Werner Kieser has created a successful 118-club company by focusing, exclusively, on strength training
Werner
Kieser makes no apologies for the fact that his training facilities
offer no saunas, or steam rooms, or swimming pools, or aerobic studios,
or yoga classes... or even bikes, treadmills, steppers, or elliptical
trainers. And why should he? His clubs, by design, focus exclusively on
one thing-strength training-and the concept has proven remarkably
successful both for his company, Kieser Training AG, headquartered in
Zurich, Switzerland, the 190,000-plus members it has throughout Europe.
«Cardiovascular
equipment is unnecessary and expensive,» insists the 63-year-old
Kieser. «Anyone can get a good cardio workout without having to join a
fitness facility.» Social areas, relaxation facilities, and
entertainment- e.g., television-are also unnecessary, in Kieser's
opinion-mere distractions from the real business, which is exercising.
«We're
targeting the health and fitness market, not the leisure market,» he
explains. «People have different tastes in music, art, television,
etc., and there are plenty of nice places where they can get together
and socialize, so why should we try to compete with the bar or
restaurant down the street? Other clubs may feel it's important to
provide members with places to relax and be pampered,» says Kieser,
«but we've taken an entirely different approach- one that, we believe,
produces better results for our clients.»
A muscular concept
Kieser's approach to the health club business is, to put it mildly, unorthodox.
While
most fitness facilities are striving to expand on their core
offering-e.g., by adding mind/body classes, spa treatments,
recreational amenities, etc.-Kieser Training maintains a single-minded
focus on strength training. And the approach is clearly working. In
2002, the company, which currently owns and/or franchises a total of
118 facilities in Germany (93), Switzerland (20), Austria (3),
Luxembourg (1), and the U.K. (1), generated more than $100 million in
revenues.
Kieser Training facilities provide scientifically
based preventive, and medically based strength-training, programs, and
concentrate exclusively on the improvement of the musculoskeletal
system. A special emphasis is the prevention and treatment of back
problems.
«One-half of all health problems are musculoskeletal,
and the back is at the top of the list,» observes Kieser. «In Germany,
for instance, approximately $22 billion a year is spent on back
treatments, while, in the U.K., the figure is estimated to be
approximately the same. Theoretically, we could reduce that expense by
80% by putting people through our strength-training program twice a
week.»
The typical franchised Kieser Training facility is
equally focused and Spartan. It's 6,000-8,000 square feet in size, and
includes: a medical department; an exercise hall for supervised
resistance training; approximately 50 strength training machines,
primarily ones manufactured by MedX; a drinking water dispenser; and
locker rooms equipped with futuristic stainless steel shower pods. (In
1995, Kieser entered into a licensing agreement with MedX to
manufacture and sell the company's equipment in Europe.)
Normal people's needs
The
Kieser Training concept originated in 1967, when Kieser, an amateur
boxer who had used strength training to rehabilitate himself after an
injury ended his career in the ring, decided to open up his own gym in
Zurich. He soon became disillusioned, however, because the people he
felt could profit most from exercise simply weren't coming into his
club; instead, it was attracting bodybuilders and elite athletes.
«Individuals like that have a lot of self-discipline and generally
don't need much supervision,» notes Kieser. «My goal was to help
Ônormal' people.»
So Kieser stepped back, reevaluated what he
was doing and delivering, and even began to build his own line of
resistance equipment. Eventually, he resolved to eliminate those
elements of the club that, as far as he was concerned, served no
fundamental purpose, including the stationary bikes, steam bath, and
massage and tanning services. He stripped the operation down to its
bare bones, to what he regards as its most essential and important
product: strength training. «In an ideal world,» avers Kieser,
«everyone would have a line of strength machines in their own home.»
Gradually,
the club began to attract more and more members who, impressed by the
good results they got from a few short workouts-Kieser advocates three,
or fewer, half-hour strength-training sessions a week- started to
recommend it to their friends. In 1981, Kieser Training embarked on an
expansion program that involved a combination of franchising and, to a
lesser extent, new developments.
Today, 80% of the company's
sites are operated by franchisees, who pay an initial entry fee of
approximately $32,800, plus 5% of revenues, and are required to make an
initial capital investment of nearly $700,000 (see sidebar). The most
successful franchisees, reports Kieser, are invariably former customers
who are fervent in their zeal to convert people to «Kiesering»-now the
generic Swiss term for strength training.
A no-frills product
Kieser
clubs clearly aren't at all «club-like,» and that, it seems, is one of
the central reasons for their success. Unlike most fitness facility
operators, Kieser doesn't attempt to create environments that would
tempt members to linger, and he isn't interested in providing them with
a social or entertainment experience. Rather, Kieser Training has
carved out its own unique niche, following a strictly utilitarian,
results-oriented approach that's based on strength training alone. Gone
are all the distracting TVs, sound systems, and other extraneous bells
and whistles.
Equally important to its progress and prosperity
is the fact that, while the workouts that Kieser recommends are
demanding, the investment of time and money required of members is not.
An annual membership costs about $650, and clients are encouraged to
work out no more than three times a week, performing only one set on
each of the 10 machines used in the program, and without engaging in
either warm-up or cool-down activities.
«Most people like our
program because it's straightforward, doesn't require much time, and
produces fast results,» explains David Fritz, the managing director of
the company's U.K. subsidiary. «But it isn't easy-the sets are
performed to exhaustion and, thanks to the machines we use, you really
can't cheat during the exercises. The training can be boring and
painful,» he admits, «but it works.»
Pumping up prospects
Kieser
Training facilities are, in some respects, reminiscent of the original
Gold's Gyms of the early 1970s, which put strength training center
stage, and where cardiovascular exercise, basically, meant running
around the block. The big difference, today, is that Kieser offers a
strength-training product that's more sophisticated, more productive,
and, as a result, more appealing to a greater number of populations: it
is modern, medically based, utilizes equipment specifically designed
for the task, and does the job for a wide range of members-youth,
women, seniors, the sedentary: in short, Kieser's target audience of
«ordinary» people.
«We attract a different type of customer than
most other clubs,» observes Kieser. «Most of our clients have never
been in a fitness facility before. Essentially, they're people who, at
one point or another, have said to themselves, 'Okay, I need to do
something about my health and fitness-something that's effective,
doesn't cost too much, and doesn't entail any social obligations.'»
Confident
that the Kieser club concept can «travel,» surmounting cultural
boundaries, the company is now exploring opportunities in France,
Spain, and the Netherlands, and plans to open an additional 25
facilities this year. Within three to four years, it hopes to launch an
expansion initiative in the United States.
«We've created a very
effective and efficient product that relies on strength training in its
purest form,» concludes Kieser. «People come to us for medical and
preventive strength training, and, for a relatively modest fee, we help
them build the muscles that they need- it's that simple.»
| |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
| Revenues from franchising |
734 |
992 |
1,971 |
2,751 |
3,366 |
| Revenues from machine sales |
3,892 |
5,155 |
8,270 |
8,551 |
9,830 |
| Other income |
1,436 |
1,334 |
1,255 |
936 |
1,106 |
| German subsidiaries |
4,220 |
5,079 |
6,113 |
7,544 |
7,683 |
| U.K. subsidiaries |
NA |
NA |
456 |
675 |
737 |
| Austrian subsidiaries |
NA |
NA |
683 |
1,443 |
1,857 |
| Staff training academy |
NA |
126 |
334 |
419 |
779 |
| Total |
10,282 |
12,687 |
19,083 |
22,319 |
25,360 |
| |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
| KT Germany |
15,350 |
28,755 |
34,281 |
57,081 |
66,410 |
| KT Luxembourg |
NA |
743 |
1,098 |
1,151 |
1,123 |
| KT Austria |
NA |
NA |
879 |
1,894 |
3,206 |
| KT U.K. |
NA |
52 |
493 |
780 |
964 |
| KT Switzerland |
13,128 |
14,046 |
16,576 |
17,717 |
17,812 |
| Total |
28,478 |
43,597 |
53,326 |
78,625 |
89,514 |
*Preventative Strength Training and Medical Strengthening Therapy Gross Group Revenues.
Catherine Larner is CBI's European correspondent
