“Our over-arching digital vision is to continue to develop an inclusive, best-in-class ecosystem to affordably meet the needs of the broadest possible customer base,” says Nad Myan, director of growth and innovation at Evolution Wellness.

“Our out-of-club strategy has been accelerated to expedite this vision, with Virtual Studio a core aspect of this: a full digital gym offering, created in collaboration with digital market leader Wexer, that complements our physical sites.

“Conceived as a core product across all Evolution Wellness brands – Fitness First, Celebrity Fitness, FIRE Fitness, CHi Fitness, GoFit and Fivelements – Virtual Studio is a blended offering of our live classes, on-demand content from our various brands, and the extensive third party content libraries provided and managed by Wexer.

“Together, we’ve built an integrated, own label solution that sits within Evolution Wellness’s own ecosystem – a solution in which content and user experience is carefully tailored for each of our territories.

“Wexer has created nine different variants of the platform: for Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as for three local languages. Each version pulls in only the relevant content for that territory, both from the Wexer library and from our in-house production.”

A phased roll-out

To date, Virtual Studio has launched in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia – and to the Fitness First and Celebrity Fitness membership only at this stage – with Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines to follow.

This phased roll-out allows the business to fully focus on each launch, maximising impact and uptake.

Launch marketing efforts have been reinforced by app alerts for live streamed classes from Fitness First and Celebrity Fitness, as well as for weekly class collections from the constantly refreshed Wexer library.

Future developments

Myan adds: “Virtual Studio is currently sold only as an add-on to a standard membership, effectively creating a membership tier that includes on-demand content. Moving forward, we will also launch a standalone, Virtual Studio-only subscription for those who aren’t interested in a traditional gym membership at one of our approximately 200 physical clubs.

“We will also be adding more content, including for a home bike we’ll be launching soon.

“We’re working towards a position where we can deliver any combination of solutions for a true hybrid membership. Ours will be an ecosystem that delivers multiple products and experiences across a range of brands and platforms, offering the flexibility to ‘mix and match’, allowing customers to curate personalised solutions around their specific needs, and affordably addressing the needs of the broadest possible customer base.”

Does your business still need to take full ownership of its digital content, with an own-branded space that ensures a seamless user experience? Contact info@wexer.com for more information.

The post How Evolution Wellness partnered with Wexer to accelerate its digital agenda appeared first on Wexer.

“Don’t think about your digital strategy for today. Think about it for tomorrow, and for next year. Technology moves at a rapid pace, so if you aren’t already planning for the future, you’ll always be left behind and trying to catch up.”

This just one excellent piece of advice from Nad Myan, director of growth and innovation for Evolution Wellness, as he speaks to Wexer CEO Paul Bowman in the first ever episode of the Wexer Podcast.

You can listen to the full podcast here.

The background

Evolution Wellness – which operates over 170 physical locations across six brands in south-east Asia – has an over-arching digital vision to develop an inclusive, best-in-class ecosystem that affordably meets the needs of the broadest possible customer base.

A key part of this is Virtual Studio, a full digital gym offering created in partnership with Wexer that offers a blend of live classes, on-demand content from Evolution’s various brands and the extensive third-party content libraries provided and managed by Wexer.

And it’s a huge success: a US$1m revenue business for Evolution Wellness already, with plenty of scope for more growth.

Says Myan: “Let’s not overstate it: the digital solution is not going to replace the revenue that’s generated through the operation of the bricks and mortar business. However, it must be a key component of the exercise proposition. A member is unlikely to use it every day, but it has to be there. Without digital, Evolution Wellness would be stuck.”

Advice from the experts

If you’re an operator looking to create a sustainable, profitable digital offering, there’s much to be learned from the story of Evolution Wellness. Some of the key learnings from this honest, informative podcast include:

The importance of a clear ‘why’

“Evolution Wellness knew why they were doing digital. They knew their desired outcome and they designed an entire service to deliver it,” observes Sam Aldred, head of APAC for Wexer, in the concluding section of the podcast. “That’s the most important piece of advice I could give anyone.”

The vital need for ownership

“It’s really important to have someone driving your digital ventures, someone who’s responsible for it in each market,” stresses Myan. “It isn’t going to thrive if you just leave it on its own. It has to be nurtured and developed further. It has to be a constant play.”

The value of in-house talent…

“We’re in the business of creating communities in the gyms: that’s how we get retention and referrals and how our numbers grow,” says Myan. “So, it’s important that the faces our members see in our digital content are the ones they see in the gym.”

“Evolution’s own stars drive engagement: 20 per cent of the content is self-produced, but it accounts for up 60 per cent of the digital views,” confirms Aldred. “Your talent is the best way to cut through to your members.”

… and of third-party content

“Evolution Wellness uses the large volume of third-party content on the platform as an acquisition tool,” observes Bowman, with Aldred agreeing: “Catalogue is hugely valuable when you’re trying to demonstrate value to acquire a member. Take Spotify as an example. Even though we’ll only listen to a couple of thousand of them, the value we see when we sign up are the millions of tracks on offer.”

The way to retain top talent

“We’re going to be creating a commission structure to reward our in-house talent for the consumption of their content, which will create superstars within the organisation,” says Myan.

The huge revenue potential

“Digital isn’t just another cost you have to place on your business,” says Aldred. “It’s a profit centre.

“For Evolution Wellness, it’s a US$1m revenue business already, and I’d expect them to attach 20–30 per cent of their members in the next 12 months alone. The opportunity is the same if you’re a one- or two-club operation. If you can attach 30 per cent of 3,000 members to a US$4.99 a month digital tier, you’re making money.”

Don’t miss this hugely informative podcast – listen now here – and stay tuned for more episodes and more chats with digital leaders, coming soon!

The post The Wexer Podcast: Episode 1, Nad Myan appeared first on Wexer.

US health club operator Fitness One – which operates full-service health clubs across several US States – was one of the first operators in the world to launch Wexer Web Player, the white label ‘any time, anywhere’ virtual group exercise platform.

Branded as Fitness One On Demand and offered for free to all members, the new service was launched in November 2019 – well before COVID-19 lockdown. Indeed, it is part of Fitness One’s long-term strategy to reach beyond its physical facilities, meeting customers’ growing demand for engaging, varied, motivating out-of-club support, but doing so in a way that it is able to maintain ownership of the relationships, the customer data, the full member experience.

“At Fitness One, we had already begun a 12-month initiative to expand beyond the four walls of the athletic club,” said Jake Curreri, Chief Technology Officer at Fitness One. “This then shifted from ‘priority’ to ‘urgency’ in an incredibly short space of time – something that collectively the world could not have anticipated.”

Fortunately, with the Web Player already in place, Fitness One was in the perfect position to respond immediately to COVID lockdown, switching almost overnight to an online-only offering that allowed it to support its members remotely.

And members welcomed the initiative, with the number of unique On Demand users skyrocketing: an impressive 2,251% growth from February to March 2020. Usage also rose, with the number of sessions per user going up 21% and average session length up 78.5%.

“Our complimentary On Demand membership has pivoted us from surviving to growing in an unprecedented capacity,” confirmed Curreri.

“Partnering with Wexer has allowed us to enable digital content at scale. We will look to maintain these efforts, integrating the in- and out-club experiences, as our doors re-open.”

For more information please contact us at info@wexer.com

The post How Fitness One’s on-demand fitness platform soared 2,251% during COVID lockdown appeared first on Wexer.

While this was a solution in the short-term, it became clear to BH Live that its customers, and employees wanted more. Customers needed to see and engage with the familiar faces and activities they were used to seeing and doing in centre – and employees wanted to be involved too. This was the catalyst that spurred BH Live to assess its content opportunities, bring forward digital investment and create a branded, ownable experience – one that would support its customers, and with it the business, not only during lockdown but beyond that too.

To achieve this goal, the social enterprise and leisure trust – which operates several sport and leisure facilities across England’s south coast – approached digital market leader Wexer, who created an ‘anytime, anywhere, any internet-enabled device’ Web Player for BH Live.

As a white label digital fitness platform, Wexer was able to design and brand the player to look and feel like a BH Live product. The result was BH Live Active At Home, as a loyalty-building, perception-enhancing extension of the BH Live Active experience.

A long-term perspective

“We were keen to offer our members a ‘BH Live Active’ experience while our gyms were shut – a way to maintain the sense of community while people were stuck at home – and the Wexer Web Player allowed us to do this,” confirms Rob Cunningham, Head of Leisure at BH Live.

“The option to pre-record and live stream our own content alongside a wide variety of on-demand classes from Wexer’s global content providers, all in our own branded environment, ticked every box during lockdown.

“But we also had a longer-term objective. We wanted to be able to offer both digital and instructor-led classes once our centres were re-open and fully functioning. We wanted our distinct in-person and online elements to sit side-by-side, as two complementary halves of the same customer experience.

“And once again, the Wexer Web Player allows us to do this. The ‘Connect’ section of the player effectively acts as our own TV channel – a space into which we can upload our own content – so members can train with their favourite BH Live instructors online as well as in-person.”

Exceptional uptake

With this hybrid future in mind, BH Live was able to invest in doing things properly, including setting up four dedicated studios for content production. These studios were used predominantly for live streaming during lockdown; moving forward, the focus will be on building a comprehensive library of BH Live Active At Home content ­– regularly refreshed and available on-demand – to complement the hundreds of on-demand classes in the Wexer library.

Alongside quality of content, BH Live has also placed a strong focus on driving awareness of the at-home offering among its members. This includes a prominent presence on its website, where the BH Live Active at Home entry is top of the drop-down classes menu.

The result of these combined factors has been an impressive uptake in a short space of time: over 12,000 active users signed up in the space of just seven weeks, with most classes engaging well over 100 members at a time.

“BH Live has really embraced the full functionality of the Wexer Web Player, and the results have been exceptional,” says Karen Mason, senior customer experience manager at Wexer. “This is a shining example of how a gym operator can integrate our Web Player into its business to meet – and even exceed – the evolving demands of members.”

Rob Cunningham concludes: “We’re very excited by what we’ve been able to achieve already with our Web Player – the fantastic options it gives us to connect with members wherever they are, and the levels of engagement we’ve already secured.

“We look forward to growing our relationship with Wexer still further over the coming months and years as we fully embed digital alongside the physical elements of our offering.”

For more information please contact us at info@wexer.com

The post Why BH Live wouldn’t settle for anything less than an own-brand ecosystem appeared first on Wexer.

A firm believer in embracing activity of all forms – its mission since day one being to persuade the nation to be active – the charity had already expanded beyond traditional venues into the likes of obstacle course racing, with the launch of Active Warrior, as well as linking with a number of national organisations to provide activities in parks and open spaces.

It was therefore well placed – in terms of mindset, company ethos and non-facility centric expertise – to embrace the challenges presented by lockdown.

Viewing the crisis as a catalyst for fresh thinking, it began to look for ways to deliver the Active Nation experience to its supporters – the charity’s preferred term for its members – so they could stay active while stuck at home.

And it quickly found its perfect solution: Wexer’s ‘any time, anywhere, any internet-enabled device’ Web Player.

As a white label digital fitness platform, Wexer was able to design and brand the player to look and feel like an Active Nation product. Active Nation On Demand was born!

A branded connection

“For Active Nation, maintaining a close relationship with our supporters throughout lockdown – ensuring they felt connected to, and supported by, our brand and our community – was essential,” explains Mathew Smallwood, group communications manager for Active Nation.

“We didn’t just want to signpost our supporters to third-party offerings across social platforms. We wanted to be able to control the quality of the content, ensuring we were offering the best digital experience we could.”

He continues: “One of the things that drew us to the Web Player was the flexibility to offer both third-party on-demand and self-created live streamed content on the same platform.

“Wexer’s extensive music licence-free, on-demand library – featuring top content creators from across the globe – ensures strength in depth at all times. Meanwhile, the Connect section of the Web Player allows us to create a live streaming calendar featuring our own instructors. There’s been something for everyone, from office-based exercise to classes for all the family.

“This has been a great asset, not only during lockdown but also – with social distancing now limiting in-person class occupancy – in the early stages of resuming operations.

“Alongside the on-demand classes, live streaming has allowed us to create a hybrid model of in-venue and digital provision where there’s unlimited capacity for every online session. We’ve seen some classes attended by more than 100 supporters at a time.”

A long-term strategy

Access to the platform and all its content was offered for free to all supporters while gyms were closed, but password protection opened up options for monetisation beyond this period. Active Nation now charges £4.99 a month for its On Demand service, driving an additional revenue stream for the charity.

Smallwood continues: “We see this initiative not as a knee-jerk response to COVID, but as an important extension of the work we were already doing in supporting everyday activity.

“With that in mind, we wanted a long-term, sustainable solution that gave us full ownership of the experience and the data; that complemented the existing offerings in our app and on our website; and that gave our supporters a convenient yet world-class at-home exercise experience.

“The Wexer Web Player ticked all those boxes.”

Seizing the opportunities

And the results speak for themselves. Launched in October 2021, the new platform quickly gained momentum among Active Nation supporters, with over 6,000 users signed up in the first few months alone – users who between them engaged with the platform more than 21,000 times in just six months.

“We’ve been hugely impressed by the way Active Nation has embraced the Web Player and the many opportunities it presents to engage and support people away from its venues,” says Karen Mason, senior customer experience manager at Wexer. “They’ve hit the ground running and shown what’s possible when you take full advantage of everything the platform can do.

“The marketing has been superb, too: from social media to supporter emails and everything in between, Active Nation hasn’t stopped shouting about what’s on offer and why its supporters should dive in.”

“It hasn’t just been something to benefit our supporters, either,” notes Smallwood. “It’s also been a tool to keep our colleagues active, with our full team enjoying access to the platform as part of their wellbeing package. We firmly believe in promoting physical activity to support our colleagues’ health and happiness.”

He concludes: “We see Active Nation On Demand, supported by Wexer, as an integral part of our hybrid strategy moving forward, and enthusiasm for it has spread across our entire team.”

For more information on any of the topics covered please contact us at info@wexer.com

The post Why lockdown couldn’t dampen Active Nation’s mission appeared first on Wexer.