Adam Davies is the Business Development Specialist at Kwinana Recquatic in Western Australia.
Kwinana Recquatic is on a mission to inspire a physically and mentally healthy Kwinana. “We are a hub of activity for everyone in our community. We facilitate learn to swim lessons, adult and junior sports programs, gym and group fitness, pool swimmer and walkers and much more. There is something for everyone at Kwinana Recquatic. Our average health and fitness member is a 30 to 34-year-old female,” says Adam.
Kwinana Recquatic first opened on the 25 June 1977. However, the facility has undergone several renovations since, to become the aquatic recreation centre it is today. The centre as it operates today, was officially opened in 2002. “We are proud to inspire over 1400 members to achieve their health and fitness goals,” Adam adds. “Additionally, we have over 1,300 children enrolled in our term based learn to swim program. The centre sees over 400,000 community visits per year.”
In April 2024, 389 individual members participated in group fitness, which equates to 28% of the centre’s health and fitness members.
This case study of Kwinana Recquatic’s success is a living example of how LES MILLS Virtual can reinvigorate a well-established fitness facility. In addition to their several renovations, the club had also strategically updated their program offering to appeal to a wider segment.
Setting up Virtual for around $10K
You can! Kwinana Recquatic offer LES MILLS Virtual for RPM®, LES MILLS SPRINT®, and THE TRIP®. Their Virtual system was commissioned mid-December 2023, and their initial decision to offer Virtual was made to provide more opportunities for their members to be physically and mentally healthy. In addition to their live Instructor-led classes, the opportunity for immersive Virtual group cycling classes was something we were confident would achieve this.
Their investment in the LES MILLS Virtual set up was around $10K. “Our cycling studio was established prior to the Virtual upgrades. This was beneficial to the budget, as most of the audio hardware was compatible with the proposed visual hardware. The system was upgraded with an Epson EB-L615U 6K projector, a Grandview 150-inch fixed frame projector screen, and the iPad to tie it all together.”
Promoting Virtual for optimum engagement
With regards to promoting Virtual classes to Instructors and members, Adam says, “We got the most amount of engagement from Instructors and members through organising launch events, scheduling classes in the timetable, and by appointing a passionate staff member as lead, who was close to the project and understood the purpose. Through the holiday period, after commissioning, staff got involved in on-demand sessions held at lunchtime and end-of-shifts, to get a clear understanding of the Virtual format. Having our lifeguards, customer service officers, right through to directors and CEO informed and excited about the program lay such a strong foundation to launch, which we did in early January 2024.
Elevating your offering beyond Les Mills classes
The impact of introducing LES MILLS Virtual extends to the entire timetable, as members typically develop a taste for group fitness as a whole.
“Combining the high level of experience and quality of programming from the RPM, LES MILLS SPRINT, and THE TRIP Virtual formats, the members now have access to over 38 scheduled sessions, and unlimited access to on-demand Virtual content; and this is in addition to freestyle Instructor-led sessions - so the members love it!”
“Bringing our Trainers along the journey of procurement was essential and involving them in the launch of the LES MILLS Virtual formats proved to be a fantastic opportunity to educate the benefits and curb any hesitation toward the programming. Overall, LES MILLS Virtual has brought a lot of attention to the cycling program at Recquatic, which has positively influenced attendance to our freestyle classes.”
What the members are saying
The on-demand, playback history suggests that RPM (30-minute format) and LES MILLS SPRINT are extremely popular among our members, particularly during the early afternoon timeslots where we catch a lot of members on their lunch break who may not have been able to make the midday scheduled session. However, there is a lot of demand for THE TRIP Virtual too, particularly in the evenings and weekends.
Feedback from members has been resoundingly positive. For example, Jason is a fly-in-fly-out member at Recquatic and subscribes to LES MILLS+, which he uses while away for work. When we checked in, he had just finished up LES MILLS SPRINT 33. Jason loves the convenience of our on-demand timeslots in the afternoons. Having the opportunity to get out of the house to exercise is important to Jason, and he has been blown away by the immersive experience of the Virtual Cycling Studio.
“Mark is a new member to Recquatic. I caught up with him for a chat when he was on his way to our scheduled midday LES MILLS SPRINT class. Mark told me had hadn’t been in the Virtual studio before, so hadn’t ever done any Virtual group fitness. He said he’d heard about a class where you’re cycling through worlds, so we set Mark and the participants up with THE TRIP 35, instead of the LES MILLS SPRINT Virtual class. Although it was a slightly longer class, all the participants stayed for the whole duration and were amazed by the quality of the programming and immersive experience. I caught Mark again post-class, as he was cleaning down his bike, and on top of the experience he was so impressed at the number of Virtual classes available. Mark mentioned we will see him in the Virtual Cycle Studio all the time from then on!”
Using Virtual to better support your Instructors
LES MILLS Virtual can be an effective way to cover Live classes when Instructors are unexpectedly unavailable (e.g., due to illness or holidays). For some clubs, introducing Virtual has enabled them to put an end to cancelled classes and farewell the need to find Instructor covers. Adam says, “It is always our first port of call to replace classes like for like. However, having LES MILLS Virtual has removed a lot of the chaos when last minute covers come up, and has significantly improved our servicing to members in the case there is no cover Instructor available. We are fortunate to have an efficient member engagement software, which our timetable works out of, so it informs impacted members and Instructors of these types of changes to the schedule. The LES MILLS Virtual Group Fitness Timetable is simple to navigate at short notice, and immediately syncs to the device in our Cycle studio.
Measured data reflects members satisfaction
“There are several ways we measure the success of classes. Attendance to the scheduled Virtual classes is tracked through our booking and member engagement software. Although members are reliable at booking in, the reliability of this data is dependent on the individual managing their own booking. Given our facility set-up, access control makes it tricky to manage this. The playback log within the LES MILLS Virtual app is fantastic for viewing the on-demand sessions and has been a great tool for us to proactively respond to demand for certain types of classes. However, many our members really love the convenience of these on-demand timeslots. In addition to these participation metrics, the impact of the Virtual classes is observed real-time in our Customer Satisfaction and Net Promotor Score software. LES MILLS Virtual has, without a doubt, contributed to the acquisition and retention of new members.”
Securing a return on investment in just one quarter
In terms of return on investment (ROI), Adam says, “Les Mills Virtual has transformed our cycling studio and is such a unique service for our members and the broader Kwinana community to access. While we are only one quarter into providing the service, there has only been positive outcomes which I am confident will reflect through membership growth and demonstrate a clear positive ROI.”
WANT TO EXPLORE HOW VIRTUAL CAN WORK IN YOUR CLUB?
Find out more here or contact your local Business Partnership Manager in Australia or Southeast Asia.
