Category: Industry News

Learning From PMW Unlocked

From the 5-6th of March, the TA6 and Alliance central marketing teams descended, along with hundreds of fellow marketers, upon the Business Design Centre in London for Performance Marketing World Unlocked.

Their purpose: to learn from some of the brightest mind in the performance marketing sphere. With marketing being the dynamic and changeable beast that we all know and love, it is essential that we keep on top of developments to, in turn, provide the best services for our clients.

With topics ranging from building communities to everybody’s favourite subject, artificial intelligence, the teams returned with a plethora of valuable takeaways. Take a look at some of their highlights below.

Freddy Catchpool

Paid Media Specialist

PMW Unlocked was a great couple of days filled with inspiration, some key takeaways.

Adapting to a cookieless future on Google Ads with first party data now being more important than ever to utilise across the platform. This enables us as advertisers to maintain key targeting, personalise ad experiences, and ensure compliance with evolving privacy regulations, ensuring continued effectiveness across campaigns.

I’m excited to see how AI continues to shape the future of performance marketing with even more adoption of AI around Meta’s advantage plus, Google’s Performance Max and the new adoption of their Gemini generative AI model (now in Beta on Google Ads). Having greater capabilities with machine learning and assisting us in reducing the more manual set up tasks, enabling us to focus more on performance data & optimising account efficiency.

Incrementality testing is becoming more important than ever as the competitive landscape is continuing to grow, keeping the edge over competitors is key. Gathering greater valuable data through testing will allows us to refine strategies, optimise performance, and maximise ROI by identifying and implementing the most effective campaigns – much more testing in 2024!

Emma Kapur

Strategic Account Manager

We were very fortunate to receive a keynote from Ibrahim Kamara, founder of GUAP, who gave a brilliant address on the importance of authenticity and community engagement when it comes to marketing and brand building.

In the fast-paced, 5-second, 240-character world we operate in a first impression has never been so important, and coupled with the increase in AI use in digital marketing, we as consumers can often wonder who to trust. Ibrahim, and others at PMW Unlocked, therefore gave us some really valuable points to consider when it comes to authentic, engaging marketing:

A consistent value exchange between consumers and brands is essential – at a minimum, does your brand respond to Google reviews?
It’s not just about what’s being advertised, it’s who’s behind it. Perhaps some behind-the-scenes content is in order for your next campaign!
Audiences are more likely to trust and engage with content that they feel accurately represents them – we see this all the time in our work, for example, when we advertise using photoshoots featuring real customers as opposed to stock imagery.

James Cole

Head of Partnership

Artificial Intelligence, AI, is everywhere – there’s no avoiding it. We as a team entered PMW Unlocked with a fairly solid understanding of AI, with many of us already using it in day-to-day tasks all the time. However, we left with a much clearer understanding of more ways in which we and our clients can utilise AI to enhance our work and allow us to dedicate even more time to our clients.

Namely, there were some great discussions across several panels about the role of AI vs humans in the world of marketing. These largely boiled down to:

AI functions

Marketing automation
Marketing personalisation
Analysing data
Chatbots and virtual assistants

Unequivocably human functions

Transparency with customers

Decision making using personal insight and intuition or ‘gut feel’
Saying ahead; looking for the next trend and being a trailblazer
Emotions: AI cannot replace the emotive response to advert copy or creatives

Nicola Bromley

Strategic Account Manager

My biggest takeaways were definitely around audience and community fostering. Grace Andrews, Marketing Director for Steven Bartlett & The Diary Of A CEO, shared some really fascinating insights around this. She impressed how The Diary Of A CEO is more than just a podcast, it’s built an entire community, and shared some of the ways in which they built that relationship with their listeners.

One key point made was the difference between an audience and a community: essentially, audiences are consumers we talk at, whereas communities are consumers that we talk with. Whilst it can be uncomfortable, it’s absolutely vital to listen to your users and find out what makes them tick in order to shape your content.

Finally, make content that people actually care about! It might seem like a no-brainer, but how many adverts have you seen recently that have really struck you? Very few brands are in touch with their customers, and it shows. How do you find out what your customers care about? Listen to your them. It all flows together!

Is now the right time for price increases?

The significant rise in utility bills faced by operators means the cost of running facilities is at crisis point, particularly where swimming pools are in place. Investigations by ukactive estimates that costs could rise by as much as 100-150%, an additional £500m – £750m annually, impacting not only the survival of facilities but also the potential for “Levelling Up” ambitions.

So, is this a time operators need to increase prices to cover increasing operational costs? This approach has been taken by many other sectors, product and service providers but what would this mean for an industry where retention has always been its greatest challenge?

Sales have appeared to remain strong through recent months however, with the cost-of-living crisis putting increasing stress on our communities, people are reviewing where they can cut costs and reduce outgoings. Another increase in utilities in October may prompt action.

With leisure being a discretionary service, this immediately means a risk to our membership and revenue growth after a 2 year period of reduced openings due to COVID. A way to counteract this impact and increase revenue is to increase prices, but what are the risks and benefits?

There are two key factors to consider when deliberating pricing strategies.

Current Pricing

There is generally a tipping point for pricing and a ceiling that customers will tolerate. This will depend on your location and target audience.

We recommend you conduct a thorough competitor analysis to see how your current pricing compares to other facilities in your area and compare the offering. According to a recent study The Expectations and Demands of Leisure Centre Customers – Legend by Xplor’, 28% of members put Competitive Pricing in their top 2 priorities when choosing a membership. It is important that you remain competitive relative to your offering.

It is also important to understand your average membership yield, pricing may be at an appropriate level or near the tipping point, but is this what you actually receive from the majority of members? If discounts, offers and concessions have significantly impacted on-going revenue and reduced the average yield, consider ways to reduce this.

Review casual payments versus memberships. It may be possible for a price rise in pay-as-you-go visits to be a better option, this could also drive people towards the better value of recurring memberships instead.

The recent Price Sensitivity Survey conducted by Leisure-Net showed that 55-65% of members would tolerate a price increase of between 5 and 20%. This varied between public (58.5%) and private (68%) sectors and across regions and age groups but, after analysing how your price and service compares in your area, a small price rise could be accepted by much of your membership base.
Understand Your Market and Your Offering

Knowing your audience will ensure you position the pricing correctly. Potentially surprisingly, the Price Sensitivity Report suggests that younger people are more accepting of price rises than older people, however historically older members tend to show more loyalty and less tendency to move from membership to membership.

Price is different to value so assess who your audiences are, how engaged they are with your services and how high the risk of cancellation might be. Your average visit frequency, or ideally the number of members attending twice or more per week, will help determine the risk of cancellation. Those attending less than 5 times per month are most likely to be pushed into a decision to cancel by a price rise. Those attending regularly and/or accessing multiple services are most likely to see value and remain.

For a leisure provider offering a wide range of services such as swimming, gym, group exercise, children’s activities, cafes and health services, the value of membership may be higher than a gym-only facility where members may be able to look for alternative facilities elsewhere. You therefore can withstand a slightly higher membership price against competition with less options. However, members of private facilities report to be more tolerant of price increases than in the public sector while often having lower running costs so the right balance is important for your message.

If your mission is to address health inequalities and provide opportunities to increase activity within your local communities, there is a commitment to ensure exercise is accessible for all so this must also be factored into the price decision.

A small price rise, or a no price rise promise for six months, with positive communications and campaigns around supporting them through the tough winter period will provide confidence and potentially reduce cancellation risk.

Recommendations

1. Understand your Current Position.

Review who your members are, how engaged or at risk they are and factor in your position and brand – what is the expectation for providing accessible opportunities to be active? Compare your pricing structure to competitors in the area to understand where prices could be increased while remaining competitive relevant to your offering. An option to retain a current price for existing members and an increase for new joiners may provide a positive message to your current membership base while generating increased revenue from new sales.

2. Consider Alternative Revenue Streams.

Is there an opportunity to increase casual payments, secondary spend or offer flexible memberships such as gym only, off-peak or single site access.

The study from Legend also found that 77% of members felt operators should provide more flexible membership options. This allows them to choose what is relevant and affordable for them.

3. Identify your Loyal Members

Whether tracking promoters through NPS, monitoring customer feedback or identifying your longest standing or highest attending members you can maximise your referral opportunities.

We estimate that word-of-mouth marketing is directly responsible for up to 20% of new membership sales each month and influences another 30% of buying decisions. Over 90% of consumers trust peer-to-peer recommendations than any other form of advertising (Nielson Advertising Report).

Ensure there is a relevant and manageable incentive as well as clear process to ensure the referred new member stays for a minimal period.

4. Communicate Positively

If a price rise is considered the appropriate action, or if you decide to honour existing prices for members, effective communication is essential.

Keep customers informed early, be clear and honest and outline the reasons for the decision as well as the positive values of remaining active and maintaining physical and mental wellbeing during a difficult period.

Highlight the overall value of your membership and facilities, the full service and support on offer and use existing customer testimonials in your campaigns to showcase the impact activity has had on your customers.

If you need any support in your competitor analysis, pricing review or marketing and communications campaigns, please reach out to the team. We are here to support you.

Click here to download the Price Sensitivity Report from Leisure-Net

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5 Top Marketing Tips for Winter-Proofing Your Fitness Business

According to ukactive, compared to 2021 levels, energy bills for the leisure sector will increase by up to 240% in 2023 and some public leisure centres are already facing increases of between 150% and 200%, largely due to the high energy consumption of swimming pools.

Unless financial support is provided, nearly all fitness and leisure facilities may need to increase their prices at some stage over the next 12 months, but how does this impact both the acquisition and retention of members who are all facing the same cost of living crisis?

Author: Emma Kapur

During a recession, consumers are often forced to make some modifications to their spending habits, and for some people a gym membership might be the first cut they look to make, especially if they aren’t making use of their membership or aren’t seeing the value in it. A drop in retention rates might also be combined with a drop in new membership sales, with fitness becoming less of a priority through the winter months and consumers looking to save money where they can.

However, with some careful operational planning, a robust community and some tweaks to your marketing messages, your fitness business can still continue to thrive. Putting operational challenges aside, in this article we are going to focus on some top tips for winter-proofing your fitness business through marketing tactics and member communication.

Maintain a Healthy Marketing Budget

Most fitness businesses will look to cut expenses over the winter months and, as a result, marketing budgets might be reduced. However, it is important to maintain brand awareness and keep consumer confidence by maintaining a presence both online and offline. If you cut back on marketing spend and rely on organic marketing channels, you run the risk of your business losing visibility and reducing your numbers of both leads and sales. One of the main reasons for business’s cutting back their marketing budget is that they can’t justify the investment and don’t measure ROI throughout the year. If you knew for certain that your marketing activity was driving enquiries and sales would you ever reduce it?

Be Transparent and Flexible

You need to instil confidence in your prospects who are now more conscious than ever with how and where they spend their money. It might be tempting to focus on marketing your highest priced membership options for maximum income, but it is important to also showcase your cheaper and more flexible pricing plans which might also include off-peak,zero-contract and pay-as-you-go options. Although these bring in less income, they might help increase your membership numbers as they appeal to members on a lower budget or who are less likely to commit to long term contracts. Plus, if you can convert a cancelling member onto a lower priced membership plan, you can at least retain them for now.

Show Your Value

If your gym is seen by your prospects and members as just a facility, or an unnecessary spend, then you are much less likely to gain and retain members. You need to show value through all of your marketing by showcasing your USPs and ultimately by demonstrating the problem that you are solving. If members aren’t seeing value in their membership then they will likely look elsewhere for a cheaper alternative that offers the same solution, so you need to create a reason for them to join, or stay at, your facility. Often this is through building and showcasing your incredible community, social events, member success stories and added membership benefits to differentiate your gym from your competitors who are likely to be offering a very similar service, e.g. the same quality of equipment, classes and price points. By being authentic, consistent, and transparent in your messaging, you can show your value.

User-generated content (UGC) and testimonials also help to attract new clients by acting as social proof – let prospects hear it from your members themselves rather than just from yourselves as a business. The end result from user-generated content is usually more traffic, higher conversion rates and more engaging organic content.

Focus on Health-related Content Marketing

Members need to see the gym as a necessity rather than a luxury and understand the importance of prioritising their health. Through content marketing, social media and other communication methods you can continue to reinforce this message and encourage members to see exercising as a vital part of their day to day lives, to improve their health and wellbeing both physically and mentally. Try to encourage your members to make spending cuts elsewhere, for example cutting down on the number of coffees bought on the weekly commute, reducing the number of subscriptions such as Netflix, or the number of takeaways per month.

This type of marketing activity will also reach large groups of your local community who are thinking about exercise but haven’t started the process of actively looking yet (precontemplators). Positioning yourself as the go-to brand for fitness and health will reap the rewards when they make the decision to join a local facility.

Don’t Forget to Thank Your Members!

Address the elephant in the room and let your members know that you are aware of the rising costs of living and thank them for their loyalty. Offer loyalty rewards that don’t break the bank and maintain regular communication to your existing members through various channels such as email, SMS, social media and even printed newsletters. If your existing members feel informed and valued then they are much less likely to leave. COVID has presented the opportunity to start afresh with your membership base and you will likely have less sleeping members than back in 2019. Most membership cancellations come from this sleeping pool of members so keep it to a minimum by engaging consistently with your customers.

For more information on how TA6 could help and provide advice on your membership growth plans just visit www.allianceta6.co.uk and check out our list of services, or get in touch below.

CONTACT THE TEAM HERE

10 Top Tips for Marketing your Next Fitness Launch

When launching a new gym, fitness class, activity, or concept, developing and executing a relevant and effective marketing plan is vital in order to have the best chance of a successful launch.

From establishing a powerful digital campaign to maximising your offline presence, here are our 10 top tips which you may wish to consider when marketing your next fitness launch.

Know your audience and aims – Before you start planning your fitness launch it is important that you firstly decide on your campaign goals and the audience you are aiming to target, as this will help determine which channels and elements of the marketing mix to use. Often there will be a range of demographics which will mean that your campaign requires a multi-channel approach, from TikTok advertising to more traditional print marketing.
Be clear on your branding – Focus on a strong brand identity from the start and integrate all campaigns so that there is consistency of both your creatives and copy across all channels. More often than not, your prospects will see your campaign across multiple channels (in fact, on average most marketing campaigns require an average of 8 touchpoints). Therefore, it is important that the branding is consistent and that your adverts are identifiable in order to resonate with your audience across multiple channels.
Create a website landing page – Showcase your new facilities or fitness concept with a slick landing page that includes images and videos of the offering, useful information, a strong call-to-action and a contact form if you are looking to generate leads.
Optimise for local search – Make sure you have an up-to-date Google MyBusiness page with correct information, recent images and contact information (the great thing is this doesn’t cost you a penny!) MyBusiness listings not only include reviews on your facilities but also provide the opportunity to promote your latest offers and news stories.
Run email marketing and text campaigns – Utilise your databases by keeping prospects informed about the progress and the any introductory offers (just be sure to follow GDPR compliance and not bombard your prospects with too many messages!) With more restrictions on the way when it comes to tracking and cookies, the use of 1^st party data will become essential to any leisure operator looking to communicate with prospective customers.
Don’t rely on organic marketing – Whilst word-of-mouth can be extremely powerful, a common mistake is relying on organic channels and under-spending on digital pay-per-click (PPC) advertising such as social media, search, display and video advertising. If you have a limited budget, choose which channels are going to be the most cost-effective as well as the most relevant to your audience.
Create a content calendar – Plan your organic social media content in advance, focussing on a small selection of key content pillars. Create excitement using countdowns, show sneak peaks of the new offering and prioritise video posts where possible in order to optimise reach and engagement. Click here for 50 free content ideas.
Take it offline – Run an open weekend event for prospects to come along and see your new gym, product or service in person. If you can, offer this either for free or at a discounted one-off rate to help generate leads. Follow-up on these leads with an exclusive offer and use this as an opportunity to gain feedback and testimonials.
Collaborate – Send local micro-influencers invitations to your open weekend event or ask to work with complimentary local businesses in order to raise awareness (just do your research beforehand to make sure that the influencer or business you choose compliments your brand values and ethos with no conflict of interest – both parties should benefit from the relationship).
Don’t forget your current members – It’s important to thank your existing members, especially if they have been inconvenienced by any refurbishment work carried out or have had their services reduced for a period of time. By offering member rewards such as a freeze on their current membership rate, referral gifts or exclusive member events you can maximise retention.

TA6 have supported over 100 new product launches ranging from brand new leisure centres to localised new activities, and if you’d like to discuss how we can help with your next launch please contact us today.

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New Social Media Guide OUT NOW

NEW Social Media Guide

Our latest social media guide for June is now available. Latest trends, insights, tips and more. Download your copy now.

DOWNLOAD HERE

10 People Joined Yesterday

Over the past few years, there have been significant changes in attitudes towards health and wellbeing, and how people can access and undertake activity. As a result of this, leisure operators have had to evolve and rethink how users are attracted, supported and retained.

Most operators have some form of acquisition, onboarding and retention processes in place but at TA6 we encourage them to ask the question “If 10 people joined yesterday, do you know what happened to them?”. This encourages you to analyse what you really know about your new customers and members and if you are really giving them the best initial experience into your services.

Latest Research

In a TA6 report due to be published in June 2022 we identified that 52% operators reported less than half their new members received a structured onboarding session, over 80% reported less than half of new members have prescribed workout plans and 52% had no digital onboarding journey.

The TA6 philosophy of “Meeting People Where They Are” is built around the idea that every potential or new customer has different experience, expectations and needs from their engagement with activity and your facilities so a one-size fits all approach to member experience cannot support individuals.

The last few years has highlighted more then ever before that facilities aren’t the sole providers of exercise options. People can be active anywhere and access to online fitness, home equipment, advice and technology means there was potential for facilities to become obsolete. However, the leisure industry has shown a strong bounce back after long term closures. Why? Partly because of activities such as swimming that cannot be accessed elsewhere but mainly because people want to be part of a live experience, a community and have personal support, so we need to ensure we deliver this.

Route to Membership

There are multiple ways in which prospects and new customers become aware of your facilities, but do you effectively track this, and more importantly does this affect the next steps?

To continue reading the full article to gain more insight into how you can positively affect your acquisition and onboarding processes, simply leave your details below.

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TA6 Appoints New Strategic Lead – James Cole

James Cole, formerly Commercial Director at leisure management company, 1Life, has joined TA6 – the marketing and training division of Alliance Leisure, as Head of Partnerships. Cole will report directly to Paul Woodford, Director of Marketing and Partnerships and will be responsible for working with the team to develop and deliver successful community engagement campaigns on behalf of the growing TA6 portfolio of leisure operator clients.

Having joined 1Life in 2005, Cole has spent the last 16 years delivering commercial success across multiple sites and product lines. Since the start of 2021, Cole has held the national role of Commercial Director, responsible for financial performance across 20 local authority owned leisure facilities, resulting in a collective annual turnover of more than £20 million.

I am super excited to welcome James onto the senior team at TA6. He will join myself, John Leaver and Neil Harrison in leadership roles and will work with a dedicated account manager, along with our inhouse digital and creative teams, to design and deliver impactful campaigns that drive customer engagement and deliver a great return on marketing spend. James has an incredible level of experience and skillset that will benefit all our clients both now and in the future.

Paul Woodford

Director of Marketing & Partnerships

James officially joined the TA6 team on May 26. His immediate priority is to get up to speed with current project commitments whilst also preparing to lead new contracts with Trafford Leisure and Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust.

James says: “I have always had a huge amount of respect for both Alliance and TA6. I was looking for a new challenge and through the role with TA6 I believe I have found it. Over the last 16 years I have learnt that teamwork and partnerships are absolutely essential to success. I am looking forward to using my skills in both areas, coupled with my commercial experience to make a valued contribution to the continued growth of TA6.”

James’ introduction coincides with an expansion of John Leaver’s Head of Marketing remit which will see additional support for the development side of the business as well as a continued active involvement with TA6. John comments: “Alliance has seen tremendous growth over recent years and greater opportunities to support the public sector develop their leisure facilities. I’m looking forward to promoting the great work we do and showcasing how Alliance and TA6 can work with more operators to make a real difference to the leisure sector.”

So now it’s time to meet the real James as we put the important questions to him…

You’ve just won the lottery, what’s your first purchase?

Always wanted to do my own ‘Grand Design’ house build, so probably a nice big plot of land with some great views.

Favourite holiday destination – before kids and then with kids?

Mexico before kids, center parcs with kids.

Share a proud moment you’ve had within the industry?

As General Manager, winning ukactive award for Centre of the Year and achieving Quest ‘Excellent’ in the same year.

You’re cooking tonight, what’s on the menu?

Chicken Jalfrezi with a nice naan.

Do you follow a football team? Summarise their season in 2 words.

Aston Villa… Phillipe Coutinho

When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up?

Taller… still hoping!

Top song on your favourite playlist?

Right now, its Kenny Loggins ‘Danger Zone’ – Excited for the new Top Gun and it’s a great track when you are doing HIITS on a treadmill.

Move night in, what film are you putting on?

The Godfather part 2 if I’m on my own… if I’m with the wife… something like ‘The Notebook’

If you’ve got a bucket list, what’s the next thing you’re planning on ticking off?

I would like to experience some live European football and I can’t wait around for Villa any longer. Perhaps I will go to the Bernabeu or Camp Nou and watch one of the Spanish giants.

FOLLOW JAMES ON LINKEDIN

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Our 5 Biggest Takeaways from active-net 2022

March 23^rd – 24^th 2022 saw the welcome return of active-net, a 2-day leisure industry networking event.

It was a great chance to get key leaders, suppliers and operators together to discuss the future of leisure, the challenges of the last two years and what this means for us all moving forwards.

The energy throughout the event felt collaborate and extremely positive but here are our 5 Biggest Take-aways from active-net UK 2022.

Reaching Beyond the 15%

There was a clear message of the need to shift our messaging from a focus on gyms and fitness to wellbeing and increasing levels of activity among our communities. Not only is this the right thing to do in the current climate to reduce the impact of ill health and inactivity on the NHS and public services, but the commercial opportunity to widen our market beyond the same 15% we are all competing over is something we need to react to.

The TA6 philosophy to “Meet people where they are” is driven by this. Understanding where people are on their journey, their previous experience and confidence with activity as well as understanding how, where and when they want to be active and how, where and when they want to receive support is how we should be directing our approach. We need to look at a more inclusive and holistic approach to our messaging, customer experience, processes and programming.

Workplace Wellness

There has been a lot of discussion on the impact of the last 2 years on our customers but less on the impact on our teams. Lindsey Simpson and Katie Lewis from Workplace Mental Wealth presented the findings from the 2022 Workforce State of Mind Report which revealed some stark findings. 73% of responders stated they had experienced mental health concerns at some point while only 11% stated someone regularly checks on their mental health at work, down from 19% last year showing the return to business has had significant impact on how we care for our teams. You can download your copy for free here https://www.workplacementalwealth.com/research

Nudge Marketing

With the above points in mind, it is clear that our campaigns should no longer be sporadic membership offers but instead we should adopt a longer term approach. At TA6 we strongly believe that truly effective campaigns should begin with awareness, messages that highlight the benefits of activity and impacts of non-activity. This may not lead to immediate sales but will target the pre-contemplators and start to nudge them towards contemplating options. At this point content led-marketing is key, assist them towards getting started, what to do and offer ways to take the first step, even if not yet through a membership. Once the initial steps are taken the move to membership becomes a more likely option with awareness of your brand and credibility. We then need the right pathways to guide them into.

At TA6 we work closely with our clients to ensure the right campaigns, reach the right people with the best content and via the most effective platforms, monitoring this to refine and adapt along the way. A brand-led long term campaign plan should always be part of your marketing strategy.

The Power of Data and technology

This isn’t new and the impact of multiple lockdowns forced our industry to quickly adapt to a more digital approach however, now the doors are open, are we truly tracking data effectively? Do you clearly know who is engaging with your content, what messages have impact, what are the appropriate mediums to connect with different personas, what activities are being accessed by whom, what difference this makes to their likelihood to continue and use this business intelligence to inform our strategies? At TA6 we believe in creating strategies and processes with clear objectives, outcomes and measures of success, whether that is your marketing campaigns or your customer experience pathways and delivery. We start with he question “If 10 people joined yesterday, do you know what happened to them?” If not, there is work to do!

Personal Development

Whether it is to support your workplace wellness, promote a confident return to normal operating, ensuring consistency or maintaining your workforce for longer, there has to be a focus on Personal Development within your business. One-off training simply isn’t always sufficient to have an impact and there should be a clear and on-going commitment to develop your teams.

The TA6 approach to personal development is 3 clear areas. Education to understand why skills, processes or systems are needed and how this will impact individuals, roles and the business. Training to ensure confidence in the specific skills required, and Coaching to ensure this is fully embedded and continually supported and improved.

If you would like to explore how TA6 can support your business in any of the areas discussed above please get in touch.

CONTACT THE TEAM HERE

TA6 Welcomes Emma Kapur

TA6 welcomes Emma Kapur

The team at TA6 are delighted to welcome Emma Kapur as Marketing Account Manager.

For the last four years, Emma has been applying her multi-channel marketing skills to the promotion of products and services delivered by Achieve Lifestyle – a charitable leisure trust managing leisure and spa facilities in Egham and Addlestone, Surrey.

Emma says: “I am really looking forward to starting my exciting new role with the TA6 team. My Marketing Manager role at Achieve Lifestyle enabled me to plan and execute a range of marketing campaigns for lead generation and member retention, using both digital and offline channels. I can’t wait to share my knowledge of marketing and my experience within the leisure industry with a portfolio of TA6 clients so that, together, we can drive participation and engagement in physical activity across the nation.”

Emma will be responsible for the day-to-day planning, management and delivery for a number of TA6 clients, reporting directly to John Leaver, Head of Marketing.

Speaking of her appointment, John says: “Emma is a valuable addition to the growing TA6 team. As well as her marketing experience, Emma is also a qualified personal trainer, exercise to music instructor and Level 2 childrens’ fitness instructor. It’s fantastic to have somebody so obviously passionate about the sector joining our team. I’m really excited about what we can all achieve together over the coming months.”

Meet the rest of the TA6 team here.

Getting Women Back Into Physical Activity

According to the latest Active Lives Adult Survey by Sport England women saw more prolonged drops in activity levels and were slower to recover after lockdown then men.

As part of the TA6 philosophy of “meeting people where they are” this means we should understand the barriers and acknowledge where women are in their confidence and emotional readiness to start, or return to, exercise.

It is important to consider how we encourage women back into exercise and how we support them once they make the first step.

As part of the recognition of the importance of understanding the barriers to exercise for women and creating confidence and opportunities for them, This Girl Can and ukactive have joined forces to create a practical guide for operators. You can download this here.

Here are some recommendations from the team at TA6 for supporting women to increase activity:

Use targeted, content–led marketing focusing on real women and messages of confidence to exercise and benefits to positive mental and physical wellbeing
Consider linking into wider campaigns such as “This Girl Can” to speak directly to women in a way that feels inclusive
Promote how you can support them back into activity in a safe environment with home workouts, online advice and training programmes
Train your teams to understand the drivers and barriers to exercise and how best to support and offer solutions
Build in a focus on weekly activity plans, not just gym programmes, to meet women where they are and allow them to access exercise throughout the week in whatever format they are comfortable with
Once it is identified that someone might need to support to build confidence and exercise habits, create prompts for weekly touchpoints in the first few weeks. These could be a simple tracking diary or ideally utilising your digital systems to automatically flag a contact point as well as sending supportive content via apps, email and SMS

Advertiser's Insight

At TA6 we are passionate about supporting your success so for more advice and support in any of these areas, get in touch with the team.