Health Clubs Will Be Pumping Ads

Advertisers are muscling in on the hard-to-reach workout crowd with TV monitors that flash advertisements at unsuspecting bodybuilders working out in health clubs nationwide.

While you’re riding the Lifecycle--or even undressing in the locker room--strategically placed TV sets will attempt not only to entertain you but also to lure you into taking part in special promotions by advertisers such as Diet Coke and Club Med.

The TV sets--up to 50 per club--will show music videos and brief comedy and sports segments. Figure about 12 minutes of commercials for every 60 minutes of air time.

The monitors have already been installed in one New York club. And Southern California is next.

Most health club members are young, well-educated and have extra money to spend. Yet they are hard for conventional marketers to reach because such consumers rarely sit around watching TV. But while exercising on stationary bikes or lifting weights at the clubs, they are an easy target for advertisers.

More and more these days, advertisers are devising new ways to reach captive consumers via TV monitors. And each location seems to be more provocative than the one before it.

“It sounds very intrusive to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if club members find ways to break the monitors,” said Peter Stranger, president of the Los Angeles office of the ad agency Della Femina McNamee. “Find me a place where there is no advertising, and I’ll find you a company that will put it there.”

The concept is now being tested at a popular New York health club, but, before the month is out, the Holiday Spa Health Club in Hollywood plans to install the TV monitors too. If successful, the system could go chain-wide to all other clubs owned by Bally’s Health & Tennis Corp. A Racquetball World health club in Canoga Park tested a modified version in May, and four other Racquetball World clubs in Southern California may eventually install them.

But health clubs are just the latest in a long chain of locations that advertisers are trying to convert into dens of specialized TV advertising.

In 1989, TV monitors began showing up at supermarkets, amusement parks and other retailers where people wait in line. In 1990, Healthlink Television, featuring TVs with special programming and advertising, also began to appear in some doctors’ offices. And last year, Whittle Communications caused a stir when it brought television to the classroom with Channel One’s special programming and advertisements.

This newest effort to reach the health club audience comes courtesy of New York-based Health Club Television Network. The company was founded by Robert Gray, who devised POP (Point of Purchase) Radio Corp., which pitches products to shoppers strolling in supermarkets.

Now, Gray has made the big leap from radio to TV. Some health clubs that don’t install the new TV monitors, however, are expected to sign on to a related health club radio network.

By late fall, Health Club Television Network expects to have monitors installed in 100 clubs nationally. Within a year, it hopes to have the monitors placed in at least 825 of the nation’s largest health clubs. Each of these clubs reaches more than 1,000 members daily--who each spend an average of 74 minutes at their club.

“We don’t want to be obnoxious,” said Harry Gray, president of Health Club Television Network, and brother to founder Robert. “We want to balance the concerns of the advertisers, the health clubs and their members.”

But the real motive, of course, is profit. Advertisers pay monthly fees of about $300 per club. For that amount, their 30-second ads appear on the TV screens 16 times daily. Gray said Health Club Television expects to post revenue of $2.5 million its first year.

Executives at both Health Club Television and the health clubs involved declined to say how much the clubs are paid. But the clubs earn a small percentage of the ad revenue.

Many health clubs already have TV sets--most commonly turned to ESPN or CNN. The sets are usually placed in the areas where members ride stationary bikes or in the snack bar area. But seldom are TV sets so widely distributed throughout clubs.

Some clubs give members the option of hearing TV programming by placing the sound on a radio frequency that they can listen to on their own stereo headphones. But the Health Club Television system broadcasts the sound throughout the club--whether or not members want to hear it.

Skeptics say that’s a big mistake.

“They don’t have any understanding of the psychology of their members,” said Carol Moog, an advertising psychologist and author based in Bala-Cynwyd,Pa. “People who devote themselves to exercise are very individualistic. They will reject anything that distracts them from their purpose--or that breaks their concentration.”

Two weeks ago, Health Club Television placed 70 of the TV monitors at a health club in New York. After a slew of complaints by club members, the number of monitors was halved.

“The membership was in shock at first, because we put it in without their consent,” said Tom DiNatale, manager of the Vertical Club, which is owned by Bally’s. “But I keep telling people, like anything else, they should give it a try.”

One club employee, who requested anonymity, said the experiment has been a flop. “It seems like everyone is complaining about it,” said the employee. “I think it’s really distracting. If people want to watch TV, they should watch it at home.”

The employee said one weightlifter at the club complained that he was nearly injured when he dropped a heavy weight after being distracted by a TV monitor. And some other members have complained that TV monitors in the locker rooms invaded their personal privacy. As a result, monitors in the locker rooms and weightlifting areas have been removed.

Some advertising executives, however, are intrigued by the health club TV barrage. “This is a way to reach an audience that is not easy to reach,” said William Evans, senior vice president at the Los Angeles office of Foote, Cone & Belding.

In May, the concept was tested on a single TV set at Racquetball World in Canoga Park. The membership was surveyed after two weeks. Of the 400 who responded, 59% said they approved, said Howard Wasserteil, general manager of the club.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an overwhelming endorsement,” said Wasserteil, “but when you have a club with 5,000 members, no matter what you do you’re not going to make everyone happy.”

Isuzu’s Agency to Open L.A. Branch

By mid-August another major advertising agency will open a Los Angeles office. That’s when Isuzu says it will choose a new agency to create its ads from among five finalists--none of which have Los Angeles operations.

Two are headquartered in New York, two in Minneapolis and one in San Francisco. Why weren’t any Los Angeles agencies among the finalists? “We looked for the best prospects, regardless of size or location,” said E. F. (Fritz) Kern, senior vice president at City of Industry-based American Isuzu Motors. “That’s the way it turned out.”

Reaching Out With Monitors It used to be that the only place to see a TV commercial was on your TV set at home. Not any more. Consider:

Health Clubs: Health Club Television plans to place television monitors in 825 health clubs within the next year.

Amusement Parks: Prime Time Video broadcasts light programming and ads on TV monitors aimed at customers waiting in lines at Six Flags Corp. amusement parks.

Doctors’ Offices: Health Link Television shows special programming and advertisements in some doctors’ offices nationally.

Schools: Whittle Communications caused a stir last year when it brought television programming--with commercials--to the classroom.

Supermarkets: Checkout Channel, a joint venture of Turner Broadcasting System and ActMedia, delivers live programming via satellite to customers waiting in grocery store checkout lines. Retailers: Last year Sears became the largest major retailer to offer paid ad time to outside advertisers on an in-store video system.