A few days ago, on January 1, the very first of the 76 million baby boomers entered their fifth decade of life. All together now: "Happy birthday, baby boomers!"
This remarkable demographic event -- the shifting of one of the largest population bulges ever noted into "mature adulthood" -- was one that demographers, gerontologists, manufacturers, marketers, Madison Avenue, and many other interested parties had long anticipated. Of course, the boomers have been the club industry's principal membership cohort since the colorful days of Woodstock, and, as they mature, they're destined to continue shaping the industry well into the 21st Century.
"It's not as if the wants and needs of the boomers are going to change on the day they turn 50, but they will be changing in the next five years and beyond," points out Sandy Coffman, president of the Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Programming for Profit, and an expert on niche marketing. "We're entering a new era in the industry, one in which clubs will have no choice but to serve a diverse older population. But this isn't a project, as some clubs seem to view it -- the older population isn't going to arrive and then go away. We're talking about the health club market for the next 20 years."
The boomers, though, aren't solely responsibile for the fact that, during the next 30 years, the 50-plus population will grow by 74%, while the under-50 age group will inch up only 1%.
"We've known for some time that we're involved in a massive demographic shift, but there are factors, aside from the boomers, that are influencing the graying of America," observes John Rude, president of the Eugene, Oregon-based John Rude and Associates, a club consulting firm specializing in the maturity market. "One is the current boom in the number of seniors, resulting from advances in medicine, as well as from older adults' learning much more about the importance of being active and good nutrition -- they've learned both from the media and their own boomer children. Another factor is the tremendous slowdown in births that occurred in the years after 1964 -- precipitated by social changes, such as a higher divorce rate, women joining the work force in record numbers, etc. -- which has caused the younger cohort to shrink."
But some clubs, it seems, have turned a deaf ear to the admonition that "The aging are coming!" (See "Last Chance! Are You Ready," CBI, November 1995, pg. 24. ) "For years, clubs have been hearing about the imminent arrival of aging boomers, but only a handful of owners have taken steps to prepare," observes Colin Milner director of sales and marketing for Keiser the Fresno, California-based manufacturer of exercise equipment, and the sponsor of the IHRSA/Keiser 50-Plus Award for outstanding, mature-adult programming. "Well, the aging boomers are here. So now what do you do?"
Well, for one thing, you should probably begin paying more attention to what the experts, and the expert practitioners, have to say. "Many clubs, you see, are caught in their own paradigm -- their notion of how to conducting outside of that limiting box," adds Milner who, before joining Keiser was both a club manager and the publisher of Club Direct magazine. "They continue to do what they know best -- serving the youth market -- and that's a real obstacle to their future growth."
There's no need, however, to alert and persuade the applicants for this year's IHRSA/Keiser 50-Plus Award about the importance of addressing the evolving needs of the boomers, or the demands of the growing, mature-adult market. For these applicants -- from facilities such as the Elmwood Fitness Center in Harahan, Louisiana, the Downtown Athletic Club in Eugene, Oregon, and the Vital Life Center in Merced, California, to name just three -- marketing to, and serving, the new wave of older adults is already business as usual . . . and business is very good, thank you.
Consider Elmwood, for instance: "We're ready for the aging boomers," attests Joan Rizzuto, coordinator of the Senior Power Program, a fitness, educational, and recreational program developed for individuals 55 and over. A hospital-based center, Elmwood is the proud home of the Silver Slammers, a women's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1995 National Senior Olympic Games, and the provider of 41 different programs for its more than 2,000, 50-plus members. Among the many imaginative offerings: Memorobics, a four-week course designed to help participants improve their memory and problem-solving skills; and ChAerobics, a unique class that began under rather inauspicious circumstances.
"A severe flood caused our pool to collapse," Rizzuto explains," but we didn't want to cancel our (pool-based) arthritis exercise sessions; so we set up chairs in an aerobics room and conducted a seated aerobics class instead. Well, it was so popular that we now offer it three times a week."
The 175,000-square-foot Downtown Athletic Club in Eugene, Oregon -- another of this year's outstanding 50-Plus Award competitors -- introduced "e3" (expedition, experience, exercise), a special program for mature adults, approximately three years ago. "We've spent a lot of time and energy teaching the staff and members what aging means -- creating a more positive, empowering definition for the word," notes Fitness Director Diane Doster.
The e3 program, which boasts an astounding 96% retention rate, consists of a full schedule of fitness activities, educational courses on wellness topics, and a monthly excursion that might involve anything from horseback riding to cross-country skiing. "The expeditions encourage our mature-adult members to try new things, or to do things they haven't done since childhood," explains Doster. "That helps them stretch their comfort zones, and reminds them that they're still able to live life very fully."
A particularly instructive story about the relationship between clubs and mature adults is told by one of this year's IHRSA/Keiser 50-Plus Award contenders, the Vital Life Center. This club's motto, its philosophy, and its way of doing business, are all summed up in a single sentence: "It's never too late to start feelin' great!" "I've had the pleasure of visiting Vital Life," says Milner of Keiser "and, like all the applicants for the 1996 award, this club is doing some very creative things for the mature-adult market."
A small, two-year-old facility located in Merced, a rural community in northern California, Vital Life is owned and operated by Gene and Bernie (Bernice) Millem a husband and wife team whose insights into maturity come naturally: both are 64 years old. Like most people their age, and most of the clients that Vital Life serves, the Millens are newcomers both to exercise and to health clubs. Their industry innocence, though, is actually an asset given the fact that Vital Life targets older adults -- a population that, in the past, the industry has largely ignored.
"It seems that many clubs are trying to figure out how to incorporate mature adults into their existing programs; they're trying to find a way to fit them into their club," notes Bernie. "But we've taken a different approach. Though anyone over 18 can join the center -- and we encourage a multigenerational mix -- we're geared towards people over 40, Towards people who are generally new to exercise. So, as owners, we have nothing to unlearn."
Gene, the former president of the County Bank of Merced, recalls that, "At the bank, we focused many of our marketing efforts on the mature-adult market . . . because the over-50 set controls 50% of the discretionary income, and represents 80% of the deposits in savings and CDs, and over 60% of the commercial deposits." He and his wife, however would probably never have entered the industry, and found themselves attending to the fitness needs of the over-50, if it hadn't been for a frightening event that occurred five years ago. Gene describes the experience -- typical of ones that prompt many mature adults to commit to exercise -- in one section of his IHRSA/Keiser 50-Plus Award application: "In September 1990, at age 60, I was given the startling news by my cardiologist that I was a 'walking time bomb'. Two days later I had open-heart surgery to bypass six clogged arteries. This sudden and unanticipated brush with death was my 'wake up' call.
"Prior to my heart surgery, I was too busy to exercise, and my nutrition motto was, 'Life is uncertain . . . eat dessert first'. After my surgery, my priorities changed. I made the time to exercise, and I became highly motivated to learn what food to put in my body to keep my arteries clear. Every book and article on exercise and nutrition that I could get my hands on was quickly devoured."
"Within a few weeks, remarkable things began to happen. I felt 25 years younger. My energy level improved dramatically, strength and endurance steadily increased, back pain disappeared, and there was a drop in my blood pressure and pulse rate. I lost 10 pounds of unneeded body fat, became better able to handle stress, and my mental capacity even seemed sharper. I became hooked on exercise and proper nutrition."
In 1992, feeling as though he'd been reborn, Gene retired from the bank, and, one year later he and Bernie opened Vital Life in Merced, Their hometown, a community of some 56,000 located 260 miles north of Los Angeles. "The first year was pretty tough because we had no credibility, no track record," Gene remembers. "Members later told us that, before they joined, they'd been watching us for some time. But once people began to come in, the power of word-of-mouth really began working."
At 4,000 square feet, the center is small by most standards, but its size helps foster an intimate, non intimating atmosphere -- which is exactly what most older adults prefer. "I'd never been a club member" says Gene, "but I had taken a club tour, and it was an overwhelming experience. The place was so large, and there was so much equipment I said to myself, 'I'm not sure I'd feel real comfortable here'. I imagine that's the sort of feeling many older adults have when they walk through a big facility.
"One of our female members used to work out at one of the local sports clubs," he continues. "And she told me how, one day, she was working out on a stair climber and this young buck came along, changed the television station that she was watching, and hopped on a stair climber a few feet away. She said, 'I was watching that,' and he just shrugged his shoulders -- Well, that says it all. So the first thing we do with our members is try to make them feel at home, and comfortable."
Vita Life is situated beside a daycare center two blocks away from a shopping mall, and boasts cardiovascular and strength-training areas, a small restaurant, and a social area. The dimly lit, triangulary shaped cardio room is dominated by a large-screen television that clearly reflects the tastes of an older clientele. "We play musicals, Bill Cosby tapes, Abbott and Costello films -- a wide variety of things," says Bernie. "Once in a while, we'II put on the news, but, generally speaking, we prefer to keep the out-side world outside."
It may be more interesting and illuminating, though, to note some of those things that the center doesn't have. It doesn't, for instance, have any mirrors, free weights, or showers. The reasoning, Gene explains, is that deconditioned people are less likely to feel self-conscious if there are no mirrors around, and less likely to be intimidated by exercise if there are no weight plates clanging. "As for the lack of showers, we find that most members can effectively raise their heart rates without really working up a heavy sweat," he says. "We may lose a few prospects because we don't have showers, but, on the positive side, there are no complaints about the club's smelling like a locker room. And again, it eliminates another possibility for self-consciousness."
After two years of operation, Vital Life has reached break-even. It currently has eight employees and 300 members (about one-half of capacity), 75% of whom are 50 years of age or older. The membership options and benefits are, to coin a new, if some-what-awkward phrase, "mature-adult-friendly. " A standard, unrestricted membership costs only $89 for the initiation fee, and $59 a month in dues; and there are two restricted options that may be even more appealing to those on fixed budgets -- one permit ting club use between noon and 4 p. m. ($55 dues), and another permitting use anytime on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays ($44 dues). The shortest membership is for three months.
"We do an interesting thing with our 12-month program," notes Bernie. "If individuals pay for a year in advance, we give them the first month of membership for free and provide them with vacation credits -- if, for example, they go on vacation for a week, we extend their membership by a week. We also provide a similar medical-leave benefit. Our members may come down with the flu, injure themselves, or have to undergo surgery, so we just 'check them out,' and don't charge them for the time they're unable to exercise. Both are attractive selling points for mature adults."
"One of the things I struggle with a bit," admits Gene, "is exactly how much pressure I should put on prospects, because I know that older people -- myself included -- don't like to be pressured. They like to take their time, and make their own decisions, and I can respect that, but, on The other hand, it's quite human to procrastinate . . . so I often find myself in a Catch-22 position. In the final analysis, though, I know that high-pressure tactics won't work with this population."
Every new Vital Life member receives a free, heart-rate monitor, a fitness evaluation that includes strength, endurance, flexibility, and body-composition testing, and an exercise prescription that's individualized and updated regularly. The club's comprehensive, medical approach has special appeal for older individuals, and has also attracted the interest of hospitals and physicians. "The local hospital heard about our program, and one of its representatives asked if I'd be interested in working with them to develop a seminar on exercise for the public," says Gene. "I said, 'Of course,' and suggested we hold the seminar at the club; we did, the attendance was great, and we now offer one every quarter." With the exception of word-of-mouth referrals, it's these free seminars, he explains, that are most effective at attracting new prospects.
