Brand Strategy Report: GLF

Meaningful Consumption

DAMON Pfaff MATT Guida CAITLYN Dietrich KAMA Kaczmarczyk

BRAND Report 2014 TEAM Semnificativ CONCEPTUAL T+T ALEXANDER Manu

Table of Contents 0. Introduction

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Then and Now

1. Frameworks

4-9

Strategy Model Conceptual Spectrum

2. Methodology

10-15

Evidence of Success Growth Strategy Competitive Landscape Case for Change

3. Discovery

16-29

Ascention Connection Expansion Reflection The System EBL & Perspectives

4. Scenarios

30-39

5. Conclusion

40-43

6. Appendix

44-51

7. References

52-53

Introduction

Then and Now This report will reflect an increasing level of focus in order to make targeted recommendations to Goodlife for the future.

Approach It is important that as a project moves from Trend Identification (general) to Concept Implementation (specific) that frameworks move from objective to subjective (reflecting a specific perspective) and analyses move from descriptive to proscriptive (advising a specific outcome). This report will reflect this increasing focus in order to make targeted recommendations for the future. In order to do this we will return to the conceptual frameworks that which were implemented in our first report, however this time they will be viewed through a different lens.

Previously In the last report we analyzed three brands for their value proposition, their

key activities and related them to three separate trends from our first report.

This process led to a series of scenarios which disclosed ways in which these brands could capitalize on these trends.

The culmination of this gate was the selection of a single brand and trend to focus on moving forward. For our team, the pairing was Goodlife and the trend of Accespectations.

Currently This report will begin with Frameworks (Section 1) for analysis as stated above these frameworks will begin to show a specific point of view which is tailored to complement the Goodlife Fitness brand and demographic. We will

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then progress into the Methodology (Chapter 2) section that describes the procedures which were used. These methodologies helped us to develop the consumer and trend insights that framed the tightening of our design space and concepts for the future.

The final section, Discovery (Chapter 3) contains a number of sub-sections, each describing an aspect of the future of Goodlife Fitness’s service.

This final section contains a section that is meant to ‘set the stage’ as clearly as possible for the type of service which is being described. This will be followed up in the final report by a more visceral set of narratives that are intended to ‘open up’ the concept by showing why it is compelling from a

consumer perspective and also to introduce a more emotional and ambiguous approach to inspire and further the creative development of these concepts.

Some of the disclosures of this report range from the now-able (near future) to the distant (far future) and from the current core competency of the business to those requiring a more extended skill-set or partnerships.

Fig.1 Goodlife: Logo & Tagline — The Good Life Made Easy

The disclosures of this report range from the now-able to the distant and from the current core competency of the business to those requiring an extended skill-set.

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Frameworks

Roadmaps for Understanding By remaining static in corporate behaviour a company will lose ground to others and by taking control of their future strategy a company can be transformed.

Alexander Manu: Behaviour Space — Strategic Paths to Transformation

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Strategy Model This framework is used to understand the strategic possibilities available to an organization from their current positioning projected into the future.

The framework is based on the underlying assumption that the future is constantly coming regardless of whether a corporation is preparing for it or not. By remaining static in corporate behaviour a company will lose ground to others and by taking control of their future strategy a company can be transformed.

This framework prioritizes Conceptual market leadership by encouraging companies to define a role for themselves and shape the future of this role. It is key to understand that companies who are able to lead con-

ceptually speaking have control over the playing field because they shape and define the way that their playing field is understood by consumers. This control over the discourse creates an authenticity that cannot be replicated by market latecomers.

We position a company and it’s strategic behaviours on a continuum from Find a Role to Define a Role — And from React to the Present to Shape the Future.

By creating defined market leadership roles for Goodlife we will have a clear end result in mind from which to develop success criteria for our detailed concepts.

Conceptual Spectrum This framework was developed to visu-

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alize the way in which concepts extend from the current core competency of Goodlife to the most extended possibilities. It can be seen as a specific series of moves as described in the Strategy Model but applied to the Goodlife brand the trend of Accespectations and the coming technologies pushing toward the Internet of Things (IOT).

The result was this set of four modes that clarify the approaches that can be used to augment consumers’ sense of control and access in Goodlife’s future. On the left we begin with the current focus of the brand, and as we move to the right we move Goodlife closer to a Shape the Future brand strategy.

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By creating a systematic framework for how our concepts for Goodlife relate to each other we had a strong starting point from which to explore the future. Also by connecting Goodlife’s current field of play to farther fields of strategic possibility we have created a roadmap for expansion into future innovation activities.

Fig.2 Ridley Scott: Blade Runner - The Creation of the Future

Shape the Future

Find a Role

Define a Role

React To the Present 7

Ascend

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Connect

Expand

Reflect

By creating a systematic framework for how our concepts for Goodlife relate to each other we had a strong starting point from which to explore the future.

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Methodology

Business Analysis Goodlife’s growth to the top of their industry is also potentially an indicator of their success in delivering their message in a clear and compelling way.

Goodlife Fitness: About Page

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Jeff Beer: The Sweat Smell of Success

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Canadian Medical Association: Medal of Honor

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Delloite: Canada’s Best Managed Companies 2012

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Waterstone HC: Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures

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Evidence of Success Over the past 35 years, Goodlife Fitness has grown from a single fitness club in London Ontario to the largest fitness company in Canada (presumably rated by location numbers or number of members).2 & 3 Due to the fact that they are privately owned, their financials are closed to the public and objective details about their size in relation to other companies is unclear or comes from unreliable sources such as news outlets, whitepapers and marketing grey literature. Due to this partial ambiguity we will focus on a discussion of the brand based on these signals alone.

The Goodlife organization has been honoured with a number of awards over the years, the most recent and significant of which are: the Cana-

dian Medical Association Medal of Honor (2007), the Deloitte Canada’s Best Managed Companies - Platinum (2009, 2012), and the Waterstone Top 10 Canadian Corporate Cultures (2009, 2012).4, 5 & 6 This recognition is evidence of the organization’s commitment to health and quality of business management. Their growth to the top of their industry is also potentially an indicator of their success in delivering their message and service to consumers in a clear and compelling way.

Growth Strategy Goodlife has undertaken an aggressive growth strategy and has used their successes to acquire major competitors where possible including locations

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from: Gold’s Gym, the now defunct Premier Fitness, Lifestyle Fitness and the entire Extreme Fitness organization.7, 8 & 9 This has allowed them to retain over one-million members and reach many more if you consider the Churn Rate of most fitness clubs (40-45% a year by some estimates).10

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Competitive Landscape Because of the plethora of unreliable fitness reading material on the internet we will focus on the context of Toronto to analyze Goodlife’s competition.

Blog TO, which is generally speaking a reliable source of reviews and rankings of Toronto spaces and services, will be used to identify the competitive landscape. Blog TO currently (as of late

October 2014) ranks Goodlife as the top gym in Toronto for their quality and number of clubs (over 20 at the time of writing), singling out the Liberty Village location as the best for hours, interior style and quality of service.11 They identify in defending order of rating: West End YMCA, LA Fitness, Hard Candy, Equinox, Central YMCA, Totum King West, Miles Nadal JCC and Generate Fitness.12 To clarify the points of difference with other key competitive brands: YMCA tends to project an image which is more ‘Community Oriented’; LA carries a more ‘High Performance’ brand essence; Hard Candy offers a music driven experience; Equinox competes with proprietary fitness classes; Totum

Canada News Wire: Goodlife Acquires...

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Dave Battagello: Lifestyle Fitness Sold

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Morgan Campbell: Goodlife Acquires...

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John Daly: Bulking Up: How Goodlife Became...

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Blog TO: Natalia Manzoco 11

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Ibid.

Fig.3 Blog TO: Best Fitness Clubs in Toronto

is oriented around ‘Total Wellness’; and Generate is focused on a highly creative ecological approach. It is clear that these gyms (particularly the smaller chains) carry a form of unique value which makes them viable irrespective of their size. Given that Goodlife has the power of numbers, density and proximity to more Canadians than any other gym they could potentially benefit from unique services and brand propositions which would differentiate them from other chains.

Fig.4 Spike Jonze: Her - Example of Shaping the Future

Case for Change Apart from simple service and brand differentiation, the organization also stands to benefit from two other approaches. First, brand extensions

that can increase engagement of their core demographic while making them more appealing to potential skeptics can produce continued growth and market penetration. Second, initiatives that produce new revenue streams, or benefit the cost structure of their business model have the ability to increase the profitability of the business at their current market volume — while also increasing the stakes should their market penetration increase.

It is also important to note (as mentioned above), that it is highly advantageous for companies to define new roles and shape the future with their behaviours, products, services and strategies. If companies want to achieve high levels of control over a

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market their ideal plan of action is to create the niche themselves and associate themselves by unlocking latent behaviour and associating themselves in the minds of consumers, specifically with this behaviour.

Finally, it is important to recognize that fitness and healthcare are in flux due to trends and technological pull in the area of wearables, analytics and the quantified self. The gym is moving away from a physical space for some people and is becoming more about quantification and thinking. As a result, brands such as Goodlife rave risks on the horizon that need to be mitigated and a new form of value must be infused into the fitness club experience.

If Goodlife wishes to secure a promi-

nent place in this future, it is important to find an original and transformative viewpoint on the industry so that the brand can maintain and improve its uniqueness over time.

Fig.5 Athos: Core — Example of Wearable Fitness as a Trend

To secure a prominent place in this future, it is important for Goodlife to find an original and transformative viewpoint on the industry.

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Discovery

Concept Details This vision shows a passion for allowing the consumer’s personal goals to be seen as critical, placing them the centre of their own story.

Raizel Robin: Goodlife Finds Real Heroes for New Ads 13

Ascension This is the current conceptual focus of the Goodlife brand. One of the key barriers for populist consumers in the fitness market is the conflict between the archetype of athletic success and a welcoming environment for the average person. Average consumers are not body builders and Goodlife is aware that the middle market is where there is both more impact (on the lives of consumers) and more revenue (especially for a subscription service life a fitness club).

Goodlife has attempted to reduce these barriers through branding and advertisements that allow the consumer to ascend to the role of ‘hero’. The ‘Real Heroes’ ad campaign designed by DougSerge + Partners is a strong signal

of the organizations understanding that people are motivated by family members, partners, community and other forms of belonging rather than by high performance body image crafting.13 This vision shows a passion for allowing the consumer’s personal goals to be seen as critical, placing them the centre of the brand. In the following sections, we will show how Goodlife has the potential to strategically add to this vision in a way that is both compelling to users and beneficial to their business.

Connection The experience of connection is the most immediately available to the

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brand. Connection is how Goodlife will bridge the gap between user, the gym environment and the broader world.

This concept will turn the gym into a smart sensing environment that understands the user and anticipates their needs; essentially being the skeleton that enables the following parts of the concept.

The present gym can be thought of as a closed experience. People are contained in a space which is focused on repeated actions and lacks conceptual depth. We want to move toward forms of interaction where people find deep meaning and variety in exploratory actions and motions in augmented experience environments. The gym is able to become a play-space in

which exercise is improved by predictive analytics, augmented reality, and gamification.

This connected gym experience will allow the business to provide users with meaningfully crafted experiences which respond to the user’s internal wants to surprise and excite them with the most motivational and exploratory journeys that they are capable of interacting with.

Information about user’s bodies, capability improvements, needs and overall health will be collected and incorporated while building a deep connection between the Goodlife brand, personal health, self-understanding, exploration and pleasure. This system will also be able to lead to high-

Fig.6 Doug Serge + Partners: You Are the Hero — Goodlife promotes the Ascent of its consumers

Fig.7 Push Strength: Wearable Technology — The gym must Connect to recognize untapped potential of its spaces

ly personalized on-demand services, such as: targeted advertising, product recommendations, customized foods/ supplements and customized health services (e.g. physiotherapy, massage, etc.) — all of which anticipate the user’s needs and ‘scratch their itch’ in advance.

This concept will include: a digitally connected gym that senses all aspects of the user’s biometrics and behaviour (in the form of EEG, ECG, respiration, muscle contraction, posture, etc.); an analytics system that converts sensed data into meaningful insights; a set of delivery platforms that communicate these insights to people within the service system (e.g. users, service providers, strategic partners, etc.); a number

of physical platforms for exercise and interfaces for making these insights cogent.

This initiative supports the trend of Accespectiations by leveraging data and information to provide mass-customization of the services in the following sections. It also caters to the latent needs of the consumer by understanding what services are on the edge of their subconscious and giving them the feeling of an organization that is one step ahead of all others in bringing customization and on-demand into the physical world in real time rather than hiding them within the world of screen based interfaces.

It is important to React to on-demand, machine learning and body

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tracking technology pull because a company like Goodlife stands to be disrupted by the many services which are an inevitability in the fitness sector. Goodlife can use its resources and its advantage of physical space and services to quickly move to the top of this industry and stay abreast of the rapid changes happening in the health services and physical wellness sector to corner aspects of this market or become a hub for connecting a number of related services together. However, in order to ensure that Goodlife remains in a powerful position for the future it is important to look beyond the horizon of reaction to mold the future of the fitness sector. For this to happen they will need to Define a Role and

Shape the Future which is described below.

Expansion The expanded gym experience is the next most immediate move that is available to the brand. It will bridge the gap between the outside world and the gym allowing Goodlife to become an overall lifestyle brand that exists in the user’s home and becomes a part of their everyday moments. Services from the gym will now reach out into the user’s life in a meaningful way in order to touch the user within their everyday contexts and external services will be leveraged to improve the in-gym experience.

At the same time, meaningful

Fig.8 Michael Nichols: Redwood Climbing — The potentials of Expanded and Augmented gym experiences

Fig.9 National Geographic: Alone on the Wall - Alex Honnold — The potentials of Exploration & Adventure

experiences from out in the world will be brought into the gym where the experience of the gym can be crafted to include: play, discovery and excitement. Experiences from the user’s life will reach into the gym service environment to disrupt the health sector and reimagine the possibilities of what a fitness club can be.

This expanded gym experience will allow the Goodlife to provide users with: the workout experience, advisory classes, personal training, social experiences, motivational experiences and on demand product experiences wherever they are in the world. The gym is also able to leverage its access to tools, machines and physical environments to build crafted experiences that bring

places, spaces and behaviours from the real world or even from the realm of dreams directly into the gym. The gym, preemptive health management and self-improvement in general are able to become an explorational game in which new motions, new behaviours and new experiences can be used to achieve physical health and wellbeing.

This concept will include the systems described in the Connected concept as well as: data collection in the user’s everyday environments in the form of embedded sensing, smart clothing and/or wearable technology; interfaces for communicating insights based on real world contexts and use cases; interfaces for building compelling ambient or interactive experiences

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in gym and in remote contexts (e.g. virtual reality, projections, haptic feedback, sound, light, heat, etc.); delivery systems for making services available both inside and outside the gym (in the form of in-house or partnered service providers); and systems for communicating data to external partners in other related industries (e.g. healthcare, insurance, legal, etc.).

This initiative follows on the trend of Accespectations by brining new and exciting experiences, connections and services on-demand into previously unimagined contexts. No matter where the consumer wants to interact with Goodlife, the brand will allow them to: be in class, compete with others, find motivation, be advised by experts and

build health through play/exploration from anywhere. When in the gym, the user is opened to a previously unimagined world of possibilities in which the gym becomes an experience, a game, a piece of entertainment that faces outward into a world of possibilities.

When the consumer is in the gym, they no longer see an exercise rock wall.

Instead they climb an exercise rock wall, but experience another scenario that makes this a fresh and motivating experience every time.

By bringing the gym into previously unimagined environments and bringing previously unimagined experiences into the gym, the meaning of the gym changes — the words gym no longer can be used to describe the Goodlife

Fig.10 Honey I Shrunk The Kids - Playing in Lego rather than with lego — The potenitals of Expansion of fitness beyond perspective and beyond reality

Fig.11 Masaki Koizumi: Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam’s - Wonder Space II — The potentials of Play and Dreaming as fitness

service and the brand is able to Define a Role. It is clear that this is a redefinition because these tasks require consumers to reimagine the words Fitness Club. Using technology designed to integrate into the Goodlife sensing system off-brand wearables either become superfluous for the consumer or could be integrated and leveraged by Goodlife. This could be implemented using a developer API for free or through a licensing agreement (a potential core revenue source for the Expanded Goodlife business).

Reflection The experience of Reflection is the deepest conceptual move available to the brand at this time. It will give con-

sumers the ability to access and craft their time, emotions and thoughts in a more meaningful way. The experience of public spaces is flipped by this approach to allow consumers the ability to look inward when needed which is perhaps one of the deepest forms of meaning available to consumers in a highly connected and hectic world.

This reflective gym experience will allow the business to provide consumers with information about their mind, emotions and mental states while building a deep connection between the Goodlife brand, personal reflection and inner-peace. This system will also be able to lead to interesting sources of data about location-based consumer responses to stimulus and the

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building of mental stimulus databases that understand how user’s minds react to contexts, experiences, actions, advertisements and more in-vivo.

This initiative follows on the trend of Accespectations by providing consumers with on-demand access to information about their bodies and minds; but also by crafting personal and private environments to create space, time, and experiences for consumers wherever and whenever they desire. This is one of the lost concepts in current design and business practice where businesses attempt to mitigate chaos with alarms, controls and scheduling apps that simply add more to be learned and responded to (e.g. Google Calendar, Push Notification, Self-Con-

trol, etc.). Whether it is to lock you out of Facebook so that you focus, or to tell you what to do, these businesses impose control over their users’ behaviour.

This concept will provide user’s with the positive incentive of maximizing their free time by being contextually and temporally aware enough to let them take their mind off of their busy space so that they can reflect freely on whatever they want. Whether this is meditation, a nap, or some other crafted-experience, the user is in control and desires time within their experience rather than having behaviour imposed on them.

Goodlife can use this concept of a reflective mind-state as exercise to

Fig.12 Buddhist Monk - Burma — The potentials of Reflective Thought, Mental Focus and Presence as Fitness

Alexander Manu: The Innovation Challenge - Tools, Toys and ToolToys p.81 14

Fig.13 Move NY: Crowded Subway — The everyday repetition of the average consumer

Shape the Future of wellbeing by moving consumers into a world where the fitness club can grow and shape more than just your body, but help you to overcome challenges in your state-ofmind. Consumers will be able to live peacefully, mindfully and purposefully in the world and take control of their time and emotions, anywhere.

Goodlife can use it’s resources and market penetration to rapidly change the way that consumers think of health, moving inner-peace and purpose out of the realm of the spiritual to fit them into the everyday fabric of our modern fitness culture. By moving into this market space Goodlife will move beyond redefining the fitness club to redefine wellness in general!

The System Together these services expand our view of the gym from a place to exercise to a place to play and explore the limits of our imagination. The gym goes from a tool (now), to a toy, to a ToolToy.14 In all of this analysis of compelling possible futures we should not lose sight of the chaotic, but repetitious experiences in the average consumer’s day. These services will allow consumers to be freed from the mundane experience of repetitive motions in a closed setting. The gym, the subway, the workplace, the living-room. All of them are now open to the world. All of them set the consumer free!

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Ascend

Connect

Concept:

Concept:

The consumer as the hero of the brand story

The gym as a sensing environment & dynamic interface

Values:

Values:

Acessible, Quotidien, Supportive

Representational, Dynamic, Predictive

Principles:

Principles:

Communicate self acceptance Co-opt intrinsic motivators Build a lifestyle connection

Leverage spaces and technology Sopport flexible scenarios Collect + Relay relevant info

Forms:

Forms:

Communications, Visuals, Ads

Objects, Environments, Interfaces

Bottom Line:

Bottom Line:

The ideology of the system

The biology of the system

Expand

Reflect

Concept:

Concept:

The gym as a window to the world & the world as a playground

The consumer as the hero of their personal space, time and feelings

Values:

Values:

Exploratory, Playful, Dreamlike

Focused, Present, Insightful

Principles:

Principles:

Leverage sensed data (bio, emo/context) No repetetive behaviours/tasks Deeply explore journeys

Leverage sensed data (bio/emo/context) Sanctuary/Temple like experience Deeply explore senses

Forms:

Forms:

Scenarios, Environments, Plot-Profiles

Stimulation-Profiles, Context-Profiles

Bottom Line:

Bottom Line:

A perspective changing experience

An emotionally pleasant experience

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Extroverted

Expand Thinking

Feeling Connect

Ascend

Reflect

Introverted 28

Goodlife can rapidly change the way that consumers think of health, moving inner-peace and purpose out of the realm of the spiritual into the everyday fabric of fitness culture.

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Scenarios

Moving Forward These conceptual spaces offer near endless possibilities for experience design — what better time than now to explore them

Design From EBL In the previous section we concluded with some frameworks which are similar in appearance to Visual Brand Language. However, for our purposes we are designing for services that may transcend the visual in many ways; especially as Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) and Augmented Reality (AR) continue to develop. For our purposes we will call these frameworks Experiential Brand Language (EBL) because they describe something far more ambient than a product.

These frameworks offer jumping off points and criteria from which to develop and measure the brand fit of experiences. These experiences are free to take whatever shape they need to, but some recommended starting

points have been pre-defined.

In this section of the report, we will introduce some preliminary scenarios from which the possibilities of our concepts can be clarified and explored.

We will follow the same order as the Conceptual Spectrum model, beginning at the current brand (Persona: A Hero Is Born) and moving outwards (Concepts).

A Hero Is Born I used to think that I wasn’t ready. I used to think I wasn’t an athlete. I used to think that I couldn’t commit, or that maybe my goals were too small. I used to think that I was just regular.

Goodlife showed me that no one is regular, that we are all ready, and

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we are better than athletes… We are heroes.

Our goals, our efforts, our successes all mater — no matter the size. In our lives, our goals are everything. Not just for us, but for those that care about us, those who look up to us.

Goodlife helped me to discover

that health is bigger than ‘high-performance’, that health is about well-being and that we don’t strive for well-being, we are drawn to it — from within!

Recently, Goodlife has really been there for me... We have become closer than ever, we depend on one another. I can’t wait to tell you our story!

Fig.14 Titian: Sisyfus — The gym of the past as an endless cycle of repetitious movements

Fig.15 Joss Whedon: Dollhouse — Future shared spaces are focused on socialization and communication

Spaces & Places I used to hate that person that would talk about the gym at work — that one person that would clog my Facebook feed with their workout selfies.

Great. We get it. You’re stronger, better, faster — Whatever!

Exercise, the way it was then. You can’t even imagine, it was mindless.

People would go to a blank room and stare at themselves in mirrors doing the same movement over and over again. If you have half a brain it would have made you cry to watch it!

Now, I have to admit I talk about Goodlife constantly. But you know how different fitness clubs from what we had before, don’t you?

I mean now we’re all dying to hear about other peoples experiences

because no two people feel, see or do the same things! We can’t wait to talk about it what we saw or did. What we learned.

Sometimes the experience is so deep you even want to keep it to yourself and hold onto it. Sometimes you bring someone with you so that you can become closer as people exploring each-other’s journeys as a team.

But one thing is for sure... It’s never the same!

I mean we’re all at the same Goodlife of course. We share the same change-rooms and lockers. We leave our street clothes and change into the same outfits. The outfits sense our bodies and our minds. They connect us to the same cloud.

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But from the moment we leave the change-room our experiences diverge.

Every part of the process: washing, drying, stretching, exercise, rest... All of it is personal. From the moment we enter our life-rooms everything responds to how we feel. Our experience is crafted to keep us guessing, exploring. To maximize our surprise, excitement. And to help us play.

An evening at Goodlife is like an evening of dreaming. No one talks about ‘how much‘ or ‘how many’ or takes a picture. People talk about where, why, what events, what journey, what discovery. And on top of that our bodies feel better than ever.

The information about my body means that if I ever feel unsafe; I’ll be

protected from harm. If I need something: water, food, massage, warmth, a rest; all of this well be provided at just the right moment.

And when I’m out in the world all of this insight helps inform my doctors, my purchases and more. The world unlocks around me now that Goodlife has built the Connections between my body and the world around me.

I talk about Goodlife all the time.

Because Goodlife helps me know myself in a way I never have before. In fact, now that I think about it if I didn’t go to Goodlife I’m not sure who I would be...

Beginning The Journey Taking a shower. Wow! Taking a shower used to be the start and finish of every

Fig.16 Elizabeth Calvert: Beaurfort Sea — Future experiences border on the dream-like

Fig.17 Karina Chu: Reykjavík — Future personal experiences are exploratory

gym day. I haven’t showered at the gym in years. Well I mean I wash myself every time, but you know what it’s like at Goodlife. Last week I swam in the springs in Reykjavík. The other night i spent my whole hour in the water and went cave-diving in the Blue Hole in Belize. And last night I woke up under the ice sheets on Europa and spent my first half an hour just resting in the currents until I felt ready to move on.

I’ve heard some people say that they’ve feel like they’ve been reborn in there. It’s amazing to think that something that was once so utilitarian has become almost spiritual. Every part of the process has become so meaningful, so perfect. It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted...

Setting Off Today my journey started in a small hut. I woke up and saw a light coming through a space in the straw ceiling.

As I got up and looked at the light it seemed to welcome me in. As I walked toward it the floor began to shift beneath me. I started to walk as though on stairs... To crawl like a child... To run on my hands and feet like a panther and finally to climb towards it.

As I approached the crack I thought it grew to the size of my body. But as I entered it I realized I had shrunk to fit the size of the crack. I climbed through the straw of the roof slowly and carefully. At my size the straws were like branches of a never ending tree, shining golden in the evening sun.

My heartbeat elevated as I climbed.

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The space around me opening up as I climbed. The heat of the sun warming my muscles and I began to sweat.

As if on cue I smelled moisture I looked down to see water rising toward me and I began to climb faster, pushing myself harder. But when I had reached my peak I looked down and the water suddenly looked welcoming.

I let it rise over me cooling my skin and my body relaxed.

I floated for a moment. Silently enjoying the rest and then began to swim. Not upwards, but forwards, onwards in the comforting ocean that surrounded me.

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Onward & Upward My head broke the surface as I came

up for air and I felt the ocean floor come up to meet my feet. As the water drained away from around me I realized that I was on a beach. I could feel the sand and the warm air. I could even hear the waves around me, but it was as though I was blind or in complete darkness.

I don’t know why, but I felt completely at home like that. I felt with my hand and found a smooth stone in the sand. I brushed in off and brought it to my face, which was useless in the dark, but as it approached my lips I felt the most powerful urge to taste it. I bit into the rock and it was delicious. I suddenly realized how hungry I had been as the knot in my stomach unwound.

I lay in the sand and folded my

Fig.18 Sergei Parajanov: The Colour of Pomegranates — Future experiences exploit surreal settings and behaviours to intrinsically motivate.

Fig.19 Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight Rises - Escape from The Pit — Future fitness will challenge personal limits

body. Stretching out my muscles. With the first stretch a sliver of moon appeared in the darkness and the faintest outlines of the beach became visible in the dim.

The more I folded, stretched and rolled in the sand, the looser my body became and the brighter the moon became, until the stars and moon burned out of the sky brighter than I had ever seen them before.

I realized that the sky itself had come closer to me. So close that it was touching my nose and I lay with the sand at my back and the sky at the tip of my face completely enveloped.

I pushed against the sky, but it wouldn’t move. I pushed harder and harder until the edge of my strength

and suddenly the sky began to move.

My hands were gripped tightly into the fabric of the sky and as it moved it lifted me from the ground, clinging to it’s surface my feet dangled high above the ground. Swinging from fold to fold of the fabric of the night sky I made my way toward the moon with the earth silent and dark, miles below me.

When I reached the moon i reached into it realizing it was its-self a hole.

Looking into the hole, it was clear to me that I was actually at the bottom of a deep well and what I had imagined to be the moon was simply a disk of evening sky at its mouth.

I began to climb again, feeling a deep burn in my legs as the well became brighter and brighter. With

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my last bit of strength I threw myself over the top edge and onto the grass.

Feeling completely satisfied, I slowly picked myself up, recognizing the a hut at the edge of the woods not far from the mouth of the well.

Stretching my body as I walked, I crossed the grass, and opened the door. As I entered I realized that this was the hut I had awoken in at the start of my journey. I made my way to the bed, slowly lay down and fell into one of the most deep and welcoming sleeps I have ever felt.

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Fig.20 Leventep: San Fransisco Woods — Future experiences reframe perspectives bringing the hero full circle, but returning a more capabile individual.

Goodlife helps me know myself in a way I never have before. In fact, now that I think about it if I didn’t go to Goodlife I’m not sure who I would be...

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Conclusion

In Summary We have analyzed the ways in which we can capitalize on the trend of Accespectations and have built a framework which acts as a roadmap for implementation.

Process We have analyzed the ways in which Goodlife can strategically capitalize on the trend of Accespectations and have built a framework which acts as a roadmap for implementing these moves.

By using the approach of Connection we have made it clear that Goodlife should first React to the present technology-pull of data analytics and the quantified-self Goodlife is able to be responsive to the current of the fitness industry. This will allow the brand the opportunity to expand their service portfolio to include crafted experience and targeted services. The brand will also be able to expand their revenue model to profit from the economy of data, analytics and smart retail.

We have discussed using the ap-

proach of Expansion in order to begin to differentiate the Goodlife brand by beginning to Define a Role and move into a space where fitness leaves the realm of repetitive tasks in a closed environment. This opens the opportunity for the brand to create new value for customers in the form of crafted experiences that leverage the sensing environment to create surprising and exploratory physical challenges. Goodlife can then begin to create a technology-push by driving and developing new and dynamic physical interfaces affording new forms of exercise which have not yet been imagined.

Finally we introduced the possibility of using the concept of Reflection, closing the loop of wellness by includ-

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ing not just the physical body, but also the internal mental wellbeing as well to allow good life to. This opens the opportunity for the brand to create value in the form of consumer control over their time, space, mind states and emotions as an on-demand service; looking into the deepest part of internal wellbeing as a monetizable experience. Goodlife can use this platform to create an emotional economy in which people’s experience and states of mind are under their own control but their responses to stimulus enter the data economy as consumer data.

The concepts detailed in this report

will position Goodlife to reimagine the fitness sector and Shape the Future of what health looks like for consumers.

The brand can not only offer consumers services and experiences that can not be found anywhere else, but will be able to tailor these services through analytics to surprise and excite users with experiences which provide a comforting, challenging or even extreme environment which is maximized to what the user feels inside allowing the brand to reach many demographics with a future that can touch the core of who they are as human beings.

Fig.21 RenÊ Magritte: The Human Condition — Can the image can free us from the closed systems we build?

Can the image or the imagined eventually supercede the real?

This will position Goodlife to reimagine the fitness sector and shape the future of what health looks like for consumers by offering experiences that can not be found anywhere else.

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Appendix

Fig.22 Early Framework Development - Mixing Maslow’s Heirarchy with other Frameworks — Basis of first draft

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Fig.23 Early Service Model - Spatial Divisions as service divisions — Basis of second draft

Fig.24 Mid Service Model - Conceptual and Emotional purpose divisions — Basis for third model and scenario design

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Fig.25 Storyboarding Scenario, Concept Development + Video Pitches — Lead to final framework and clarified concept

Fig.26 FInalized Service Model Progression of ideas is both Strategic and Conceptual

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Fig.27 Experiential Brand Language Development - EBL for structuring scenario concepts

“One should not want.

One should love.” 14

Alexander Manu: Quoting Federico García Lorca - Imagination Inspiration Evasion 15

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References

References 1 Alexander Manu: Behaviour Space 2012 — Strategic Paths to Transformation, p. 112 2

Goodlife: About Page

http://www.goodlifefitness.com/about/

3

Jeff Beer: The Sweat Smell of Success

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/ the-sweat-smell-of-success/

4

Canadian Medical Association: Medal of Honor

https://www.cma.ca/En/Pages/medal-of-honour.aspx

5

Delloite: Canada’s Best Managed Companies 2012

http://www.canadas50best.com/en/meetourwinners/ Pages/2012winners.aspx

Waterstone HC: Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures

6

http://www.waterstonehc.com/cmac/canadas-10

Images Fig.1 Goodlife: Logo & Tagline

http://www.volleyballbc.org/wp-content/ uploads/2012/05/goodlifeMEstack_red485.jpg

Fig.3 Blog TO: Best Fitness Clubs in Torotno

Fig.15 Joss Whedon: Dollhouse

http://www.haku.co.uk/pics/BladeRunner1080-2.jpg http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_fitness_ clubs_in_toronto/

Fig.4 Spike Jonze: Her - Example of Shaping the Future

http://mjparnell.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ her.jpeg

Fig.5 Athos: Core

http://alexisavvy.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/athostop.png?w=580

Dave Battagello: Lifestyle Fitness Sold to Canada’s Largest Fitness Company

Fig.7 Push Strength: Wearable Technology

8

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/lifestyle-fitnesssold-to-canadas-largest-fitness-company

Morgan Campbell: Goodlife Fitness Keeps Growing Acquires Extreme Fitness

9

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/04/03/ goodlife_fitness_keeps_growing_acquires_extreme fitness_franchise.html

John Daly: Bulking Up: How Goodlife Became Canada’s Dominant Gym 10

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-onbusiness/rob-magazine/the-secret-of-goodlifessuccess/article17673987/?page=all

11

Blog TO: Natalia Manzoco

http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_fitness_ clubs_in_toronto/

12

Ibid.

Raizel Robin: Goodlife Finds Real Heroes for New Ads 13

http://www.marketingmag.ca/advertising/goodlifefinds-real-heroes-for-new-ads-124089

Alexander Manu: The Innovation Challenge - Tools, Toys and ToolToys p.81 14

Alexander Manu: Quoting Federico García Lorca Imagination Inspiration Evasion 15

http://b.3cdn.net/transit/4309626957e2eb718c_ v0dm6ha0q.jpg

Fig.14 Titian: Sisyfus

Fig.6 Doug Serge + Partners: You Are the Hero

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/975642

Fig.13 Move NY: Crowded Subway

Fig.2 Ridley Scott: Blade Runner - The Creation of the Future

Canada News Wire: Goodlife Fitness Acquires Seven Gold’s Gym Locations Across Canada

7

burma.jpg

http://strategyonline.ca/wp/wp-content/ uploads/2014/09/Goodlife-623x350.png

http://static.squarespace.com/ static/515bb6d9e4b054dae3faa6fe/t/5281ac3de4b0a 6d3b6ce2c3a/1384229955904/12.jpg?format=1000w

Fig.8 Michael Nichols: Redwood Climbing

http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/storage/ redwoods4climbers.JPG?__SQUARESPACE_ CACHEVERSION=1254228206387

Fig.9 National Geographic: Alone on the Wall - Alex Honnold http://roomofluxury.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/ Alex_Honnold_performing_free_solo_ascent_on_ The_Regular_Northwest_Face_on_Half_Dome_in_ Yosemite_National_Park_June_2010_SMALL.jpg

Fig.10 Honey I Shrunk The Kids - Playing in Lego rather than with lego

https://chaptersandscenes.files.wordpress. com/2014/04/honey-i-shrunk-the-kids-archi-detail. png

Fig.11 Masaki Koizumi: Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam’s - Wonder Space II

http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/ uploads/2012/11/50afd42bb3fc4b0cad0000d1_meetthe-artist-behind-those-amazing-hand-knittedplaygrounds-_mk090729_0014-1000x666.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_ Sisyphus#mediaviewer/File:Punishment_sisyph.jpg http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__ cb20080611122500/dollhouse/images/7/75/ Dollhouse.jpg

Fig.16 Elizabeth Calvert: Beaurfort Sea http://i.imgur.com/VNGIUBl.jpg

Fig.17 Karina Chu: Reykjavík Fig.18 Sergei Parajanov: The Colour of Pomegranates http://www.designcatwalk.com/wp-content/ uploads/2013/02/The-Color-of-Pomegranates-11.jpg

Fig.19 Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight Rises Escape from The Pit

http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/ uploads/2013/03/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-Climb.jpg

Fig.20 Leventep: San Fransisco Woods

http://leventep.deviantart.com/art/San-Franciscowoods-257087323

Fig.21 René Magritte: The Human Condition

http://uploads2.wikiart.org/images/rene-magritte/ the-human-condition-1935(1).jpg http://uploads2.wikiart.org/images/rene-magritte/ the-human-condition-1933(1).jpg

Fig.22 Early Framework Development - Mixing Maslow’s Heirarchy with other Frameworks Fig.23 Early Service Model - Spatial Divisions as service divisions Fig.24 Mid Service Model - Conceptual and Emotional purpose divisions Fig.25 Storyboarding Scenario, Concept Development + Video Pitches Fig.26 FInalized Service Model - Progression of ideas is both Strategic and Conceptual Fig.27 Experiential Brand Language Development EBL for structuring scenario concepts

Fig.12 Buddhist Monk - Burma

http://hellosundaymorning.files.wordpress. com/2009/02/monk-meditating-sagaing-myanmar-

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