Left: Master Hung Tran; Extreme Left: Muay Thai Juniors practising in class
How much of your budget do you spend on marketing and what are the areas in which you concentrate? We spend about 8% of our monthly budget on marketing. We have moved away from print advertisements, which we find are not as useful. Instead, we concentrate on internal marketing and direct mailers.
Master Hung Tran, one of EFC’s very successful school owners, teaches a martial arts form that not many others have taught with such success: Muay Thai. One of the reasons behind his accomplishment is obviously his forward-looking marketing. We recently had a conversation with him about that and other matters.
Can you give us a background about your school? Three years ago, we made a change from being a Tae Kwon Do school to a Muay Thai Kickboxing school. We had to go all the way with this change, including a change in the staff’s mindset, and, obviously, a change in curriculum. Naturally, our website and our marketing approach underwent a complete modification, along with our uniforms and our language to prospects. The main reason behind this switch was that we wanted to cater to adults, especially moms, who are the decision makers. They love the fact that they can lose 800 calories in one session as well as the fact that they are learning self-defense. When we started, we knew there weren’t any very successful Muay Thai schools. One of the reasons for this is that there is no belt system in Muay Thai. I came up with a belt system from white to black belt, which allows our students to see the progress they’re making, which helps with retention. For every class a person attends, she earns a stripe. After a certain number of stripes, depending on the belt level, she earns her new belt. We teach Thai Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts fitness classes. We also have one-on-one personal training programs. Most of our staff members are certified personal trainers. We also host monthly boot camps. There are some innovative direct mailers on your website, http://www.transkickboxing. com. What were your primary thoughts behind coming up with these, and what is your overall marketing strategy? Kickboxing is about self-defense, as well as confidence, empowerment and fitness, which are emphasized through
EAGLE EXPRESS | DECEMBER 2008
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