Spring has begun and it’s time to #GetLeggy as the sunny weather approaches. While trying to get those pins back into shape, regular exercisers will notice the increasing array of fitness gadgets on the market to aid their exercise routines. From tracking apps and monitoring bands to sweat resistant accessories and fitness watches, the relationship of tech and fitness has become intertwined. The latest insights from Kantar Media TGI’s Clickstream study reveal what drives fitness fiends to embrace technology.
TGI Clickstream, a unique consumer survey measuring both in-depth online behaviour through a passive meter as well as a huge range of offline consumer behaviour, shows that over 4.4 million British adults belong to gyms or leisure centres. This group is also nearly three times as likely as the average British adult to regularly jog- the target audience for most of the fitness tech market.
These regular exercise fiends are as married to their fitness regimes as they are to technology. They are 26% more likely than the average British adult to keep up with developments in technology and 32% more likely to buy new gadgets or appliances. This is hardly surprising since they are also 49% more likely than the average to say they have expensive tastes.
Looking further at the fitness and exercise app market, in 2013 the top 20 free fitness apps accounted for a total of 231 million downloads. While free apps may accumulate huge audiences, marketers should also look at the paid-for app download habits of these exercise fiends. This group is 45% more likely than the average Internet user to download free apps once a fortnight. In comparison, they are 35% more likely to download paid apps two to three times per week.
According to Mobihealthnews.com, with the digital device market to be worth an estimated £200 million in 2013, looking at the spending habits of fitness fanatics, especially online, is essential. Nearly 80% of this group have bought something online in the past three months. They are also 25% more likely to buy personal tech online.
With so many products available, marketers need to be aware of how regular exercisers are deciding what to buy. One way they are making decisions is through peer reviewed comments. 64% of this group have sourced products online in the past four weeks. In the past month, however, this group is also 48% more likely than the average British adult to have shared a product or brand review.
For example, looking at gym goers’ criteria of choice for choosing a mobile phone, they are 59% more likely than the average British adult to choose a phone based on professional recommendations or reviews.
Marketers in this sector would do well to target these fitness fanatics group via mobile media. They are 33% more likely than the average British adult to own a smartphone and 52% more likely to own a tablet. 46% of this group access the Internet more than once a day on their mobile device. While online, it is often best to advertise to these technophiles while they are checking social networks. In the past four weeks, they have spent an average time of 685 minutes on Facebook, 73 minutes on Twitter and 36 minutes on Pinterest. We could go further still with Kantar Media’s Ad-Vantage initiative, generating the exact cookies for reaching this target online.
By Stephanie Keller
Marketing Executive and Media Analyst
TGI & Custom
www.kantarmedia.co.uk