators’ needs. If there’s a Channel that doesn’t fit a club’s membership profile, for example, no problem – we can switch that Channel off just for that operator. We can even switch off specific classes, leaving the Channel as a whole visible to the members. Long and short of it, content can be switched off (and on again if needed) within Channels to suit an operator’s requirements.
Additionally, while Channels will initially be offered to the cherry-picked ‘best of the best’, moving forward there’s scope for great creators – including health clubs – to drive usage and thus qualify for their own Channel. In turn, that will mean content is seen by all users of the platform around the world, with a revenue share agreement that goes hand-in-hand with this.
To find out more, please email us at info@wexer.com