Focused on Fitness? If so, the mere sight of your living room walls could be enough to put you in a cold sweat these days. For many, traditional fitness experiences are off the table. And with so many still stuck at home finding healthier, more productive pastimes than constant snacking, Netflix binge-watching and general laissez disguise is a top priority. The New Year is already a month behind us, resolutions are still fresh, and marketers are motivated to embrace the confluence of audience trends, behaviors, and passions that support the changing fitness industry. And there’s one industry aspect in particular that both marketers and loyalty practitioners talk about: product-level loyalty.
Pennies for pounds
Product-level loyalty – the marketing facet that has taken the home fitness industry by storm. This trend aims to enrich the products themselves with loyalty functions, such as: B. ongoing membership benefits, reward opportunities and collaboration with other members. Sometimes these benefits are included in the original cost of the product or come with time-limited free trials. Most of the time, however, the full capabilities and benefits of these products – including internet-based shared realities with other people or enhanced metrics such as tracking and logging – cannot be realized without registering at these layers.
It’s a fascinating strategy with several competing implications. On the one hand, marketers need to recognize that additional costs or actions required in addition to the initial purchase can affect the overall purchase. On the other hand, these programs create a sense of exclusivity – a motivator for many in the first place. And the additional cost is usually much less in the short term than the original purchase, adding to the illusion of the “sunk cost” and convincing buyers to make another final decision. Since these products are typically offered at a premium to more affluent market segments, additional costs of accessing certain features are considered rather than questioned.
The product-level loyalty model is popping up across the industry, and key players and well-known brand names are eager to take action.
Examples of loyalty models at the product level
Peloton
Peloton offers additional membership levels for customers who want to take full advantage of the brand’s industry-standard fitness equipment. The lowest tier available is Peloton Digital Membership, which allows the Peloton app to access classes and training on digital devices. However, if you want to fully integrate with the Peloton hardware, you need the more expensive all-access membership, which activates metrics in the class, a leaderboard for interactions with other members, and post-training goals with metric analysis. Members can also access specific rewards such as milestone achievement badges and a Century Club t-shirt.
Lululemon mirror
When Lululemon acquired the mirror, it was heralded as one of the best examples of contemporary omni-channel marketing. In order to infuse the unique augmented reality fitness experience deeper into the brand’s marketing strategy, a $ 39 monthly membership is required to give customers access to different types of video workouts led by individual trainers running on are superimposed on the dynamic digital screen. In addition to the hardware’s already $ 1,500 initial price, there is concern that these significant additional membership costs may go a step too far and may actually deter widespread adoption, thereby putting a strain on overall product loyalty.
NordicTrack & iFit
NordicTrack is a premium manufacturer and brand of personal fitness equipment such as treadmills and elliptical machines. To promote and personalize these products, NordicTrack is partnering with iFit – a personalized training and coaching subscription – to support the brand’s fitness programs. The technology integrates with NordicTrack hardware to provide “SmartFitness” for home exercise routines. And if customers are not satisfied with putting their computer in manual mode, these subscriptions are required. In order to entice customers to stay the course and to extend their membership, a free 1-year subscription is offered in addition to the first product purchase, with the aim of maintaining customer loyalty in the future.
We’ll watch these brands hold the course and continue to innovate as traditional gyms, spin classes, and other public fitness facilities return to an available and competitive option. Product-level loyalty strategies are becoming more common with major brand names. This should be an indication of what marketers should focus on next.
