Are Apps the Answer?

Like wearables (last post), apps are everywhere, and “There’s an app for that®” has become everyday parlance (although you need to note that it’s an Apple Registered Slogan when writing it, apparently). But can apps, and specifically, bespoke club apps, help improve member retention?

Wearables - the panacea for member retention, or another placebo?

In 2014, it looks like the whole world is going wearable. From Google Glass, to Apple’s iWatch, we will be more connected than ever before. As a tech fan, this is really exciting, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this is going make significant in-roads into member retention at your club.

Stay or Leave - Letter to Health Club Management March 2014

What a great article (Stay or Leave) by Mike Hill in HCM Jan 14 (p62), looking at why members leave health clubs. If operators act on this kind of research, we might be able to get somewhere with the seemingly eternal retention ‘battle’.

The two key experience areas for me in Mike’s research were members’ first few visits, and the time after leaving.

Have you been bitten by the Zombie Zumba bug yet?

Following the rise in popularity of fitness motivation apps like Zombie Run, facebook app zombie wars, and films such as Shaun of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead, we bring you Zombie Zumba.

Zumba* is the hugely successful fitness craze that has swept the world since 2001, with over 14 million people per week taking part in dance and aerobic moves. Various different offshoots have sought to get more people involved, and help even more people to get active.  And so Zombie Zumba was born.

Image courtesy of Alisha Adkins