MARKETING PLAN

Aqua Studio NY, LLC

Soraya Feizpour, Thuan Do, Suwetha Kalyan, & Vishnu Sharma
Group #5
University of Texas at Dallas

MKT 3300.006
Professor Ying Xie
12/2/2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary.3
Company Mission Statement & Objectives 4
Current Marketing Environment......5-6
Current Marketing Strategy..7-9
Problem Identification..10-11
Solution Formulation12
New Marketing Mix & Implementation..13-14
Appendices....15

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Aqua Studio is a profit-run small business that runs on selling consumer fitness services in a
luxury boutique studio in New York City. We provide our consumers with cycling classes held in
a pool, supplied with bikes made specifically for underwater use and aqaucycling shoes for each
of our customers. Recently brought over from Europe by our owner, Esther Gauthier,
aquacycling is currently an incredibly successful fitness trend in Europe. Therefore, our very
specific fitness service is also considerably unique and new to the United States. A cross
between the popular indoor spinning/cycling fitness trend and being underwater, aquacycling at
Aqua Studio is a proven better fitness alternative for your overall wellbeing. Quite literally, we
have taken an indoor cycling class and placed it in water, where our customers lower halves are
submersed in water. We strive to maintain the health benefits of cycling and aquatic exercise,
the high standard of luxury, the best trainers, and a variety of quality classes for our customers to
infiltrate through the fitness industry, grow our customer base, and popularize this new exercise.

COMPANY MISSION STATEMENT

Aqua Studio NY, LLC

Aqua Studio is the first and only aquacycling studio in New York and a pioneer in our approach
to fitness and wellness. Submerge yourself in the Aqua experience, and you will feel rejuvenated
and blissfully energized.

Marketing Objectives
To give the best of high performance fitness with the ambiance of modern wellness
To expand on the cycling trend by diversifying your fitness routine
To expand on the cycling trend with comparably better long term health benefits
To infiltrate the fitness industry with this new take on the cycling/spin trend
To expand out of a niche demographic into our the entire fitness demographic within
the next four years.
To transition the success of this trend from Europe to the United States.
To create comfort with the idea of this new exercise and reduce the corresponding
customer resistance within all consumers interested in fitness.
To bring in an increase of 20% in new clientele within the next year.

CURRENT MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Trends
In recent years, the fitness industry and its consumers have exploded the indoor cycling
trend. Boutique studios pioneered this challenging and effective exercise, and it has now spread
to big chain gyms, as well. Blogs on health and fitness are beginning to top internet charts, and
boutique fitness studios, offering unique, concentrated exercise classes, are selling out.
Expanding on this current environment of a fitness and health focused consumer base, we took
the new spin on indoor cycling, aquacyling, currently booming in Europe and brought it
stateside.

Marketing Environment
Company
As a sole proprietorship, this small business currently has only one location on
Franklin Street in New York City. It aspires to achieve the same level of success in the US as in
Europe with this fitness concept.

Competitors
Our competitors range from immediate competitors to general fitness competitors.
For example, our immediate competitors would be our main competition, being indoor cycling
studios. Indoor cycling housed in an environment of boutique luxury in the New York City area

is the most immediate comparison to our product, so our main competition would be companies
such as Soul Cycle, FlyWheel, Torque Cycling, and Pedal NYC. Reaching out a bit further,
general gyms in the New York City area that provide cycling classes would be our next level of
competition. Finally, slightly further, all other boutique fitness studios in the New York City area
housing alternative and concentrated fitness classes would be our last tier of competitors. These
would be such companies as Barrys Bootcamp, Pure Yoga, Physique 57, Pure Barre, and Ballet
Beautiful.

Customers
Our target demographic is all individuals interested in fitness, regardless of their
specific goals. We can effectively cater to all who fall under that category. More specifically,
our customers would be fitness enthusiasts, the easily bored, the weigh loss geared individuals,
the fitness trendy, people with knee or joint problems, people looking for a high-calorie burning
activity, the water exercise/activity lovers, the stressed, people with a larger disposable income or
larger fitness budget, and definitely people living in or visiting the New York City area.

CURRENT MARKETING STRATEGY

Target Market Strategy

The market for aquacycling is the fitness-interested population of New York City. Aqua
Studio targets all ages, races, and genders. The targeted income level for this product would be
set for mid to high level income families. One of the largest factors that aquacyling focuses on is
the health benefits aspect. To set us apart and add allure to our product versus the traditional
indoor cycling, we reinforce the alternative benefits that are reaped when cycling in water. The
water creates an environment that is impact free on joints, eliminates post-workout soreness,
increases the quality of sleep, and promotes flexibility.

Marketing Mix
Product
Aqua Studio is a boutique studio that offers a fitness service called aquacycling in
New York City only, 7 days a week. Its fitness service is a hybrid of an indoor cycling class and
a water aerobics class; it is a cycling class class held in a pool. One instructor leads the class,
which holds a fairly small number of bikes. All instructors are highly qualified, coming from
extensive and diverse fitness backgrounds. Different types of classes at many different times
throughout the day are offered. The classes are entitled according to the level of challenge or
target demographic. The names are as follows: the Interval, Power, Restorative, Men Special,
and Weekend Challenge classes. All classes are women only, with the exception of the Men

Special, and all classes are 45 minutes long, with the exception of the 60 minute Weekend
Challenge class.
Its marketing is limited to niche settings, currently: unless one is an avid fitness-goer or
constantly keeps up with the new fitness trends through fitness news, one would only hear about
this through even more specific fitness environments. The product life cycle is short, but
ongoing: the customer signs up for the class, the class begins, finishes, and the next extension of
the product is begun with the next class.

Price
The price of the classes at Aqua studio is generated to families of middle to high
income levels. Generally, boutique fitness studios cater to those with a higher disposable income
or a larger fitness budget. The studio is built on a class card buying structure, similar to the
majority of boutique fitness studios. It class card prices are also competitively priced, correctly
according to their market and to retain their value and products position. There is no
membership offered, as of now. Classes can only be bought by the class cards. A trial class is
$34 and a single class (after your first trial class) is $40, both expiring 30 days after purchase.
The consumer also has the option for class card packages, which are: 5 pack is $190 (expiring in
45 days), 10 pack is $360 (expiring in 3 months), 20 pack is $680 (expiring in 6 months), and a
30 pack is $990 (expiring in 9 months). The business goal is not only for an internal profit, but
also to popularize this exercise in the United States and be able to successfully compete with its
indoor cycling competitors.

Place

Their only current location is in New York City, in Tribeca. The

address is 78 Franklin Street NY, NY 10013. It is located between Church
and Broadway. The classes can be purchased online through their website or in the studio.

Promotion
Aqua Studio is currently making promotional efforts by establishing connections
with all the popular publications on fitness and fashion, whether it be online, magazines,
newspapers, or on television. They also have made successful connections with mornings shows
and local news shows as new segment spotlights. In addition, they are using the European
success of the aquacycling trend to strike a alluring chord with on-trend New Yorkers. Finally,
they are relying on the word of mouth within current fitness-goers who are current clients, attend
one or various boutique studios, and/or attend indoor cycling studios.

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Aqua Studios problem lies in the unfamiliarity of its product in the United States. Along with
this unfamiliarity, comes customer hesitance, its first problem. Its product uniqueness may be its
product differentiation, however, it also places it in a very minute niche demographic. This small
reach for its initial response span is its second problem, and when met with its problem of
customer hesitance, it only closes the gap of product outreach even more.

Customer Hesitance
The majority of people have a set routine and if its been established for a consistent
amount of time, it has proven to be effective for them. Due to this proven effectiveness and
stability that has been constructed, most consumers are not open to a change. The same principle
applies to fitness and fitness regimens. This comfort with established routines and natural
reluctance to try something new is only expanded when introduced with a new, unfamiliar
option. This is what aquacycling is to the consumers interested in fitness in the United States. In
addition, with the popularization of traditional indoor cycling, many of the fitness interested have
already clung to that as their physical exercise. A close imitation, especially being put in the less
popular environment of water, is not compelling enough for consumers to look into a change.

Niche Seclusion
Aquacycling successfully introduces itself, initially, to people who are either seeking pain
relief, but do not want to quit cycling, people who like fitness activities in the water, or fitness
enthusiasts who like trying new fitness trends. This is a very small niche demographic to work
with. While it may be a start and provide word of mouth, it is a very small segment to
successfully launch this new fitness concept. So, moving out of this initial attraction of a niche

10

demographic, and take aquacyclings market segmentation to a wider group of consumers, all
who are interested in fitness and wellness.

SOLUTION FORMULATION

Aqua Studios solution formulation will target the two aforementioned problems in its
marketing. The formulation of the Mind Game Marketing Plan will significantly improve the

11

outreach, and therefore, the resulting influx of new clientele. This marketing plan is necessary to
manipulate the consumers current mental perspective. First, it will target consumer hesitance by
increasing promotional repetition to create an association of comfort with this new fitness
concept. Through the reoccurring promotion of this concept, the consumer will subconsciously
progress in their comfort level with this currently foreign regarded concept. Next, a coinciding
marketing campaign is needed that will sell this concept as an easy, effortless, better for your
body, and more effective exercise to cast a better mental image for cycling underwater. Lastly, a
strong emphasis on the relation of this concept to an already established and effective model will
give the consumer confidence in the product to go against their initial discomfort to try
aquacyling. This is referencing the success in Europe, and how its large expansion has reached
to classes being offered at general chain gyms. While this is already part of the current
marketing plan, in this new marketing plan its extra emphasis placed next to this new marketing
plan will exponentialize its original calculated effect.

NEW MARKETING MIX & IMPLEMENTATION

Marketing Mix
Product

12

The product will remain the same. To maintaining the integrity and stance of
value in the product, this should not be altered.

Price
The price will remain the same. Similar to the product, the fixed price of the
product represents its value independently and in comparison to its similarly priced competition.
Therefore, it should not be changed to withhold its desired product representation of a high
quality, luxury product. However, in conjunction with promotional strategies, offering
promotional deals to bring in first time customers would lower consumer hesitance by offering a
win-win incentive for the consumer. For example, offering a free class for first time guests and a
consequent special rate for the first 5 pack of class cards purchased. This will create a need to
return to fulfill the 5 classes, in turn growing familiarity and the time to prove the products
effectiveness first hand. Finally, to introduce a reward class structure that awards repeat
customers with free classes based on the according number of classes taken per month. This will
create an incentive for current clientele to stay with the studio, rather than, for any relevant
reason, taking their business elsewhere.

Place
The place will stay fixed to the current sole location in NYC, for now. Also, class
purchases will remain online through their website and in their studio. Due to the nature of the
exercise, even an altered marketing plan proves impossible to take this exercise elsewhere, for
the time being.

13

Promotion

The promotional efforts will be the area of the marketing mix with the significant
changes. In efforts to cast a new image for familiarity of the product, a new marketing campaign
will be constructed to reintroduce aquacycling in a more comfortable light and highly focusing
on its comparative health benefits. A simultaneous smaller scale marketing campaign solely
dedicated to its European trendiness will also be released. Alongside the new campaigns, there
will be the repetition and increase of publicity of its name, image, and description to create
increased familiarity for the consumer. For example, simulation class demos at popular health
food destinations and juice bars holding special events, and booths at major fashion/fitness
events around the city. As a result, these promotional tactics will increase both popularity and
familiarity with the product.

APPENDICES

The Scoop, Womens Health Magazine

The Newest Take on Indoor Cycling
Posted on September 13, 2013 by Elizabeth Narins

14

Addicted to indoor cycling and its awesome benefits? Theres a workout thats just as effectiveand way easier on your body. While physical therapists and Europeans jumped on the fitness
trend years ago, fitness centers across the country are now offering aqua cycling, an indoor
cycling class you do in a pool. As you might imagine, aqua cycling is a far cry from the indoor
cycling you know and love. See, unlike regular and stationary bikes, aqua cycles have no wheels,
gears, or knobs. Instead, they rest on the pool floor and use waist-high water for resistancethe
faster you pedal, the harder it gets. If youre used to spinning on land or indoor cycling, it feels
bizarre because of the buoyancy, says Esther Gauthier, owner of Aqua, a five-month-old aqua
cycling studio in New York City. This takes the impact off your joints, but forces you to engage
your core much more, she says. The constant movement boosts your heart rate and torches up to
800 calories per hour, says Gauthier, while the pressure from the water massages your muscles to
stimulate blood flow and help your body heal. The result: A holistic workout that leaves you
feeling tighternot terribly soreand super relaxed, she says. The under-water workout is
awesome for just about anyone, whether youre injured or sore from training; pregnant; trying to
shape up; or just wishing you got more wear out of the swimsuits you bought this summer.

15