An Essex University group coursework where my team and I analysed the importance of marketing development in relation to that of product sales in the health and fitness industry. Because of the highly dynamic team, there were initial chaos and confusion. As elected leader, I managed to create order and convergence through a top-down militaristic management approach. The result? We scored the highest in class. An A for presentation(posted as above is not the final version) and a B for group report.

1. BE231 - Business Research Methods
Abdul Malik Omar(1104810), Liam Hayes, Alex Innes, Gizem Erol(1103259), Jannicke
Wærdahl Elverhaug, Tochukwu C. Ihenacho, and Sandra Ewurum.

2. Overview
In what way marketing of products/services of firms in the health and
fitness industry is important in influencing consumers to buy
products/services?
- Content divided into two section: Research Methods and Core Research
- Research Methods
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Literature Review
Research Analysis Pt. 1
Research Analysis Pt. 2
- Core Research
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Health and Fitness Market
Product - Maximuscle
Marketing Strategies
Branding
- Limitations
- Conclusion

3. Literature Review
‘Examining a body of literature toward the answer to a research question’
1) Establish the research focus and what the research question is asking us. (What is the problem?" and "Why
do I care?")
2)
Identify where to search ( Secondary research is relation to maximuscle)
3)
The approach in which we conduct the research (Induction, Deduction or Abduction)
4)
Determine relevant literature ( The Purpose ‘why did we do it’)
5)
Research choice ( how did we collect the research and why )
6)
Analyse ( Key Finding)
7)
Use literature to answer the Research Question

4. Research design Part 1
1) What is the research onion and why is it important?
It's a diagram that's made up of concentric circles or "layers"
like the skin on an onion. The most important
information/material is in the innermost circle.
Research
design
2) What are the layers?
Philosophies
Approaches
Strategies
Choices
Time horizon
Techniques and procedures
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•
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3) How have we utilise it?
Original source: Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2007). Research Method in Business, 4th edition. Pearson Education.
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Guideline
Right components for forming a methodology

5. Research design part 2
1) What was the chosen Philosophical positioning?
Positivism entails absolute certainty and Objectivism on building cases
logically to prove our conclusion and perceived truth.
2) What was the chosen approach?Deductive. It confirms our hypothesis
and proceeds to validate the established norm on the basis of the theory
guiding the collection of Data.
Research
design
5) What is our research design?
3) What type of Research methodology and strategies do we adopt?
Secondary research; through online case studies(TV commercial),
product reviews and surveys(Nerdwallet.com) and polls(Gallup Poll).
4)Research choices?
Mixed method: Collection of qualitative and quantitative data.
Cross-sectional.
6) What Research methodology did this paper adopt?Systematic research which involves a positivist and structured approach in
defining, describing, and analyzing our question. (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005)

6. Health and Fitness Market
Definition: Refers to quality living through gym exercise, consumption of the right supplements, and getting the right product.
The 2013 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report(published on 31st March 2013)
2011
2012
Total industry value
£3.806
£3.86bn (1.4% up)
Percentage of the registered members in the health and fitness club in UK
11.9%
12.1%
Public and private fitness facilities opened
149
163
Economic reasons
• The Gallup Poll surveyed 109,875 full time employees on those two factors and concluded that unhealthy employees
could cost businesses $153 billion lost productivity every year (Witters and Agrawal, 2011).
• Medical bills is the number one cause for bankruptcies. 57,1% comes from medical bills according to NerdWallet
Health(LaMontagne, C, 2013). People are now taking their health more seriously.
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Result GSK posted a profit of £26,4Bn in 2012 (Annual Report, 2012: 1) One of their brands we’ll look is
Maximuscle.

7. Product(Maximuscle)
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Britain's No.1 whey protein for packing on lean muscle size and strength, containing protein blend for
superior uptake and absorption by the body.
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We relate Maximuscle to the health and fitness industry as way to gauge consumer behaviour and marketing
correlations.
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According to consumer reviews in Amazon.co.uk and their website, they had a high above average positive
five star reviews on Maximuscle Promax 908 g Strawberry Whey Protein Shake Powder and its general
products respectively.
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Ranked #1 in Amazon Protein Supplement section with eighty-five 5 stars review, it also has an average of
4.5/5 stars and 1,646 reviews as advertized on google of their website at www.maxishop.com/Maximuscle‎

8. Marketing Strategies
TV Commercials
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Commercials in Sky Sport, ESPN, Olympics 2012.(Thomas, 2010)
Celebrity endorsements
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Use celebrity endorsement namely Ugo Monye, a famous rugby player to attract
more customers.(Thomas, 2010)
Internet Marketing
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MyThings software. Gained 362% in internet conversion rates.
(Econsultancy.com, 2010)
Result - Group product line sales grew by 21% by 2012 then on(Annual Report, 2012:
59).

9. Branding
• That brand identities are directly linked with consumer identities, therefore
it is vital for the marketing of brands to be focused on the consumer and how
they can emotionally engage with product or service.
• GlaxoSmithKline had the task of creating a strong relationship with the
spectators to be representative of a 'pure and true' Olympics, (Joseph, 2012)
• Launched an anti- doping campaign.
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campaign enabled consumers to build trust within GSK and gave
reassurance to the consumers of their products that they are indeed a
trustable organisation.

10. Limitations
Limited Information
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Health and Fitness Market- Industry data is in summary form and is attained in the internet, and thus we could
not delve deeper into it. Plus the official data would cost us £310.00 +VAT which we can’t afford.
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Product- The Amazon review which we use was quite limited in information not only does it focus in positive
results but does show what customers actually say. The Maximuscle website is subject to bias and marketing
‘propaganda’.
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Could not conduct primary research as the time frame to perform the research was limited.
Lacking in detailed quantitative research.
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Marketing strategies- There is no specific evidence that celebrity endorsements in TV commercials produce an
exact amount of sales. Hard to quantify.
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Branding- The article does not present solid proof such as statistical figures. Consequently, there is no specific
evidence on the campaign impact on consumer behaviour.

11. Conclusion
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Utilised as a systematic review to locate necessary literature as well as secondary research.
Therefore we can confirm that there is a direct correlation in the way marketing increases sales in
the health and fitness industry via a systematic study of the industry product (MaxiMuscle),
marketing strategies and branding.
Identified that there was the limitations of our research such as the tendency of bias views, cost
effectiveness and lack of resources.

12. Reference
Amazon.co.uk Review on Maximuscle Promax 908 g Strawberry Whey Protein Shake Powder. (Picture edited for convenience)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maximuscle-Promax-Strawberry-Protein-Powder/dp/B000OC1U4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384904891&sr=8-1&keywords=maxi-muscle retrieved on 19/11/2013 11.49pm
Denyer, D. & Tranfield, D. (2009) "Producing a Systematic Review", In: D.A. Buchanan and A. Bryman (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Research Methods, London: SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 671-689.
Econsultancy.com Maximuscle sees conversions rise by 362% with ad retargeting, 21 October 2010 http://econsultancy.com/uk/nma-archive/35247-maximuscle-sees-conversions-rise-by-362-with-ad-retargeting
retrieved a
18/11/2013 2pm
Fitness Industry Back in Growth; 2013 http://www.theleisuredatabase.com/news/news-archive/fitness-industry-back-in-growth accessed on 2.36pm, 19/11/2013
GSK Annual Report 2012 http://www.gsk.com/content/dam/gsk/globals/documents/pdf/GSK-Annual-Report-2012.pdf
Joseph, S. GSK launches first corporate campaign Thu, 19 Jul 2012 http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/gsk-launches-first-corporate-campaign/4002732.article retrieved on 15/11/2013 5pm
LaMontagne, C. NerdWallet Health finds Medical Bankruptcy accounts for majority of personal bankruptcies June 19, 2013 posted in Medical
Bankruptcyhttp://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/2013/06/19/nerdwallet-health-study-estimates-56-million-americans-65-struggle-medical-bills-2013/ retrieved on 5pm 18/11/2013
Maximuscle general review. Picture edited. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=maximuscle+google&oq=maximuscle+google&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.4195j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 retrieved on
20/11/2013
Onion Picture. Source: Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2007). Research Method in Business, 4th edition. Pearson Education.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012) Research Methods for Business Students, 6th ed., Harlow: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from Essex Moodle at 20/11/2013 1.12pm slide number
35.https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/278708/mod_resource/content/1/2013%20BE231%20Business%20Research%20Methods%20WEEK%203%20lecture%20without%20seminar.pdf
Thomas, J. Maximuscle unveils first TV ad for core range starring Ugo Monye campaignlive.co.uk, Friday, 28 May 2010 01:00PM http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1006451/ retrieved at 4pm 18/11/2013
Witters, D. and Agrawal, S. U.S. Workers' Absenteeism Costs $153 Billion October 17, 2011 http://www.gallup.com/poll/150026/Unhealthy-Workers-Absenteeism-Costs-153
Billion.aspx?utm_source=tagrss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication retrieved on 18/11/2013 at 5pm 18/11/2013