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Challenge
Addressing the gender imbalance
PureGym, the UK’s largest budget gym chain, wanted to ensure their proposition was equally on point for both male and female members. Male membership far outweighed female membership and they wanted to understand why.
PureGym had tried various marketing initiatives to grow female membership, but none had produced the results they were looking for. STRAT7 Incite were brought onboard to provide a holistic view of their existing data and gather new insights from the target audience’s perspective.
A clear data picture would help PureGym understand what factors drive women to choose one gym over another and what barriers put them off joining. Such insights could then help them increase satisfaction and drive up participation rates.
We developed 18 specific recommendations to boost female membership and loyalty, split into ‘quick wins’ and longer-term initiatives.
Approach
Building on internal knowledge to deliver a fresh perspective
We explored member behaviour by analysing internal customer and operational databases, interviewing management one-on-one and conducting site audits.
We then benchmarked the proposition against competitors, before conducting extensive quantitative and qualitative research. This consisted of quant research with PureGym members, plus members of competitor gyms. We also conducted qualitative intercept interviews to dig deeper into the needs of the target audience.
By starting with the data and then overlaying the customer perspective, we were able to get the full picture of the consumer journey, which enabled us to pinpoint where member acquisition and retention was being impacted and why.
Impact
An action plan for implementation, recommendations that boosted female membership
Using the insights extracted from the data, we developed 18 specific recommendations to boost female membership and loyalty. We split these recommendations into ‘quick wins’ and longer-term initiatives.
PureGym initially implemented selected initiatives across test sites and tracked the impact on female sign-ups, which they found boosted member satisfaction and retention compared to the wider estate. They then went ahead with a further roll-out across their other gyms.
"Working with the team helped challenge the way that we were thinking about the female gym market. The project led to clear recommendations that resulted in us achieving our targets in the test sites. The team were extremely easy to work with and as engaged and passionate about the project and outcomes as we were."
Francine Davis
Chief Strategy Officer, PureGym
