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<ul><li>As the whole country became more health-conscious and ‘immunity’ became the talk of town after COVID, Indian health and fitness startup <keyword id="2963907" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fitternity">Fitternity</keyword> saw an uptick in its users and adoption rate.</li><li>We speak to Jayam Vora, Co-Founder &amp; COO, Fitternity to discuss the impact of lockdown, trends in the <keyword id="987203" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fitness-industry">fitness industry</keyword>, vision for the brand and marketing strategy. </li></ul>After the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown earlier this year, the fitness industry hit a major roadblock. On-ground gyms and fitness studios had to shift to online platforms. With this, Indian healthtech space saw a boost and live streaming fitness routines became the new normal. However, isolation, fear of contagion and the uncertainty can be nerve-wracking for anyone. Fitness apps, therefore, started offering a holistic approach to health and help their users relieve stress by organising counselling sessions with mental health experts, nutritionists, spiritual trainers as well. COVID redefined fitness in our country and pushed organisations to become more wellness-oriented. With the increasing rate of digital adoption, Indian health and fitness startup Fitternity saw its new users and customer acquisition grow by 150% in quarter Apr-Jun vs. Jan-Mar. It also empowered 4000+ fitness studios and trainers to go online. As gyms and studios reopen and users resume working out at physical centres, Fitternity is also expecting a large surge in consumption of users wanting to access physical infrastructure, while having an option of virtual fitness training. It has already adopted a hybrid model, where on-ground fitness centers are acting as its subsidiary. Fitternity claims to be the largest fitness discovery and booking platform with over 11.3 million+ unique users across a network of 12,000 gyms, studios, fitness centres, hotels, and swimming pool facilities among others. We caught up with Jayam Vora, Co-Founder &amp; COO, Fitternity to understand the impact of lockdown, trends in the fitness industry, vision for the brand and marketing strategy. Excerpts: Q. How was the lockdown period for the organization? What has your strategy been to minimize the impact as an organization? We have always been a digitally-led company that worked towards understanding the pulse of the consumers and catering to their fitness and wellness needs. Fitternity’s network of gyms and studios is spread across 12+ Indian cities. We had been working on expanding our offerings into a virtual domain to cater to customers in cities that we were not present in. Since lockdown, we accelerated the launch of our virtual offerings to ensure users don’t miss out on their fitness needs. Here is how we changed our strategy: Consumers: Having had a strong digital presence and a good user base of +11.3M users, we harnessed our technological strength and expertise and developed these digital products over the first month of the lockdown: Interactive Online Sessions, FitTV- Video On Demand, Personal Training, OnePass Virtual, 30 Day Fitness Challenge, Nutrition &amp; Mental Wellness Consultation Sessions Partner gyms and fitness facilities: We presented a tech-enabled platform to gyms/studios to continue their services to the consumers virtually. This also helped them in sustaining their businesses. Post the re-opening of gyms and fitness facilities, we are helping them comply with the government SOPs and helping smoothen the process in safely re-opening. Corporates Companies: While we have been working with over 75+ corporates as a part of our Fit@Work corporate initiative allowing companies creative solutions to manage employee wellbeing &amp; fitness like our OnePass Corporate Membership Plan. In the post-lockdown phase, we scaled our corporate integration from 50 to 200+ corporates and customised these solutions and introduced Corporate Live fitness &amp; wellness sessions, virtual plans enabling employees to have virtual access to gyms and fitness studios in India. Q. Fitternity was growing by 3X before the lockdown. How did COVID impact your business? What kind of spike in users did you witness? Our primary business model was such that helped users easily access services provided by the physical gyms and fitness centres. However, during the pandemic, based on our observation of the growing consumer demand for fitness and wellness services, we evolved our services on to the digital platform and empowered 4000+ fitness studios and trainers to go online. Through our new virtual offerings, we were able to extend our services to various demographics and provided flexibility to users to access a variety of workout options and guidance provided by industry experts and trainers. Over the past few months, our new users and customer acquisition grew by 150% in quarter Apr-Jun vs. Jan-Mar showing influx of new users into the ecosystem- Over 50,000 new users. We witnessed an average of 7/10 users praising their interaction with the trainers on livestream sessions and narrating how it made their experience very similar to taking an actual physical class. Over 85% of users have expressed heartfelt appreciation towards our virtual offerings. Also, we witnessed a spike in the demand for Corporate Wellness services with a 300% increase in inbound enquiries with a doubling conversion rate to on-board corporates for their corporate well-being programme. Q. With the reopening of fitness centres, you also tied-up with a few gyms across metro cities. Tell us a bit about this partnership and what does it entail? How has the hybrid model panned out for you so far? As a platform, we enable user physical access to gyms and fitness and centres across a partner network of 12,000+ studios and trainers. Fitternity being a managed marketplace, our relationship with fitness centres is that of a partner and revenue generator and we enable real-time bookings for consumers and corporate users. We realise that even with the advent of digital services, physical ways of accessing fitness and wellness services will not go out of fashion. It is essential to understand that while reopening of gyms and fitness centres in India, people will take a while to adjust to the new normal. Although a positive approach is being seen on both ends- business owners and consumers, a large part of the consumer segment prefers to workout from home for the convenience and flexibility that it provides. Hence, paving way for both physical and virtual fitness services to co-exist. Post reopening, we have been working closely with partner gyms and studios to create a safe environment for the consumers to workout in and build a sustainable standing as India re-opens. We are working with and ensuring the implementation of the Government mandated safety SOPs with our gyms/studio partners. Fitternity users can see and understand these mandated SOPS on Fitternity’s website/App and social media. We have also introduced an integrated CRM dashboard for capacity mapping and inventory management. Q. Speaking from a marketing perspective, how different was your strategy during the lockdown? How has your media plan changed? Will we see you investing in OOH, TV, radio, or any other traditional medium on a large-scale anytime soon? In the recent months, the industry patterns and behaviour of the consumer towards content consumption has led to a shift in brand messaging - earlier creating content that generated aspirational value to now creating content that is more utility and necessity based. Our marketing strategy since the onset of the pandemic has been more focused on social media over OOH, TV, radio and other traditional marketing channels. To keep our online offerings relevant and market them effectively, we have been providing snackable fitness and wellness content on various brand communication platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, E-mailers, Articles and more. We have always strived to create innovative and quality content that adds value to our followers/users by working on creating awareness with our strong base of like-minded influencers and social media. Q. How has COVID-19 changed the fitness industry? Have you witnessed any interesting consumer behavior trends during the lockdown and post? Due to the onslaught of COVID-19, there has been an increase of people wanting to build immunity. If we were to observe the change in the fitness industry, it can be viewed through multiple aspects. For instance, the consumer segment has expanded beyond just fitness and is more inclined towards gaining information on exercises that help in building immunity and understanding the nutritional value of the food that they consume. There has also been an upsurge in the number of times a user works out during a week. For instance, earlier, it was observed that a user would workout 4 times a month but the number has now increased to 3-4 times a week, which is a positive sign towards inculcating fitness in their daily routine. Personal training and coaching has garnered more attention over the last few months as people are seeking guidance while working-out from home. Consumers are also more aware about the importance of mental health and holistic wellness and are seeking ways in which they achieve this along with physical fitness. So it is fair to say that building immunity has become a core driving force for consumers to workout and hence achieve a healthy-wellbeing. Q. How big is the fitness industry right now? How do you predict it will grow in the post-COVID world? What part of the market share are you aiming for? If we were to observe the current consumer behaviour pattern, we can predict the future to have a more conscious consumer and newer set of users for whom the industry would have to come up with unique kinds of business models and fitness services. Physical and virtual ways of accessing fitness will co-exist. Earlier, the kind of advancements that would happen in the fitness industry over a span of 10 years, is now happening at a much faster pace and hence being made available for the consumer in a span of just a few years. From a market share stand-point, as gyms and studios reopen and users resume working out at physical centres, we are expecting a large surge in consumption. As an aggregator and marketplace, we are aiming to get to a market share where we impact 30% of total fitness services being consumed in the country. Q. In the post-COVID world, do you expect AR/VR/virtual training to become an even more important tool in the entire consumer journey when it comes to fitness? Are you already investing in technology? As the importance of digital is increasing, more companies are investing in technology and new introductions to the market, to which the consumers have been very accepting of. It is a two way effort -- wherein the consumer is also open to try out different technologically advanced products/services and companies are also investing in these efforts. This is being witnessed not just in India but also globally. However, it won't take away from the physical aspect of the business, but in fact make both technologically advanced digital services and physical services a robust way of working-out. Also, since fitness is an action based activity, AR/VR tools work well to present consumers an experience more engaging and interactive. Being a digitally led company, we have also invested in technological tools that help and contribute towards presenting our users with a seamless workout experience. Q. What is your vision for Fitternity this year? Our vision for Fitternity is to enable consumers to have access to fitness and wellness services in an easy, cost-effective and convenient manner. We are currently operational in 12+ cities and aim to expand this across 25 cities in India and in APAC and Middle east. Our aim is to expand our current network of gyms, studios, fitness centres, hotels, and swimming pool facilities among others from 12,000 to 45,000 and 5X growth in 18-24 months. Q. What are your broad marketing plans for the rest of the year? What will your area of focus be? Our focus has always been to guide our users and partners with relevant information. With the re-opening phase already set in motion, our marketing plan for the rest of the year is focussed towards helping users adapt to the hybrid business model of accessing fitness. While we are constantly innovating and improving our digital services, we are also working towards re-establishing consumer belief and trust in physical gyms and fitness centres. We are also focussing towards presenting a more holistic health and wellness service to our consumers and providing seamless access towards the same. Q. As a brand, what has been your biggest learnings from the Covid-19 experience? Our biggest learning was affirmed from this experience, that fitness is not restricted to a - ‘One Size Fits All’ approach. There has to be variants that cater to various needs of the consumers. Unprecedented times like these have brought in learnings that have impacted how society and businesses function as a whole. It has reinstated our belief in constant innovation and our zeal to create services that are focussed towards catering to the diverse needs of the consumers. The pandemic has also helped us be resilient and vigilant for any adversities in times like these. It has helped in gathering an understanding of ‘new normal’ of the industry and the consumer approach to the same.

Fitternity eyes to expand to 25 cities in India and be present in APAC and Middle east

<ul><li>Dhara Tanna, Senior Vice President, <keyword id="2963907" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fitternity">Fitternity</keyword> writes the <keyword id="987203" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fitness-industry">fitness industry</keyword> hit a major roadblock due to the outbreak of COVID-19. </li><li>She lists down a few present trends that will become the way of the fitness and <keyword id="1014054" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="wellness-industry">wellness industry</keyword> post the lockdown period. </li></ul>When we look back on the journey of the fitness and wellness industry in India, it can be observed largely as a scattered, fragmented sector which was probably waiting to be organized. Advent of technological innovation and digitization is evolving the industry into a systematic marketplace built on consumer centricity. This positive up-growth is observed both globally as well as in India. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, the fitness industry hit a major roadblock. With the government's mandatory directive of nationwide lockdown and people practicing social distancing, the fitness industry that was largely dependent on the on-ground gyms and fitness studios saw a shift to digital platforms. Various players in the fitness industry adapted their services onto digital platforms in order to provide seamless customer experience. Live streaming of fitness sessions, <keyword id="9653384" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virtual-personal-training">virtual personal training</keyword>, consultations by nutritionists, mental health experts through online social and communication platforms have seen a rise like never before. Hence, making the virtual way of accessing fitness the new normal and a subsidiary to the on-ground fitness services. The present trends indicate certain unique features that will become the way of the fitness and wellness industry post the lockdown period: <ol><li>Hybrid Business Models and Cross Pollination Of Services:</li></ol>While the virtual fitness services would still exist, the re-opening of gyms/fitness studios will leave multiple avenues for fitness enthusiasts to have access to. The consumer mindset has also accepted the virtual way of working out, strongly pointing to the emergence of a hybrid business model - where the fitness industry witnesses more consumption, both virtually and offline. Existing fitness and wellness businesses are also expected to get creative and venture across multiple mediums for better outreach and retention of consumers. For the gyms/fitness studios that resume on-ground operations, they will continue services both online and offline. The virtual offerings are also expected to evolve with services being more personalized for the consumers (personal training, consultation with nutritionists, online therapy etc.) and hence providing overall wellness at their fingertips. 2. Shift Back To Physical: For a gym/fitness studio to reopen timely efforts for the sanitization of gyms/studios, installing proper hand sanitiser dispensers, spacing the equipment, having safety rules and protocols in place would be a must. Workout sessions would have to be performed in small/intimate groups. Fitness platforms will also be utilizing tools where they would monitor the capacity of gym/fitness centres. Pre-booking of workout slots along with ensuring an safety SOP (Standard Operating Protocol) is being implemented, would also play a huge role in building trust amongst the consumers. 3. Holistic Wellness Will Be A Priority: Not just physical fitness, but nutrition, mental wellness and spiritual training has already become a prime focus for individuals and will continue to do so, post lockdown. In an attempt to achieve overall health and overcome the stress incurred due to our tense surroundings, consumers and service providers have found the need to focus on holistic health and are redefining fitness to become more wellness oriented. 4. Business Avenue for Budding Entrepreneurs: The fitness industry has also presented a business avenue to many young &amp; budding entrepreneurs and trainers. With consumers focusing on better health and lifestyle, the demand for quality fitness service offerings is as high and will continue to be so. Thus, presenting a chance for businesses in this segment to flourish. In the times to come, the change in the industry’s functioning and progression, not just locally but also globally would be interesting to witness and be a part of. The stalwarts of the fitness industry are also coming together to work towards identifying problem areas and bring about improvements that would benefit the industry. These positive developments are hoped to forever change the customer- service provider equation in the industry and stand as a precedent to quality consumer centric service.

Evolution of the fitness industry post the lockdown period

<ul><li>Health, immunity and fitness have become one of the top concerns for Indian consumers post COVID-19.</li><li>Healthtech platform Cult.fit has had a pretty busy year so far. It acquired three platforms, revamped its business model and brand identity, closed another funding round, and has recently launched a new campaign to target India’s youth.</li><li>Naresh Krishnaswamy, Growth &amp; Marketing Head, Cult.fit speaks to us about the platform's growth trajectory, idea behind its latest campaign and goals for 2021.</li></ul>What is that image that comes to your mind anytime someone says ‘fitness’? Do you see a petite woman with flawless skin, voluminous hair, a perfect smile posing with a small piece of gym equipment or a muscular man pumping ridiculously heavy weights? If the answer is yes, it is not your fault. Our definition of fitness is formed by the unidimensional communication we have grown up seeing. When it comes to fitness, all brands have tried to sell an ideal, unreal body image to their customers. They hire obscenely thin women who are further skewed to look even more ‘appetizingly perfect’ or muscular men who are photoshopped with 6 packs. Just in one Google image search of the word ‘fitness,’ you would notice a pattern of photoshopped images and how flawed the overall communication in the fitness industry is. The imagery we have seen in fitness advertisements, whether on billboards, TV or social media, have created a perception that has made us feel under confident in our own bodies. And people who don’t meet these idealistic body standards, feel intimidated to join a gym. Healthtech brand Cult.fit has been consciously trying to move away from this, reminding its audience that fitness is for everyone and people should exercise to feel good, stronger, and happier. Cure.fit’s latest campaign ‘Fitness is not an option’ imitates iconic Bollywood scenes to show how they would play out if the actors weren’t fit. It reenacts famous running scenes from Bollywood like ‘The Train’ scene from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and ‘The Bull’ scene from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara but there’s a twist in the plot; the actors start panting and wheezing instead, reiterating the message that fitness is not an option anymore but an absolute necessity. Everyone should take fitness more seriously. While it has been appreciated on social media for its creativity, sense of humor and great execution, there’s another reason why it stands out. It doesn’t sell an idealistic body image to its target audience. <div type="Youtube" id="xAB3CZC1BcI" title="Fitness Is Not An Option (cult.fit)" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xAB3CZC1BcI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Naresh Krishnaswamy, Growth and Marketing Head, Cult.fit told us the genesis of the campaign. He said, “First, the idea was to go at a higher level and attack the barriers of the industry. Typically, you see a lot of fitness communication around building up muscles and looking more attractive, desirable and pumping weights, etc. We, with our communication, now and in the future, want to really drive this whole thought of fitness being really essential to life, something that you can no longer ignore and it is for everybody. Fitness can be anything from running, that you see in one of the ads, to working out in the gym or home, etc. So, the objective was to pivot communication to drive fitness as a lifestyle habit as opposed to what’s been traditionally talked about -- weight loss, muscle gain, etc. Secondly, we have significantly expanded our fitness offerings and we wanted to show Cult as a wide fitness option.” The core insight ‘fitness is not an option’ was brainstormed and finalised internally, further woven into scripts by freelancers and finally produced by <keyword id="3167731" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supari-studios" source="Orion">Supari Studios</keyword>. The first TVC in the campaign has gone live on Cult.fit’s owned media channel, across all Sony TV channels and OTT platforms including SonyLiv. It was played during India vs England test matches and will extend into the IPL season which is set to resume on September 19. Unfortunately, Cult.fit’s first advertisement ‘Jaa Simran Jaa’ recently hit a minor roadblock. It has been taken down from YouTube after Yash Raj Films flagged it for violating copyright protocol. However, it is already back on Instagram. Krishnaswamy said that Cult.fit’s legal team is working to bring the film back. “We did our due diligence before launching that ad and we think it is completely in the clear. We are sorting a few things out and are confident that in a couple of days, it will be back up and running again.” ‘Fitness is not an option’ is Cult.fit’s first campaign after its brand revamp. In May 2021, Cure.fit was renamed to Cult.fit. Even before the revamp exercise, Cult.fit had tried to stay on top of social media trends. Now, with its latest campaign, it is trying to be an active part of pop culture. Telling us about Cult.fit’s marketing approach since its inception, Krishnaswamy said, “Right from when we started out in 2016, our objective has been to make fitness fun and relatable for individuals. If you look at our communication before the pandemic, our focus predominantly was to show people enjoying working out in a group with a smile on their faces. So no idealistic body types and showing extremely ripped, fit people. That’s been our ideology throughout. We now want to play a much larger category game and want Cult to be really associated with fitness. Our association before the revamp was with group classes, which is what we were offering before the pandemic, but now we offer every type of fitness. So, the evolution from there to today has been about the brand taking more of a humorous, quirky approach across channels. Before that, we were a little more functional -- a brand trying to tell you the benefits of working out. Now we are taking a lifestyle approach.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Goals for 2021" text="Goals for 2021">Goals for 2021</cmsannotation> Health, immunity and fitness have become one of the top concerns for Indian consumers post COVID-19. After gyms shut down in 2020, fitness apps and on-ground gyms rose to the occasion by shifting their focus online and providing personalised services based on different body types. With this, the Indian healthtech space saw a surge in user traffic and became a part of the new normal. According to Valuates Report, the Global Fitness App Market size is expected to grow from $3,312.58 Million in 2019 to $13,016.77 million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25.61%. Cult.fit has also had a pretty buzzing year. It acquired healthtech platform Fitternity, hardware-at-home platform Tread and partnered with Disney+ Hotstar, Sarva and Brilliant Wellness. Commenting on the first half of the year and focus areas for the rest of it, Krishnaswamy said, “We have been very active this year. We have done 3 acquisitions, completed another fundraising round recently, we have pivoted into digital and gyms, the next six months is heads-down growth. We will continue to remain opportunistic with any acquisitions or any other inorganic opportunities to grow. But we have all the tools we need in our arsenal. So, the next six months would be about execution and campaign activity.” After the pandemic, Cult.fit added 2 million users and out of these 1.5 million, 1 million users joined the platform during the lockdown in April and May. However, this number slowly tapered off as it moved to a paid subscription model. Today, it has 1,50,000 paid members on its content product and with gyms coming back, 100,000 people work out in Cult.fit gyms every day. As per its regulatory filings, its operating revenue shot up 174% to Rs 496 crore during FY20 from Rs 181 crore earned in FY19. “About 50% of our gym members are back. Our revenue and MAUs are on a steep upgrowing trend now, with people using our gyms and online product and we only see ourselves continuously growing month-on-month as vaccination rates increase, and we add more supplies in our gyms and consumer sentiment picks up. We foresee that over the next few months, we should get back to pre-pandemic levels of general attendance and member activity,” shared Krishnaswamy. To accelerate the vaccination process in our country, Cult.fit is also offering free vaccination to its members and one of their family members. It would be focusing on improving its online group classes, upping gym safety, polish its hybrid model and consolidate local gyms under its network. Sharing the company’s vision, Krishnaswamy said, “We want Cult.fit to be completely synonymous with fitness. When you think fitness, you should only think of Cult. The second objective is that we want to be an iconic, youthful brand. We want people to really love Cult. We want to speak to them in a language that inspires them to get fit and not be in the annoyingly motivational zone, which a lot of fitness brands are. We want to be in the top league of fitness brands in India that really lead and define the category.”

We don’t want to show idealistic body types and extremely ripped, fit people in our ads: Naresh Krishnaswamy of Cult.fit

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Fitternity eyes to expand to 25 cities in India and be present in APAC and Middle east

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Evolution of the fitness industry post the lockdown period

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We don’t want to show idealistic body types and extremely ripped, fit people in our ads: Naresh Krishnaswamy of Cult.fit

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