TV celebrity Shannan Ponton is the brand ambassador for Anytime Fitness. So what’s so great about the brand?
Justin McDonell and Jacinta McDonell-Jiminez have been heading up the 24 hour, seven day a week gym chain Anytime Fitness in Australia for five years now, and in that half-decade have seen the idea of an access all-hours facility become accepted across Australia.
So accepted in fact that a familiar face to tv viewers around the country, Shannan Ponton, fitness guru on popular TV show The Biggest Loser, has seen the merits of linking with the company as a brand ambassador.
For franchisees within the system, the media coverage accrued through the celebrity link is a benefit, says Justin. “Franchisees sees this as a positive use of their marketing levy. There will be a series of consumer ads, a print and tv campaign and a radio script, promotion on the internet and in digital panels at the clubs.”
Ponton’s role is educational, emphasising the benefits of exercise – it’s about making people feel comfortable. And there’s a neat catchline to the campaign Ponton is fronting:
“You’ll find it within, inside you and at the club.”
THE BIG PICTURE
While the premise of the club is easy access without all the frills of a full-service gym, increasingly the business is developing add-on programs that meet the needs of body and health conscious customers, and suit a variety of locations and footprints.
Explains Justin, “we’re involved in health clubs, it’s not just weights and aerobics.”
For instance, fitness on request, a virtual exercise class. In this, a touch-screen kiosk can be used for an interactive class that requires just 45sq m of space. It can be conducted as an individual or small group class in peak times.
Moving to virtual classes with a virtual personal training team is part of the move to do more online, and that includes offering support and guidance on subjects like healthy eating.
Keeping products fresh keeps people, Justin says. “We’ve been doing a lot of surveys to see what people want.”
The focus now is on membership retention, and to boost this, the personal training program is set to become more structured.
It’s an extra for the gym which already attracts custom because of its 24/7 approach. “We win because of the flexibility of hours,” says Justin.
Access and the club location have been key drivers in developing this chain to reach the current size of 220 franchises, with more in the pipeline – a total of 400 outlets should be operating by 2015.
This includes a brace of franchisees who own multiple outlets. The first franchisee now has 10 gyms.
Shannon Ponton, above
Justin and Jacinta advertised and marketed their gym chain through all forms of media, from online to print, to build brand awareness.
Before Anytime Fitness the brother and sister pair who have the master franchise rights to the brand in Australia were already well versed in the fitness market, with a family background that drew on the exercise trend, and experience accrued at Fernwood.
The 24 hour gym model was sourced in the US. The pair had spotted a gap, recognising there was little in the home-grown market that sat in the middle ground of fitness venues, and were scouting for possible business opportunities.
The American trend was for all-hours gyms, and the siblings found the Anytime Fitness chain, with a membership that was well priced for a branded facility.
“We set the model as a franchise model and setting up the systems produced a product that can be operated by people with no experience. “I like systems, it makes it easy,” says Justin. And there’s no doubt people like a proven concept.
CHALLENGES
While everyone looks for expansion in a franchise network, there are inevitable changes as a system flourishes and develops into a natinal business – not least for the master franchisees themselves who face the challenge of letting go of control.
But Justin says he and Jacinta [pictured above] are facing up to the challenge – as are the franchisees.
“Our team has about 35 people now, so it’s less personal,” says Justin. However franchisees have adapted with the growth, he says. There have been external changes too, and tweaks along the way. “We had two partners who injected money and we bought one out a few months ago.”
As master franchisees Justin and Jacinta have committed to the gym brand themselves and cemented their stakes in the business through franchise ownership. “I believe in the product. I like the fact we’re helping people,” says Justin. “I own four clubs, with my wife. Jacinta and her husband own 10 stores.
THE FRANCHISE OFFER
“The product is positive, it’s a lifestyle factor. Franchisees can work 15 to 20 hours a week or less; certainly an average of 30 hours.
“They can have other investments, as long as it’s not competing. We try to be flexible,” says Justin.
The upfront franchise fee is now $70,000, the turnkey cost between $250,000 and $300,000.
It took the business three years to get accredited with Westpac; getting this accreditation has made it easier for franchisees to source finance, particularly for re-sale opportunities, says Justin.
So what of the growth to come? The network has been on a fast track to expansion, and is now in an enviable position with much of the available territory in Australia snapped up. Justin recognises of course that the rate of growth will inevitably slow.
However, that Anytime Fitness is a good looking gym and has an attractive membership component only benefits the business, he believes. “Now members will decide about our brand,” he says.
He believes the success of the system for franchisees has been the low staffing model with most memberships on direct debit providing “a fairly secure cashflow”.
“These clubs don’t run themselves,” he says, “but it is an easy model.”