Health Is Wealth

FITNESS centres are increasingly exercising the productivity pitch to attract corporate memberships, writes OOI TEE CHING
Healthy employees are happy workers.
And happy workers make a productive workforce which contributes towards bigger profits for employers.
This is the marketing pitch a growing number of exercise centres in the Klang Valley are using to to boost their clientele, particularly among working professionals.
One of the ways Malaysia’s fitness centre operators grow their membership base is by tie-ups with corporates whereby they sign on at least 20 employees to undergo exercise programmes at their clubs.
Fitness First, the pioneer in offering corporate membership to big companies like HSBC Bank, Maxis Bhd, Hewlett Packard Group and Microsoft Malaysia, is now seeing its rivals California Fitness and Celebrity Fitness offering the same.
“Our first outlet opened in 2001 at Menara Manulife (formerly known as Menara John Hancock) and we offered corporate membership in addition to the usual walk-in membership programme.
“It’s proven, healthy employees are productive workers,” operator of Fitness First in Malaysia, Sportathlon (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, national operations manager Russell Dean said.
California Fitness vice president Rod Bennar says he cannot agree more.
“When employees exercise regularly, employers are likely to see increased productivity through reduced absenteeism,” he said.
He is optimistic that when more Malaysian companies subscribe to California Fitness’ programmes, their employees will feel a lot more energised and go to work like bees to honey.
“Improving workplace health and well-being therefore not only makes common sense, it will really make a difference to the company’s bottomline,” he added.
Bennar declined to reveal how many companies have signed up for corporate membership with California Fitness, but welcomed the growing competition in the Malaysian market.
“We love competition. The way we see it, the fitness market here is not at all saturated. There’s a lot of room for growth,” he said.
Since the joining, processing and monthly fees charged by the various fitness centres do not vary much from each other; they compete by packaging the fees with differentiated facilities and services.
Malaysia’s second biggest fitness centre operator Fitness First will open its 12th outlet in Kuala Lumpur by December.
“Since 2001, we’ve invested close to $16US.5 million (RM60.5 million). The 12th club should open at the end of the year. For an area of 20,000 sq ft, we’re prepared to invest $1US.5 million (RM5.5 million). It’ll be in Klang Valley and we’re not revealing anything more because of competition,” Dean said.
While Fitness First actively cross-promotes with complementing brands like skin care product retailer Clarins and sportshoe Nike, other fitness centre operators engage international celebrities like Jackie Chan and Amber Chia to be their ambassadors.
California Fitness’ Bennar says Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan’s endorsement has helped attract many new members to the firm’s JC Boxercise class.
“The fast-paced JC Boxercise combines two of Jackie Chan’s favourite passions, boxing and martial arts, and make for a fantastic group exercise experience,” he said.
In Malaysia, California Fitness has invested $7US million (RM25.6 million) in two outlets and is prepared to invest another $3US.5 million (RM12.8 million) for its third.
“We’re still looking for the right site with floor area spanning over at least 40,000 sq ft. It’s got to be in the metropolitan area where there’s high traffic and is easily accessible,” he said.