EGYM and The Future of Client-Centric Gyms - Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer

Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer is CEO/Co-Founder at eGym GmbH. Prior, he studied Business and Technology Management at Columbia University in New York. With eGym Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer has taken fitness training into the digital age. Before his keynote at the ISPO Digitize Summit, he talks about the digital transformation of the sports industry and his company as a positive example.

How did Philipp get to be the founder of eGym? (0:48)

• Philipp was born and raised in Germany before moving to the U.S for University. 
• He attended Columbia Business School in New York City. 
• When he started there, his friends told him he needed to wear his Columbia T-shirt every day and at least two times a week take the shirt to a gym. 
• That was the first in Philipp’s life that he ever went to a gym and he did not understand the product. 
• He would press the quick-start button on cardio machines and it would just go, not according to his own goal or body. 
• Whenever he left the gym, Philipp was never sure whether he was successful or not because there was a lack of data. 
• During that time, and speaking to his friends and other people who go to the gym, a lot of them had the fact that they weren’t very successful in common. 
• They also said the experience does not feel great and most of them said that they’ve been in and out of gym memberships because of New Year resolutions. 
• So many people understand that they have to go to the gym but the product just doesn’t work for them. 
• Philipp believes that with technology he can fix a lot of that and he believes technology will also help make the fitness industry much larger than it is.
• That is why he started eGym. 

Where does Philipp see the greatest potential for technology within the fitness space? (4:09)

• When Philipp thinks about the gym, he sees it more as access to tools. 
• You sign up for your membership and you have access to all the machines and weights etc. 
• About 80% of people go to the gym with a training goal in mind.
• Philipp compares access to tools vs access to solutions. 
• For example, imagine a restaurant where you cannot order a salami pizza already made, but you have access to all of the tools or ‘ingredients’ to make your salami pizza. 
• This is how gyms are providing service, if you have a training goal, you still only get access to the tools. 
• In gyms, you need to find your way on your own. 
• And so Philipp believes through technology, gyms can turn from access to tools, to access to solution providers. 
• Philipp imagines a gym where every piece of equipment knows you, knows your training goal, and your current state of training. 
• Every piece of equipment would set itself up for you automatically and guide you through an ideal, perfect workout for you. 
• When you leave the gym you also see the data that is meaningful and makes sense to you. 
• It makes you understand the progress you have made while training. 
• 80% of people do not just want the solutions and what they need is a personalized experience.
• You hear a lot of, what could be the digitization of gyms? How could digital technology be used for gyms? And it turns into a lot of different rabbit holes. 
• Philipp firmly believes that the digitization of the gym means personalizing user experiences. He believes this is where the biggest impact of the technology lies. 

What future does Philipp see in the industry? (29:26)

• There is no question that 202 has been a tough year for the fitness industry. 
• If politicians decided that gyms are now on a zero revenue level they could shut down gyms again. 
• Sometime in 2021, there should be a point where gyms are allowed to reestablish themselves and get their finances in order. 
• Philipp is excited because the gym industry has never been dependent on the economic cycle. 
• Whether it was 2001 or 2012, it has always been a great time for the gym industry. 
• There might be a recession because of Corona but it’s not problematic for gyms, the industry keeps growing by about 4-5% yearly. 
• The growth in the industry was large because of health awareness and Philipp feels that 2020 has made people more health-conscious than ever before. 
• A lot of people are wondering about their immune systems and this has woken people up to want to live healthier lifestyles. 
• Stats from a McKinsey study shows that in China people were already living a lot more health awareness than before. 
• A lot of people in the gym industry have been frustrated about politicians locking them down.
• Everyone understood gyms as being an aesthetics kind of thing but not people’s views on it are shifting from aesthetics-focused to more health-based workouts. 
• And so Philipp believes in the future that the growth of the gym industry will be exponential and easily surpass their steady 4-5% growth rate yearly. 

eGym

EGYM is a global fitness technology leader providing fitness and health facilities with intelligent workout solutions. EGYM makes exercising smarter and more efficient with its comprehensive suite of connected gym equipment and digital products that integrate seamlessly with 3rd-party hard- and software. The result is a fully connected training experience that drives measurable business and health outcomes on and off the training floor. 

Resources

Connect with Philipp: LinkedIn

eGym: Website

Connect with Eric: LinkedIn