1. Group 2 Field Study:
A service analysis of the gym chain, Fitness Park.
Jed Fletcher - Ziwen Yang - Corentin Coquelet - Shixuan Fu - Armando Cianci
Table of Contents: Page Number:
Introduction 1
External analysis 1-5
Internal analysis 5-10
Diagnosis 10-11
Recommendations 11-12
References 12
A short introduction:
« Pour faire du sport sans se ruiner »

2. 1
In March 9 2009, HEBE group launched the large chain of gyms, Fitness Park. The group
HEBE, nowadays has a lot of specialized fitness companies: Fitness Park in fact is the
lowest costing company of the group.
The first center was established in Velizy (a pre-existing Club Med Gym), in one of the
largest shopping centers of the Ile de France.
When the HEBE group launched Fitness Park, the service goal was simple:
Provide somewhere that everyone can use at any time, have space for their choice of
activity, enjoy group courses and receive personalized recommendations. All the important
information for the customer is available 'virtually' on a giant screen in each Fitness Park
gym.
In this report, studying both the nature of the services provided by Fitness Park and the way
those services are marketed, we aim to understand better how the firm aims to distinguish
itself from other gym chains and compete in the market for fitness services. Fitness Park is a
national brand and we shall be treating it as such in our observations - however, for more
detailed analyses we shall take the Jeanne D’Arc site in Toulouse as a representative
branch.
External analysis:
Industry details and consumer trends:
According to the“IHRSA 2014 Profiles of Success”, with a total market value of more than
26.8 billion euros, it becomes evident that Europe has embraced the leading role as largest
health and fitness market in the world. In comparison, the United States achieved revenues
of 16.9 billion euros in 2013. In Europe, the two largest national fitness markets are the
United Kingdom (EUR 5.1 billion) and Germany (EUR 4.7 billion). Combining with Italy (EUR
3.1 billion), France (EUR 2.4 billion) and Spain (EUR 2.1 billion), the five leading countries
represent 65% of the total European health and fitness market. Based on membership, The
largest market in Europe is Germany, with a total of 9.1 million people. The UK is second
with 8.3 million members followed by France (5.0 million), Spain (4.9 million) and Italy (4.7
million). In Europe, France is the 4th largest market in value and the 3rd in volume, but there
is still a big gap between France and the top two national markets.
Even though French consumers have become increasingly health conscious, there is still not
a huge demand for fitness centers. The main reason is that gym culture is not really working
out in France, the French would like to look good but few are prefer to work up a sweat over
it. The top three preferences for outdoor sports are football, tennis and cycling. Also, there
are few of serious and qualified trainers in gyms, because France has no personal training
certification, while in the U.S., those who want to pursue fitness-based careers can study
exercise science at university and then get personal training certifications, group fitness, etc.
Therefore, the fitness market in France is quite stable and won’t experience a dramatic
increase in the near future.

3. 2
As for consumer trend, the first one is that HIIT is still popular. These four letters stand for
High Intensity Interval Training. Trainers go really hard for a little amount of time at a
particular exercise, then recover for some time and repeat. The reason why it is still
increasing in popularity is that it works for almost every level of fitness and results come fast
for most people. These workouts can be done with almost anything from your own body
weight to using various types of equipment such as rowing machines, dumbbells, kettlebells
and medicine balls.
Then, it is the boom of recovery. Because of the popularity of high intensity workouts,
people are also getting sore and sometimes even injured. People are stressing their bodies
so much with HIITs that they need to "recover harder" now. Foam rollers and other SMR
tools are used by physical therapists and competitive athletes for years. Now they're picking
up steam in mainstream gyms because they can be used for warm ups and cool downs.
The next growing trend is more people will utilize wearable technology to monitor and record
biometric data. Heart-rate monitors have been used for years to monitor exercise intensity,
but in the past few years a number of wearable devices have been introduced that help
people track calorie burning all day long, while also monitoring their sleep habits at night.
Apple iWatch is already launched, which is ushering in a new category of wearable
technology that can help us develop a greater understanding of how our bodies function.
The most interesting feature is that Apple’s new mobile operating system (iOS 8) creates a
dashboard on your phone that can be used to monitor and record a variety of important
health data.
Also, online video-on-demand workout programs will become increasing common. From
television shows to DVDs, people have used video technology to follow a home-based
workout, compared to traditional workouts which used to lead by an experienced instructor.
Video-on-demand services have been growing in popularity and the coming years will see
an explosion of online video-on-demand workout programs developed specifically for mobile
devices that will allow fitness consumers to enjoy an instructor-led workout anywhere.
Besides that, online personal training goes mainstream. When it was first introduced, online
personal training has been considered a poor substitute for working with a real instructors.
From video conferencing to wearable devices used to record activity levels, technology has
recently made it more feasible to offer personalized fitness coaching services via an online
or mobile platform. Personal trainers will become more comfortable using technology to offer
virtual coaching services. The main difference between video-on-demand workout programs
and online personal training is that the former offers workouts for general goals while the
latter delivers specifically challenging programs to fitness outcomes.
Finally, group-based training programs will be personalized to each individual participating in
the workout. In the past, taking a group exercise class meant everyone in the room moves
the same way at the same time. Technology to track intensity and work-rate on a screen in
the front of a studio allows an instructor to provide a group workout that allows each
participant to work at his or her own comfort level. Therefore, individual fitness customer will
tend to participate more group training programs in the near future.

4. 3
Competitors:
Product:
The core product of Amazonia is providing varied and effective facilities for the customers
who working out. Supplementary services: Professional welcome, Internet, Relaxation and
comfort space (Vending machines, Canteen with microwaves, spacious lounge), Lockers ,
Personal Cabin with shower, Toilets, pilates studio, Individual screens, providing access to
TV channels, radios and games, Video courses, Strength training.
In general, compared with fitness park, Amazonia is better in both core product and
supplementary services. Due to different positioning, these two gyms are indirect
competitors, but fitness park can learn from Amazonia and improve its services, with
consideration of cost.
Place and time:
133 clubs in France,7 clubs in Toulouse, the biggest one is in Balma and one of them is
located in city centre, jean jaures; opening hours from 6H00 to 23H00
Price:
60€ membership fee and 49€ monthly fee; no student discount
Promotion:
50% discount on membership fee, original fee was 120€, attracting new members.
Physical environment:
A bright and spacious working area and a comfortable relaxation area with hot and cold
beverages.
People:
Warming welcome and appropriate suggestion for your personal goals from professional
staff.

5. 4
Product:
The product of Movida is to provide the customers a multi-functional sports center that they
can participating different sport activities. Supplementary services: Fitness course,Swimming
pool, Training, Squash, Toilets, Sauna room, Lock room..
Compared to Fitness Park, Movida try to provide a more comprehensive and perfect sports
space, Movida have more products to get more target customers from different ages. On
another hand, the target range of Fitness Park is limited.
Place and time:
There are 11 clubs in France, 3 clubs in Toulouse, the biggest one is in city center Arcole.
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 8H00-22H00, Saturday 09H00-19H00, Sunday 09H-13H00.
Price:
For different cards have more different price--Card One: 12€, Card Club: 42-55€, Card
Liberte: 49-59€, No students discount.
Promotion:
4 day free trial period that customers can try all the activities in the gym
Physical environment:
In the gym, there are several sport areas for different activities and comfortable area to work
out or do physical exercises.
People:
People who working there have great attitude, patient and friendly.
Other External Factors:
Legal Environment:
There are strict rules on safety inside gyms; electricity consumption by TV monitors etc,
types of batteries used/disposal methods, also the space around machines is important.
(source)

6. 5
Suppliers:
TechnoGym and FitnessPark have a supplier-service provider relationship wherein all of
FitnessPark’s gyms are equipped fully by TechnoGym - one of the world’s leading gym
suppliers (exclusive supplier of equipment for Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympics).
Internal Analysis:
Target & Positioning:
Fitness Park positions itself as an accessible/maximum-value gym with good facilities and
one which consumers can fit around their day-to-day lives.
Spread all around France, Fitness Park most specifically targets students/young people and
also the professional population (professional here referring to the population working
regular hours at a medium or large
company).
We see in this positioning map that gyms
can have very different strategies in terms
of scale and variety of services offered.
Fitness Park offers a very basic, accessible
service on a national scale.
However, looking at this second
illustration we can see a clearer picture
of how Fitness Park position themselves
in the market for gym networks. Whereas
other competitors charge higher fees and
operate just outside the city centre,
Fitness Park is cheap and located
generally within the city centre.
Consumers:
● Consist mainly of urban dwellers
● Students, young professionals, lower income professionals.
● Health conscious individuals
● Fitness Park customers understand that they will have access to:

7. 6
○ A spacious gym
○ Clean, working, high-quality equipment
○ A selection of optional supplementary offerings (e.g. professionally led
classes)
○ Basic facilities for hygiene and comfort within the gym
● Customers cite excellent/convenient locations and value for money in positive
reviews
● Commenting negatively they highlight overcrowded/impersonal group classes, poor
management of gyms and limited
equipment.
Product Analysis:
Fitness Park’s activities fall under the “People Process” definition of service: that is to say
their offered service to consumers acts to physically benefit them.
Although the service provided by Fitness Park involves very tangible components such as
the very real on-site equipment, their service is actually quite intangible as their customers’
varying levels of involvement in the service determines the outcome.

8. 7
Core service:
Give customer access to a range of high quality gym equipment in one place.
Facilitating supplementary services:
● Lockers
● AC and heating
● Toilets
● Billing and payment options
● Reception desk
● Turnstiles for security
Experience enhancing supplementary services:
● 140+ group classes per week
● Espace SismoFitness
● Espace Cross Training
● Espace Circuit Training
● Showers
● Weighing scales
● National access
● Partnership with Comiteo – a discounting company with cinemas theme parks etc.
● Partnership with local shops which offer discounts to FitnessPark’ customers.
● Video courses
Place and time:
● 85 sites throughout France
● Fitness Park have located their sites predominantly in urban areas.
● Paris has the greatest number of Fitness Park gyms, followed by Marseilles,
Montpellier and Toulouse.
● Within those cities, Fitness Park is situated close to transport links in central areas
(the main Toulouse site is a short walk from Jeanne D’Arc metro).
● By operating several branches in each of its major city locations, Fitness Park seeks
to give a wider consumer base access to their services.
● The gyms operated by Fitness Park are open between 06:00 and 23:00 every day of
the week - such long opening hours allow customers to fit a session in the gym
around a busy schedule.
● In keeping with the Fitness Park positioning towards consumers with full agendas
such as young professionals, their sites are open every day including Sunday.
Price:
● Fitness Park charges approximately 30EUR per month for regular membership which
is cheaper than most of its competitors (especially in Paris where it has a large
presence).

9. 8
● The imposed pricing system means that, although it is possible the consumer can
encroach on producer surplus (the value to the firm foregone by not charging more),
on average the consumer will be paying for more than they use of the service.
● Membership/subscription pricing is essentially ubiquitous in the fitness industry,
however Fitness Park do not offer a wide selection of packages like other gyms do.
This represents how they are accessible and hence their positioning in the non-
professional part of the fitness market (as opposed to targeting professional body
builders).
● On a similar level, while some more serious gyms include the price of led classes in
their membership fee, Fitness Park always keep these classes optional at a one-off
supplementary fee for each class.
Promotion/education:
● Firstly, Fitness Park make their physical sites stand out from the rest of the street -
their logo and its colours (blue and bright yellow) are matched by the store front and
in the windows.
● As well as grabbing the passer-by’s eye, Fitness Park adorn their gym windows with
current promotions.
● During La Rentrée Fitness Park offer cheaper membership (29.95EUR per month
with the first month costing only 19.95EUR and no supplementary fees for the
magnetic membership card) to students during October.
● Advertising partnerships is also a much used method of Fitness Park’s; particularly
linking its advertising to its supplier, TechnoGym who are the official provider for the
2016 Olympics, but also with Comiteo, an events discount company.
● On their logo are either the words “Le Fitness Pour Tous” (Fitness for Everyone), this
is an example of the company’s omnipresent emphasis on accessibility and value, or
“By Moving”, a simple message which implies a unity between Fitness Park
customers and the gym itself in accomplishing a joint goal of good health.
Physical environment:
● Interior walls are fully mirrored - this reflects how each customer is also a part of the
service Fitness Park provide.
● Bright, florescent lighting ensures productive workouts for the customers as this sort
of lighting postpones the onset of tiredness.
● Fitness machines are lined up in grid formation and in three sections (cardio, toning
equipment and free weights) as to make finding the right equipment as easy as
possible.
● In keeping with legal requirements there is a lot of space between the machines in
each Fitness Park, this also enhances the customer’s experience by minimising the
distraction by other customers in the gym.
● Constantly staffed reception desk at front of gym for any customer queries.
● Membership card turnstiles to access gym provides both a sense of security for
consumers and also a sense of exclusivity.
● Notice boards bear the Fitness Park colours (blue and yellow) that convey an
atmosphere of optimism and loyalty (positive messages for a gym line).

10. 9
People:
● Front-line staff (situated at reception desk) are positive and energetic, often in good
physical shape - this emits a sense of support in helping the customer get fit.
● Staff at Fitness Park have low levels of contact with customers, they are simply there
to greet/bid farewell to them and maybe to assist with a problem.
● The consumer-centric nature of Fitness Park’s service means that staff often don’t
have to deal in direct confrontation with customers as they are left to use and
maintain equipment themselves.
● Gym members often want minimal involvement of staff as to reduce distractions to
their fitness routines.
● Staff who lead classes are positive, motivational and committed to their class
members.
Process/productivity:
● As a gym line, Fitness Park have a greater than average customer participation
element in the provision of their services: Fitness Park members who are motivated
and invested in the gym will act as a promotion for the company as they will likely
motivate and help other customers, booting everyone’s experience.
● Customers who do not abide by the gym rules of cleaning equipment after use and
wearing appropriate attire can have membership revoked for the reason of damaging
other customers’ experience within the gym.
● It is impossible for a service-provider like Fitness Park to assign a staff member to
help customers operate each individual machine, so their gyms are for the most part
rooted in customer self-service.
● The reception desk staff’s limited engagement in maintaining the gym (due to high
customer participation) means that they are almost always on hand to manage
complaints or problems customers have in using the gym’s services.
● In dealing with customer dissatisfaction, unless the problem is highly technical (in
which case the staff should be able to tangibly aide the customer) Fitness Park
employees can do little more than empathise with customers.
Fitness Park process blueprint:

11. 10
SWOT ANALYSIS:
Strengths:
● Fitness Park is cheaper than most of
its competitors.
● high-quality equipment (partnership
with TechnoGym).
● The gyms operated by Fitness Park
are open between 06:00 and 23:00
every day of the week.
● Leader on the young people target.
● Efficient and to-the-point (members
don’t feel their money is wasted on
things they don’t need/use).
● Large network of gyms across
country makes brand more powerful
and seizes greater share of mind.
Weaknesses:
● The relationship between
employees-customers:
● The gyms of FitnessPark are for the
most part rooted in customer self-
service, so the employees have less
responsibility and less competence
to help the customers.
● Less supplementary services for
consumer than other gyms.
● Targeting less serious gym users
has drawbacks in such a customer-
participative service.
● Fitness Park find it hard to broadcast
both the quality of their equipment
and their low cost simultaneously.
● Advertising is limited.
Opportunities:
● The low-cost fitness is growing.
● In the crowded towns the people
want to go at gym at any time.
● Innovation of equipment.
● Having only focused on a few cities,
Fitness Park still have potential
consumer bases to target.
Threats:
● Competitors’ specialization.
● More involved and competent
employees of the competitors.
● The people nowadays want a lot of
supplementary services.
● More street fitness and public
access to musculation equipment

12. 11
● Fitness Park can easily emulate
some of its competitors by providing
supplementary services such as
further video courses at low cost.
● Automation of reception desk
responsibilities could increase
profitability and put consumer in full
control of the service they receive.
● Fitness Park’s supplier,
TechnoGym, is the official provider
for the next Olympic games. Fitness
Park could use this as a promotion
of their service quality.
may decrease demand for gyms.
● If other gyms lower their
membership rates Fitness Park
would be very vulnerable.
● If legal requirements for space
around equipment increased.
● Increasing negative reviews from
customers online.
Recommendations:
● Fitness Park, in light of some complaints online, should consider a stricter protocol on
staff-customer interaction, as to ensure that customer experience isn’t undermined by
Fitness Park staff coming across as unhelpful or unenthusiastic.
● We believe the firm should continue to expand its presence in France as to maintain
and build on its existing brand power - specifically they should be considering a new
French city in which to set up.
● Ensuring that Fitness Park can provide the same low-cost supplementary services
(for example providing video classes online as well as on site) as its competitors will
keep them competitive in the future while not compromising on their niche of a
simple, value-for-money, no frills gym.
● On top of their current basic advertising methods, Fitness Park should look into a
broader range of promotion with a consistent message - instead of advertising
through a small group of scattered media (i.e. the local shop discounts and
partnership with Comiteo). This would not only increase brand power/retention but
also help Fitness Park more efficiently communicate with their target consumer base.
● Start to develop automated reception desk systems in gyms in order to cut staffing
costs and also to allow existing staff to be more available to engage with customers:

13. 12
● Following a successful Rentrée promotion this year (100 new members signed on
within a month to the Toulouse Jeanne d’Arc branch), we’d recommend that Fitness
Park look for more opportunities to carry out similar promotions throughout the year.
References:
http://www.yelp.fr/biz/fitness-park-v%C3%A9lizy-villacoublay
https://www.facebook.com/FitnessParkToulouse/reviews
http://fitnesspark.fr/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-s-brown/fitness-trend-forecast-fo_b_5753458.html
https://www.acefitness.org/blog/5145/10-fitness-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2015
A series of short interviews with reception desk employee, Cyril Annecy.
http://www.virke.no/bransjer/Documents/Euopean%20Health%20%20Fitness%20Market%2
0Report%202015%20-%20kortversjon%20Norge.pdf