News: LA Fitness promotes membership with talks

LA Fitness is working with experiential agency Goal on a programme of educational talks to women’s institutes and other local groups.

The marketing initiative is aimed at boosting membership levels by using the talks to reinforce the overall benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Throughout the summer, LA Fitness is visiting local groups around the country, including meetings of women’s institutes, rotary clubs and National Childbirth Trust, where members will be invited to attend a talk covering the benefits of health and fitness.

Talks are revised according to group type, such as active over-50s or new mothers. All talk attendees will be given the opportunity to try out their local LA Fitness facilities for themselves with a free day pass.

Harriet Barnett, director of Goal, said that one of the key objectives was the opportunity to talk to potential new members in an informal, relaxed setting, enabling the team to focus on the specific requirements of each group and communicate the benefits that met their particular needs.

“With this strategy we are able to spread the net and talk to groups of people who wouldn’t necessarily have considered, or be aware of, the specific benefits a health club could offer to them,” she said. “Forty-five minutes of uninterrupted brand engagement will mean a higher success rate in delivering new members than traditional recruitment mechanics.”

Ben Silcox, national account manager for LA Fitness, added: “Goal proposed tapping into a previously uncharted area by targeting existing groups with a free talk about ‘getting healthy’ which helped us to recruit new members. Their level of commitment to making the activity a success was exceptional and they went the extra mile to ensure each of the clubs had an influx of previously untargeted new members.”