Fitness Marketing

This paper discusses the marketing strategies for Barbell Brigade, a middle level fitness brand, to sustain and expand in the face of competition in Singapore. It includes an environmental analysis (Porter 5 forces), marketing objectives, target market, and marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion).

Running head: FITNESS MARKETING
Fitness Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:.......................................................................................................................2
Environmental analysis (Porter 5 forces):.........................................................................2
Threats of new entrants:................................................................................................2
Threats of substitutes:....................................................................................................3
Bargaining power of the customers:..............................................................................3
Bargaining power of suppliers:.......................................................................................4
Industry rivalry:...............................................................................................................4
Marketing Objectives:........................................................................................................4
Target Market:...................................................................................................................5
Marketing mix:...................................................................................................................6
Products:........................................................................................................................6
Place:.............................................................................................................................7
Price:..............................................................................................................................8
Promotion:......................................................................................................................8
Financials:..........................................................................................................................8
Controls:.............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion:........................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
The American fitness market has emerged into a battle ground for international,
middle level and local fitness clubs. The competition has been intensified with entry of
brands from Asia and Europe. These brands are slowly capturing the market from the
American companies. The paper would visit this situation considering Barbell Briagade,
a middle level fitness brand (barbellbrigade.com 2018) and its entry in Singapore
around 2019 . The researcher would show how the club can use its marketing strategies
to sustain and expand in the face of this competition.
Environmental analysis (Porter 5 forces):
The environmental analysis of the market of the Singapore which the
management of Barbell Brigade housed in Los Angeles needs to consider in making
their marketing related strategies should contain Five Forces Analyses developed by
Michael E. Porter. It must be clearly pointed out that M/s Barbell Brigade market fitness
wear as well gymnasium equipment. This would play an important role which would
come to the forefront in the Five Forces Analysis.
Threats of new entrants:
The first threat which Barbell Brigade would face in Singapore is threats of new
entrants both from within the country and from overseas. The revenue from the fitness
industry is already expected to surpass $ 28 million which means the industry is
becoming extremely profitable with an expanding customer base of around a million
(statista.com 2018). The fitness market of Singapore already experiences the presence
of international fitness chains like Gold’s Gym Singapore (goldsgym.com.sg m 2018).
Moreover, there are several chains of resident fitness clubs capable of competing with
Barbell Brigade. These new entrant gymnasiums challenge the market position of the
Barbell Brigade.
As far as fitness apparel is concerned, the Barbell Brigade is under continuous
threats from international and local brands. The sports apparel market in Singapore is
already invaded by European brands like Kappa (kappa.com 2018). There are also
American sportswear companies like Nike which compete with Barbell Brigade to grow

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even in the Singapore market. This means that the latter has to form a formidable
marketing strategy to counteract threats from sportswear firm entering the market both
from the US and abroad.
Threats of substitutes:
The second threat which the Barbell Brigade faces is threats from substitutes
both in terms of workout instruments and sportswear. As far as workout instruments are
concerned, Barbell Brigade faces stiff competition from Singaporean arm of Gold’s Gym
International Inc and other multinational fitness clubs (goldsgym.com 2018). These
fitness clubs have their branches all over the Singapore and several other countries.
They market their instruments on ecommerce websites like Amazon and ebay. They
have made their instruments available at international retail chains globally. Thus it is
evident from this discussion that Barbell Brigade has strong substitutes in terms of
instruments (barbellbrigade.com 2018).
As far as the sportswear division is concerned, Barbell Brigade faces competition
internationally from brands like Nike and Puma. As far as new substitutes for Barbell
Brigade is concerned, the brand is facing competition from brands from Europe and
Asia which are making way into the Sinaporean fitness wear market
(economictimes.indiatimes.com 2018).
Barbell Brigade’s premium gym services face competition from other fitness
regimes like zoomba, karate and yoga. The people in Singapore who want to avoid high
intensity weight training prefer these workout forms to working out in the gym
(adidas.com 2018).
Bargaining power of the customers:
The bargaining power of the customers in the fitness market is very high due to
presence of several brands both international and local. Singapore is one of the largest
sportswear and fitness market in the world with the sales at the outlets alone crossing $
45 million (statista.com 2018). This is due to presence of American international brands
like Nike and European brands like Adidas already in the market of Singapore. There is
a huge spurt of local Singaporean fitness brands which offer sportswear and fitness
instruments at more affordable prices than Barbell Brigade. This means that the

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bargaining power of customers in the American fitness market is pretty high means that
there are always scopes for customer poaching by competitors. This means that Barbell
Brigade should form its marketing strategies aimed to create value to the customers
(Čáslavová and Čmakalová, 2015).
Bargaining power of suppliers:
The bargaining power of suppliers in Singapore is pretty high due to intense
competition and large number of sportswear firms in the market. The supply chain of
raw materials of sportswear industry in Singapore is dominated by international brands
and big local brands. The suppliers offer these international sportswear companies raw
materials at lower rates. The suppliers of the leaders like Golds Gym Singapore and
Nike on the other hand, charge higher rates from Barbell Brigade and other middle
range fitness brands (Takata 2016).
Industry rivalry:
The Singaporean fitness industry is extremely competitive and hence experience
an intense rivalry in the industry among the competing firms. The Singaporean fitness
industry is dominated by the international companies like Nike and Gold’s Gym
Singapore having large share in the market. These companies provide high quality
goods and services to customers. As far as Barbell Brigade is concerned, the brand
holds a middle level in the Singaporean market. Its rivals on one hand consist of
international brands like Puma and local brands on the other hand (Zhang and Chung
2018). This analysis shows that the firm is under intense pressure of providing high
quality goods and services to compete with its international rivals like Gold’s Gym. It, on
the other hand has to maintain its pricing lower than these international rivals in order to
prevent local Singaporean sports brands from poaching its customers.
Marketing Objectives:
The marketing objectives of Barbell Brigade should be gaining higher position in
the fitness market and generating higher revenue with every passing year. The firm
faces competition from three sides which means the marketing objectives. The first area
in which Barbell Brigade faces competition is in fitness equipment sale and secondly in
case of provision of gymnasium facilities. The firm should provide appropriate mix of

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product, place and pricing to counteract competition in these two markets.
Figure 1Marketing objective in terms of gym service ansd instruments.
(Source: Author)
The third area of competition is sportswear where the price of products are lower
than the previous two but more intense due to presence of international and local
competitors (Čáslavová and Čmakalová, 2015). Hence, the pricing and product
strategies should enable Barbell Brigade beat both international and local competitors.
Barbell Brigade in this case has to provide an international assortment of sportswear at
affordable prices (Marzband et al. 2016). The same aggressive policy should be
adopted in terms of place and promotion as well. The objective should be selling
products to the largest possible consumer base and generate immense revenue.
Target Market:
The target market of Barbell Brigade would consist of the Singapore however,
the target customer base would vary with the three product categories. The target
market for the gym services should teenagers, working adults and fitness active
customers. It must be pointed out that the Barbell Brigade is a middle standard gym with
attractive facilities which local gyms cannot provide. The gym as a result has to charge
Ge
high

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high membership prices in order to be able to provide these facilities (Soo,et al. 2016).
Thus, the preferred customers would be teenagers and adults from the middle and
upper class strata of the society (Lovelock and Patterson 2015). Geographically, the
preferred customer base would be urban people who are fitness freaks and enjoy
working out in gyms with high-end facilities to keep themselves fit.
As far as fitness instruments are concerned, the target customer base of Barbell
Brigade would comprise of the upper class society customers who have sufficient
disposable funds to afford its high end instruments (Takata 2016).
As far the sportswear product line is concerned, the target customer base would
be middle and upper class people of different ages who love wearing sports apparel.
The customer perception here would be living healthy lifestyle and looking fit in sports
apparel. The target customer segment here can also include towns and rural areas
(Zhang and Chung 2018).
Marketing mix:
The marketing mix of the Barbell Brigade should consist of the following
components:
Products:
The products of Barbell Brigade consist of gymnasium services, gym instruments
and sportswear. The gymnasium services of the firm is superior to many local gyms in
the US but not better than international fitness clubs like the Golds Gym Singapore.
Barbell Brigade should provide services of the standard of the international gyms but at
a lower prices. This would enable it to steal customers from these gyms and generate
higher revenue (Čáslavová and Čmakalová, 2015). The fitness brand in order to
counteract the challenge it faces from clubs providing alternative fitness regimes like
karate, should either start providing yoga classes or acquire a fitness center providing
these alternative fitness training. The product strategy of Barbell Brigade in Singapore
should also include offering health food and supplements either free of cost or at
subsidized rates. The gym in order establish itself in the market of Singapore should
also offer services like spa, health and diet consultant and in-house swimming pool.

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This product mix of the gym can also contain mix of martial arts forms from China,
Japan and other countries. These offerings of core gym services and peripheral
services would render Barbell Brigade the desired product differentiation (Takata 2016).
This product differentiation would enable the gym to set itself apart from its competitors
and enable it to attract more consumers.
The next component on the product line of Barbell Brigade consist of fitness
instruments which the firm sells. The firm should provide an extensive range of fitness
instruments and pieces of equipment. As far as offering is concerned, the club can use
product bundling to enhance the value creation if the consumers. For example, it can
offer a set of free dumbbells with a dumbbell rack (Lovelock and Patterson 2015). This
would enable it to enhance rthe value of the purchasers and generate more revenue.
The product strategy in terms of sportswear of Barbell Brigade should consist of
extensive ranges of apparel in different colors. The product line should range form
casual vests, gym vests to semi-formal t-shirts. The product line should also expand to
include shoes, caps, bags, belts, watches and sunglasses. The firm should once again
use bundling techniques to attract more customers here and generate more revenue
(Čáslavová and Čmakalová, 2015).
Place:
The place strategy would play an important role in strengthening the market
position of the Barbell Brigade. The place strategy should consist of both store
strategies and online presence strategies. Barbell Brigade should open stores across
Sinapore which would enable it to sell its products. The firm in addition to these
strategies should market its products via retail outlets like Tesco, especially for the
sports apparel (tesco.sg 2018).
The next place strategy of Barbell Brigade should a strong online presence.
The firm should market and sell its products on the ecommerce platforms like
Amazon. This would enable it to get access to a huge customer base and
generate high revenue (Soo,et al. 2016).

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Price:
Price as a component of the marketing mix would play a pivotal role in case of
Barbell Brigade. It must be noted that the market position of Barbell Brigade is higher
than local fitness clubs but lower than the international fitness clubs. Hence, the pricing
should be high in order to create a strong perception about quality and standard among
the upper class customers. Barbell Brigade can offer discounts and offers to attract
more customers (Čáslavová and Čmakalová, 2015). The same strategy should be
followed by marketing wear. The company should offer special discounts for online
purchase of its products. These strategies as far as pricing is concerned would enable
the club to generate immense revenue.
Promotion:
Barbell Brigade should promote its products in health magazines, business
magazines and fashion magazines. The fitness club should promote its services on the
digital platform by using social media websites. This would enable it to generate more
customers and generate high revenue (Lovelock and Patterson 2015).
Financials:
The budget attached shows sources of income and expenditures. The budget
clearly shows that at least in the initial periods, the owners have to borrow form banksin
order to meet the expenses. It also shows that in the initial stage, the gym would earn
less surplus which would increase gradually.
Controls:
The management of Barbell Brigade should hold a very stringent communication
strategy and exercise total control over the content of the promotional activities. The
firm should be ethical and transparent regarding its facilities and offerings (Marzband et
al. 2016). This would enable it attract large number of consumers and establish itself
strongly in the market of Singapore.
Conclusion:
I can reflect on the discussion and point out that Barbell Brigade should take into
consideration the market conditions of the Singapore and form its marketing strategies.

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The firm must take into consideration the intense competition which already exists in the
fitness market of Singapore and presence of international brands like Gold’s Gym,
Singapore. The fitness club should prior to entering the market of Singapore should
form a marketing mix that would render it the required product differentiation. It must
offer a large array of peripheral products like swimming pool and supplements along
with gym services. The marketing of the gym in Singapore should take into account
networking, communication, advertisements and public relationships which would befit
the international standard of Barbell Brigade.

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and Puma. [online] The Economic Times. Available at:

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/a-desi-sportswear-
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