In the highly competitive market that is the co-working arena – where the number of players continues to proliferate and shiny new offices seem to open on an almost weekly basis – it’s important to be able to answer the question “why us?”
What do you do differently from your competitors? How do you add value in such a way that businesses steer an active path towards your co-working spaces above all others?
Of course, there’s the table tennis, the free breakfasts and coffee bars, the beer and prosecco on tap. There are the social events, the talks, the film nights, the meditation sessions, the yoga. These are spaces designed to build a real sense of community.
But for Wexer, it’s with the last few points on the above list that it really starts to get interesting: health and wellbeing is an increasingly important area of differentiation, particularly given the profile of the typical co-working member (‘member’ being the word used to describe those working in these spaces, again going back to the sense of community).
Research shows the average age of members of co-working spaces to be just over 36 years, meaning this is millennial territory – a generation that’s already established a reputation for investing disposable income into feeling well over feeling drunk. Furthermore, research by Goldman Sachs found that among millennials, healthy does not only mean ‘not sick’; for this group, wellness has become a daily pursuit.
This is also, of course, the digital native generation, very attuned to using apps and digital devices to support healthy living.
So, what does all this mean for co-working spaces?
First and foremost, it means high quality wellbeing provision is an important factor in people’s choice of co-working provider.
Secondly, it means this provision has to meet digital natives’ expectations, which in a nutshell means wellbeing on their terms: convenient, flexible, on-demand, bursting with choice. It’s no longer just about going to a gym for this group of consumers – fitness and wellness can, and does, happen anywhere and everywhere – which plays into the hands of co-working spaces. And Wexer can help.
Activate your spaces & screens
In bigger co-working campuses, it’s easy to see how outdoor LED screens – used for everything from film nights to screenings of live sporting events – could be transformed into pop-up virtual group exercise studios. Simply plug in an on-demand Wexer player and a huge library of 1,000+ classes is instantly at your disposal, all led by the world’s top instructors; members can either choose their own classes at a time to suit them, or else special exercise events could be scheduled.
With estimates suggesting over 40 per cent of co-working member are female – still the main audience for group exercise, in spite of the Wexer library truly offering something for everyone – it’s a quick win to add genuine value.
Alternatively, if there’s a meeting room that could feasibly be assigned a new role, a full-time virtual studio becomes an option. Add a Wexer player and a few AV enhancements, tapping in to the existing screen in the room, and you have a 24/7 on-demand virtual group exercise studio that perfectly fits the co-working mindset: take a short break from your desk, drop in to do a class at any point, then head back to your desk feeling re-energised and with your mental focus sharpened by the workout.
In a nutshell, virtual group exercise is a great way to activate the space throughout the co-working facility, creating an ongoing event that adds value to the member experience and brings people together with wellness in mind.
But what if you operate a smaller facility?
There are options for smaller co-working spaces too, with the Wexer Web Player a perfect solution: a password-protected, white label web portal that allows members to stream hundreds of world-beating virtual classes to any internet-enabled device, any time, anywhere.
Need to take a break from your desk? Go into the nearby park and access a fantastic class on your mobile, or find an empty meeting room and do a workout there, following the world-class instructor on your laptop, mobile or in-room smart TV.
Only have time for 10 minutes of meditation in your lunch break? That’s OK too, with a range of meditation sessions at your fingertips. Just log on to the Web Player through your laptop – you don’t even need to leave your desk.
It’s a simple yet elegant solution that allows co-working spaces to deliver an own label, world-class group exercise experience that fits around the lives, and lifestyles, of their members.
Wellness in the palm of members’ hands
Finally, if your co-working space already has an app, there’s an option to pull in Wexer functionality including on-demand classes and community challenges.
If not, we can help you create a member wellness app using Wexer Mobile as the foundation. By offering everything from pre-recorded and live streamed classes to fitness plans, challenges and a personal workout builder, this app acts as a digital extension of your brand – a way for your co-working space to forge a role in members’ lives that continues long after they leave the office.
The rich user data it generates also gives you, the co-working provider, invaluable insight to continually refine and enhance the wellbeing experiences you offer – all based on actual member behaviours and needs.
Digital wellbeing not only means wellbeing as consumers now demand it. It means creating a wellbeing offering that’s flexible and measurable enough to ensure your co-working space stays one step ahead of that demand, and with it one step ahead of the rest of the market.
For more information please contact us at info@wexer.com