Pilates Studio Case Study: Market Analysis and Strategies

This case study examines a Pilates Studio facing challenges in a competitive market. It explores market segmentation strategies, including demographic, geographic, and behavioral approaches, to identify high-yield segments. The study analyzes how the studio can adapt its service offerings to meet evolving market conditions and incorporate emerging trends like wearables and high-intensity interval training. Furthermore, it investigates the development of additional service aspects and complimentary areas, such as protein shakes, health counseling, and membership options, to attract the target market. The case study also emphasizes the importance of integrating relevant technology and social media to enhance service design and effectively manage demand, providing actionable recommendations for the Pilates Studio's growth and success.

CASE STUDY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1) This case highlights the product life cycle concept and how as a market expands and
competition increases the market needs to be segmented with new products and services being
offered and the organisational offerings augmented. In what other additional ways may the
market be segmented?............................................................................................................1
2) How would you develop the service to take into account existing market conditions?....4
3) What service aspects, and additional complimentary service areas, would you develop
given your target market selection (i.e. 24/7, individual personal trainers, spa and sauna
services, etc.)?........................................................................................................................5
4) Consider how relevant technology and social media can be incorporated into this current
service design and explain how this innovation will enable the management of demand for the
Pilates Studio..........................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The following assignment is based upon a case study of gym called Pilates Studio
which is undergoing certain issues owing to which the demand for its services is forecasted to
come down in near future. To counter this, a number of suggestions have been given which can
be taken into consideration by the management of Pilates Studio to enhance the demand for its
offerings.
1) This case highlights the product life cycle concept and how as a market expands and
competition increases the market needs to be segmented with new products and services
being offered and the organisational offerings augmented. In what other additional ways
may the market be segmented?
Market segmentation can be referred to as the activity of division of a business market
or a broad consumer, inclusive of potential and existent customer, in to sub-groups of people
(Gavens and et. al., 2019). Such groups are commonly known as segments and this type of
segmentation is done in accordance with some shared characteristics. At the time of division of
segmentation of any marketplace, companies usually look forward to some common traits, like
common interests, lifestyle, shared need or other such kind of demographic profile. The major
purpose behind execution of segmentation is the identification of high yield market place
segment, which are segments acknowledged to be flourishing and prosperous, having high
potential for growth in upcoming time period. This helps the entity in selecting the most
appropriate market and then providing products and services catering to their needs and
requirements in order to inflate the revenues and profits of business.
A number of ways have been regarded as ways to carry out segmentation of a
marketplace. The companies who are B2B sellers usually segment the marketplace into various
types of nations or businesses (Noyelle, 2019). On the other hand, B2C sellers generally carry
out segmentation of marketplace on the basis of demographics, lifestyles, behaviour etc.
The segmentation of market is usually done by business entities in accordance with STP
approach. This model highlights three key areas, which are largely linked to each other. Each
succeeding stage of this model can not be executed unless the previous stage is successfully
carried out. The first stage of this model is segmentation without the execution of which
targeting and positioning can not be done. Market segmentation tends to assume that various
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market segments need variety of marketing initiatives such as lucrative offers, pricing,
promotions, distribution channels or other related approaches and practices (Sánchez-
Fernández and et, al., 2019). Marketplace segmentation is not just done with the sole purpose
of identification of most flourishing segment, but for the development of profile of key
marketplace segments. This helps in gaining a wider comprehensibility of their wants as well as
purchasing motivation. Insight from such analysis is taken into use for facilitating the planning
and development of marketing strategy. A number of organizations make use of STP
(Segmentation → Targeting → Positioning) approach to form the base for development of
marketing objectives. Thus, the process is defined as segmentation of a marketplace, selection
of segments for targeting and the positioning of commodities or services in a manner that is
aligned with the target marketplace.
One of the key steps in the segmentation procedure is selection of a relevant and
appropriate base. Hereby, the marketers within a company look for the means to achieve
internal homogeneity and external homogeneity. It can thus be said that these companies are
looking for a procedure aimed at minimization of differences existing between members of any
segment and maximization of differences between each of the segments. Apart from this, the
approach of market segmentation is required to yield the desired output in terms of relevant and
suitable market segments that are key to generation of solution of any certain marketing
situation or issue (Van Huy and et. al., 2019). Selecting of an appropriate and relevant base
needs a great deal of thinking and in-depth comprehensibility of the marketplace selected for
segmentation. Marketer within any company can carry out market segmentation on any of the
bases, provided that it meets the below discussed 5 criteria:-
 Identifiability – This can be referred to as the magnitude up to which a manager can
determine or acknowledge different groups within a market.
 Substantiality – This can be referred to as the magnitude to which a segment of market
signifies an adequate size to be profitable.
 Accessibility – This can be referred to as the magnitude to which a marketer is able t
reach out to target segments with marketing or promotional initiatives.
 Responsiveness – This can be referred to as the magnitude to which people within a
specific market segment would react to the marketing offers targeted at them (Li and et.
al., 2019).
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 Actionable – It can be said that market segment is actionable when it renders guidance
for marketing related decision making.
In this relation, the case study highlights the product life cycle concept and how as a market
expands and competition increases, the market needs to be segmented with new products and
services being offered and the organisational offerings being augmented. Thus, the other ways
in which a market can be segmented are discussed as follows:-
Segmentation
Base
Brief account of the base
with examples Typical segments
Demographics
It consists of quantifiable population
characteristics. Examples of these can
be gender, age, income, economic
status, socio-economic status, family
size etc. (Ndubisi and et. al., 2019).
The examples of such segments
can be Young, Double Income
No Kids (DINKS); Upwardly
mobile, Prosperous, Professionals
(YUPPY); Greying, Leisure And
Moneyed (GLAMS); Empty-
nester, Full-nester etc.
Geographics
This consists of segmentation on the
basis of physical locations or regions.
The examples of these can be state,
country, suburb, region, city, postcode
etc.
The examples of such segments
are inclusive of Remote, outback
Australians; New Yorkers;
Urbanites, Inner-city dwellers
etc.
Geodemograph
ic or geo-
clusters
This consists of segmentation done in
accordance with the combination of
demographic and geographic factors.
The examples of these segments
comprise of Urban professionals,
Rural farmers, 'sea changers',
'tree changers' (Ochel and
Wegner, 2019).
Psycho-
graphics
Hereby, the segmentation of market is
done as per the consumer lifestyle,
social or personality characteristics
The examples of these segments
can be Conservative, Socially
Aware; Traditionalist, Active as
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(Tseng, 2019). well as 'club-going' young people
Behavioural
This constitutes segmentation of market
done in terms of purchasing,
consumption or utility behaviour. The
examples of these include Need based,
benefits sought, usage occasion,
purchasing frequency, customer loyalty,
readiness of buyer etc.
The examples of these consists of
Enthusiast; Opinion Leader,
Tech-savvy personnel; Early
adopter, Luxury seeker, Price
conscious people, Quality
conscious individuals etc.
Contextual and
situational
The same consumer changes in their
attractiveness to marketers based on
context and situation. This is
particularly used in digital targeting via
programmatic bidding approaches
(Tang and Zhang, 2019).
The examples pertaining to this
segment consists of Actively
shopping, entering in to a life
changing event, physical
presence in a definite location or
at a specific retail firm which is
known from GPS data with the
help of smart phones.
2) How would you develop the service to take into account existing market conditions?
The fitness industry is rapidly evolving day by day with a number of trends emerging
within the sector. This helps gyms and other fitness centres like Pilates Studio to constantly
enhance and develop its services with a view to remain aligned with the existing market
conditions and provide services which are capable of meeting the needs and demands of fitness
conscious people (Kchaou and Durst, 2019). The emerging trends that can be taken into
account by Pilates Studio in order to meet the preferences of people are:-
Wearables: The devices like Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin etc. are some of the effective
wearables which are putting personalized biometric health statistics at the fingertips of people
(Shapiro, Mackmin and Sams, 2019). Wearables is an emerging technology that allows people
to count how many steps that have taken within 24 hours, the number of calories burnt by them,
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their heart rates, blood pressure. All of these are facilitating individuals to do more exercises
and gyming as this will keep them healthy and fit. This encourages them to join Gyms like
Pilates Studio so as to improve their health.
High Intensity Interval Training: This is yet another emerging trend within the
confines of fitness sector. It is a type of training that includes short periods of high intensity
exercises followed by short breaks (Evangelou, 2019). The main aspect here is the time
efficiency of this workout, which owing to the high level of efforts required, can only be
executed for shorter session. This service can be developed by Pilates Studio in order to expand
their service portfolio, thereby, catering to the needs and demands of people in a desirable
manner.
3) What service aspects, and additional complimentary service areas, would you develop given
your target market selection (i.e. 24/7, individual personal trainers, spa and sauna
services, etc.)?
There are various service aspects as well as complimentary service areas that can be
incorporated within the confines of Pilates Studio in order to gain the attention of target market.
In this regard, the target market is 24/7, individual personal trainers, spa and sauna services,
etc. To cater to the needs and demands of selected target marketplace, Pilates Studio can
explore the sale of protein shakes and other gym related accessories (da Cruz Gonçalves and
Azevedo, 2019). When people will purchase the products of gym, they will automatically get
knowledge about the gym as the sale business will be incorporated within the gym premises of
Pilates Studio only. Further, other services areas that can be explored is provision of health and
fitness counselling sessions and development of diet charts and exercise routines for those who
are in need of same. Pilates Studio can even explore the option of sale of weights. It can start
offering services like Cardio Fit, Muscle Fit and Functional Fit. Complimentary service like
membership of 6 months, 1 year and 3 years can be offered by entity to people which would
further have the scope to be renewed to avail extra benefits.
4) Consider how relevant technology and social media can be incorporated into this current
service design and explain how this innovation will enable the management of demand
for the Pilates Studio.
Social media had changed the way in which marketing is done in various sectors like
retail, fitness, fashion and so on. People are spending most of the time on social media sites like
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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This is the reason marketers are promoting their goods and
services on these sites (Bocci, 2019). Gym centres like Pilates Studio can get benefits through
online promotion by making advertisement upon perks of health and fitness. Gyms basically
targets youth because they are indulge more in fitness and moreover they use social media
more than others. The other thing gym can do is use celebrities and post their video on social
media in order to attract large number of customers.
Second thing that provide benefit to gym is usage of latest technology and innovations
like wearables. There are various machines that gyms can use to maintain health and fitness of
people. These machines used in reducing fat, increasing stamina of body and overall ensure
fitness (Occhi, 2019). People want to go to the gym whereby latest innovative machines are
available in order to ensure quality fitness and health.
With the use of social media and technology, innovation can be brought about within
the periphery of gym services. Pilates Studio is opened up with an excellent initiative of
therapeutic services, inclusive of an emergency doctor service. This entity is open seven days a
week. It is essential that the initiative taken up by this firm is promoted by way of social media.
With awareness among a large base of audience, the Pilates Studio can offer its services to
several persons who are in need of exercises to cure mental stress and other such situations
(Park and Porteous, 2019).
This gym organisation has the capability to incorporate a number of technologies within
its working approach and service provision. Through the implementation of innovative and
unique technologies, the respective gym can gain an edge over the other rival firms prevailing
within the confines of same business sector. The technologies used will be effective enough to
develop an atmosphere of positivity, mental calmness and relaxation within the organisational
premises (Laurens, 2019). With this, the people will be able to get rid of the tensions, worries
and stress of life and work and enjoy in the gym with Pilates services.
Thus, through the usage of technology and social media within the gym, Pilates Studio
can effectively enhance its demand within market place. This is so because when people will
have knowledge about the services being provided within Pilates Studio, they will be attracted
towards the organisation and will be encouraged to experience the facilities once (Shir-Wise,
2019). The enhanced reach will assist the organisation to manage the demand well, in order to
inflate its sales as well as profits at market place.
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CONCLUSION
From the above case study discussion, it has been analysed that there are a number of
ways to segment market. The company has been doing segmentation on the basis of geography
while it has other alternatives like demographic, psychographic and behavioural market
segmentation. Further, it has been acknowledged that social media and investment in latest
technologies can provide an edge to company in market place. It has also been recognised that
the gym can come up with additional services areas or complimentary services in order to
enhance its market positioning.
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REFERENCES
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