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New information released by media network Val Morgan Outdoor (VMO) is showing that Australians are emerging from COVID lockdowns having picked up new healthy habits and are looking to make more time for activities that improve mental and physical fitness.

With populations emerging from what it says is “hopefully the last COVID wave … (and) bouncing back to their normal habits just as quickly”, VMO explains that in its Active health club network, were it uses its DART facial analytics platform to measure audiences weekly, its recent findings across the reopening states of NSW and Victoria “clearly demonstrate a rapid resurgence in fitness and health club visitation”.

VMO continue “not only are health club environments and audience patterns showing signs that they will normalise over the coming months, but they were … growing before we headed into the latest lockdown, according to a May 2021 study by Fitness & Lifestyle Group, owners of Australia’s leading health clubs such as Fitness First, Goodlife and Jetts Fitness.

“The data highlighted that consistent gymgoers were motivated to get back to their daily pre-pandemic routines, and more people were joining in a bid to better their mental and physical health after a highly tumultuous 18 months.

“This data gives confidence that as we emerge from this second major lockdown, the desire and return of audiences will be higher than ever leading into 2022.”

VMO Active’s health club network proposition offers clients a creative, multi-asset media portfolio that engages with ‘The Unreachables’; hard-to-reach, high-value audiences in the premium, health and wellbeing category.

VMO state that “‘The Unreachables’ … audience is prime for picking. They are high on exercise. They are focused. They are motivated. They are feeling good. This audience has chosen to be in this environment for 70 minutes per visit to improve their mental and physical wellbeing, which no other out-of-home space can truly claim.

“VMO Active audiences at health and fitness clubs are uniquely positive, receptive, aspirational and action-oriented. In fact, 80% of health club members say they feel their mood improving as they work out.”

Fitness & Lifestyle Group May 2021 study that tracked the behaviours and expectations of returning gymgoers found that for this population “the level of safety at their club was like that of other services such as cafes/pubs, schools, and shopping centres - a comfort level that is not shared by the wider population. Most members unfroze their memberships and returned to their health clubs quickly after every lockdown period, which directly correlated with our DART audience measurement analytics.

“Interestingly, nearly all lapsed members who cancelled their membership during the past year did so as a direct result of COVID, as opposed to dissatisfaction with their health club. This group is much more concerned with the current safety levels of common places and social activities overall, but also health clubs in particular.  Once they feel comfortable, approximately half intended to re-join the same brand that they left, while one in four were looking for something new.”

Click here for more information. 

Sources:
VMO Ethnography Study 2019
Fitness & Lifestyle Group Member Survey May 2021.

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