Energy • fitness start-up

market analysis • business design • strategic planning • brand management

The importance of aligning your business model and brand identity with your target audience

Over a 2 year period I had the privilege of working with Energy, a fitness start-up initially focused on one specific and original workout programme.

Energy was one of my first clients and my first business design project. I loved contributing to setting business goals, applying a variety of research techniques in order to gain a deeper understanding of its customers and its market, leading to a comprehensive transformation of the entire business.

I completely redesigned Energy’s business model and customer journey, its portfolio of workout programmes, and its whole brand strategy. I also led my team in redesigning the visual brand identity, creating new marketing materials and the website, and implementing all activities I outlined in the strategic plan.

Business model redesign and creativity were key factors in turning Energy into a thriving fitness centre [+263% in business revenues], and subsequently into a successful international franchise.

N.B. To honour my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and hidden confidential information in this case study.
All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Energy.

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Project duration

2.5 years

Business goal

fitness start-up

Industry

Fitness • Wellbeing • Education

Brief Analysis Business design Strategy Test & Deliverables Results & Impact

Brief

Energy started out as a small gym focused only on the H.E.A.T. programme by Maxerrunner, which was at that time the first mechanical treadmill using only muscle energy while replicating the variability of slope that occurs on real mountain paths.

The idea was appealing and innovative, but after a few months the business was struggling both to attract new members and retain existing members.
Energy needed help to discover why and find effective solutions to ensure its long-term sustainability and success.

Analysis

The discovery stage of this project required a very creative approach and the use of a variety of analytical tools, such as:

Stakeholders and user interviews [every quarter]
Energy’s business and brand analysis, including user observation and contextual enquiries
Service safaris [i.e. similar to mystery shopping] at gym and fitness centres selected based on workout programmes analogies
Stakeholder and target analysis, gathering data and statistics for each selected segment
Competitors analysis
Trends & market analysis, including virtual ethnography research on the municipal area in which Energy was located in order to define the potential audience the gym could aspire to reach and to estimate its market share projection

Thanks to the analysis phase, we understood that there were two main issues to solve:

a noticeable number of Energy subscribers, despite being very happy with the workout programme, were profoundly dissatisfied with the membership subscription model
the majority of Energy members said that at the beginning they found the visual identity of the brand confusing, so that their initial perception was that the gym was targeted at a much younger audience and focused on heavier workouts

Therefore, the business model and the visual brand identity needed to be completely redesigned in order to transform this innovative concept of gym into a profitable business.

Business design

The first strategic plan report I created summarised, along with the analysis results, my proposals for the business re-design which included:

a new business model
the business plan and business development strategy, including the idea of implementing new workout disciplines and an Energy technical apparel line
the service design, incorporating the redefinition of the customer journey map, and the construction of a service blueprint
the brand strategy, including the brand architecture and brand extension strategy
the marketing strategy, involving the complete redesign of the membership subscription model, packages and pricing

Strategy

After the business redesign was approved I also provided a second strategic plan report with proposals regarding:

3 trademark concepts for the fitness centre, all consistent with the redefined brand values
3 hypothesis of pay-off to be associated with the 2 different fitness area [Footway and Balance were the chosen names] and consistent with the respective characteristics and values
input regarding the brand identity concept, and the essential marketing materials and communications tools
the website architecture
a complete content strategy for all the selected marketing tools
the guidelines for the franchising format
the trainers’ course programme and its launch strategy, including input regarding its brand name, trademark and visual identity

In this phase, I was also responsible for the creative direction, supporting and supervising the graphic designer in creating Energy new brand visual identity.

PrimaDopo

Test

Given the huge differences between the proposed and existing membership models and packages, we initially tested them “on paper” using cash flow simulations.

After that we introduced the new membership model and packages on a voluntary basis for 3 months: all the existing Energy members preferred the new model and, in addition, in this period Energy registered +120% in membership subscription and +40% in monthly revenue compared with an average month.

The newly-created Energy technical apparel line was tested for 3 months with the sale of Energy labelled tops, backpacks, and towels. The result was a +10% in monthly revenue.

User tests or interviews had been organised for each item of the visual brand identity and the marketing materials.

Deliverables

Business plan, brand and marketing strategy report
Ongoing strategic consulting and creative direction
New trademark
New visual brand identity and guideline
Marketing materials [photoshoots included]
Workout programme’ names
CRM software and membership cards
Website and corporate blog [web architecture and SEO copywriting included]
Synergy trainers’ course curriculum, brand name and visual brand identity, textbook and marketing materials
Energy and Synergy labelled technical outfits and accessories line
Energy format franchise report
Event organisation and management

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Results & Impact

Driven by all the insights and data collected during the analysis phase, I completely reshaped Energy’s business model, membership subscription model and customer journey, and its brand strategy.

The new business design brought an increase in membership subscriptions of 120% in 3 months, leading the average monthly turnover to increase by 40%.

We also stopped receiving complaints about the membership model and prices, which confirmed the new design was consistent with the users’ needs and expectations.

At this point, we could focus on the brand identity. I was responsible for the creative direction supporting and supervising the graphic designer, photographer and copywriter in creating a new visual identity that could be appealing but also more consistent with the brand values and positioning than it was previously.

We developed a new trademark, created new marketing materials, and built a new website. Then we organised the communication launch of the new brand, and implemented all the activities included in the strategic plan I had defined.

Once we included more innovative disciplines in the renewed business model and adopted the new visual brand identity, Energy became a successful fitness centre offering a variety of workout plans to improve people’s overall wellbeing.

One year later, the number of membership subscriptions had increased by 334% and the overall business turnover was 263% higher than the previous year.

Energy decided to abandon the H.E.A.T. programme by Maxerrunner, and start running its own programme featuring a new improved mechanical treadmill in private label, and transformed itself into a franchise model.

I designed the format for the franchising and the trainers’ programme for the new treadmill. I also led my team in creating Synergy, the product brand to be associated with the new treadmill and the new trainers’ course. This was the first step toward the launch of Energy’s franchising.