When the owners of Diego Health + Fitness came to us with the bold notion of creating a health hub - a single location offering a holistic set of services to help build body and mind - we were immediately amped (...not least because the assignment came with the ability to be part of their functional fitness classes; enter the fit marketer!)
It became immediately clear though that this wasn't about writing strategic documents, marketing plans or even implementation. The clients' were motivated enough to nail that themselves.
No, this assignment was more esoteric. More nuanced yet no less more important. This assignment was about talking.
That's right - talking!
Helping to percolate the idea, facilitate discussions with a wider audience and every now and then, adding in some market analysis.
The idea of a health hub wasn't necessarily new concept internationally but for Tauranga in 2015, it most certainly was.
Our challenge was to summarise the idea into a concise and compelling elevator statement and devise a working name.
We needed to sell the dream to other practitioners, to convince landlords of the need to significantly modify their buildings, to encourage the bank manager to support the plight.
Through workshops and conversations - and a few teary blurry fitness sessions - that statement was created. A name put forward.
Health Quarters would bring together practitioners from disciplines such as podiatry, osteopathy, massage therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, nutrition and of course, fitness. It would challenge the expectations of what a gym is and isn’t. These like-minded health and fitness professionals would seek to collaborate to provide individuals with a holistic approach to health, wellbeing and wellness.
The outcome was simple. Health Quarters was born; the concept anyway. The requisite parties needed to support the idea came on board.
It took some time and much effort on behalf of the instigators to bring it to life physically but today Health Quarters exists. It is a credit to them.
MARKETING LESSON
When you have clients with a passion and a dream, the process needs to fit them not the other way around.
It's less about directing and more about facilitating; allowing the ideas to percolate. And percolation should not be underestimated when bringing a new concept to market.
Thinking and talking up front is a critical part of the process. Conversations and workshops when multiple players are involved are critical for idea development. All this needs to be worked through well before a pen hits the paper.
Following the lead of these clients, we found all that was needed was smart talk about smart ideas. The hard work was theirs.
Helping during that ideation process to hypothesise, present possibilities and conceptualise a direction is just one of the services we love to offer.