Media Release: Les Mills Asia Pacific Delivers First Ever Live-Streamed Quarterly eWorkshops
The weekend of 4th to 6th September proved an historic moment for Les Mills Asia Pacific, when more than 2,000+ Instructors came together online to participate in the brand’s first ever online Quarterly Workshops.
“Our Quarterly Workshops are a cornerstone of our business model,” explained Ryan Hogan Chief Executive Officer of Les Mills Asia Pacific “as it’s where our Instructors experience and learn the new choreography and music Releases that will be delivered to members in the Clubs, for the three months that follow.”
“For the first time in the 50+ years that Les Mills has been offering turnkey group fitness solutions to Clubs, these Workshops were delivered online via live-stream, with Instructors attending remotely from all over the Asia Pacific region,” Ryan added.
The business has been constantly innovating since COVID first closed the fitness industry in March, and with both local and international markets such as Victoria still experiencing varying levels of operational uncertainty, the brand is committed to remaining nimble.
“Adversity can have silver linings,” said Ryan. “For example, we’d usually be unable to deliver a Quarterly Workshop in some of the countries within our region – Bali, for example. But these eWorkshops were attended by XX Bali-based Instructors! So it’s fair to say that the pandemic has certainly accelerated our embrace of live-streaming and virtual options, in terms of how we can best service our Instructors and Club Partners during this time.”
The Q3 Quarterly eWorkshops served as an entrée for Les Mills Asia Pacific’s Club Partners and Instructors who are now gearing up for what is touted as the world’s largest fitness event – World United. This new campaign is designed to help Les Mills’ Club Partners all over the globe grow their membership and celebrate the return of fitness, as well as its importance for optimal physical and mental health.
According to a recent report – which surveyed 2,000 club members from across the US – post-COVID membership levels are expected to range from 65% to 84%, with a range of 75% to 80% most likely in the early months after reopening. This can be largely attributed to the value of the social elements that group fitness and staff interactions within Clubs delivers to members.
“Research into the ‘group effect’ tells us that in addition to getting better results, workouts are also more motivating and enjoyable when we exercise with others,” added Ryan. “And with so many of us really starting to feel the effects of having been isolated from friends, family, and familiar faces, this global festival of fitness called ‘WORLD UNITED’ is a way that we can really kick-start the global fitness sector’s COVID-19 recovery.”
The World United campaign is the third phase of Les Mills’ recovery support package for its Club Partners, to help turbocharge their relaunch and drive member re-engagement by reactivating paused members and attracting new ones. The campaign will peak from Saturday 19th September 2020 onwards, with a synchronised global launch of live and online fitness events involving tens of thousands of fitness facilities and Instructors worldwide. The milestone activation will celebrate fitness – our uniting force amid COVID-19 – through the exclusive release of UNITED-themed workouts which were filmed during lockdown, by 374 of the world’s top Les Mills Instructors from across 48 countries.
Les Mills’ Club Partners and Instructors are invited to participate in the global celebrations by hosting their own special launch activations or community Open Day (or weekend) – either live in-club or online via Les Mills’ live-streaming service. These activations play a strong role in motivating members to attend more often, and will dial up the fun factor and offer a strong PR hook to generate added buzz and publicity around each Club.
To find out more about World United including how to get involved, Les Mills’ Club Partners and Instructors can visit www.lesmills.com.au/united.
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.