The market
The global gymnasium market, fitness centers and fitness clubs is estimated at more than $ 100 billion. The American market is the largest and perhaps the most mature with revenues estimated at 25 billion dollars in 2011, with an annual growth rate of 2.6 % for the next five years. This sector has nearly 30,000 companies, employs 550,000 people and has 43 million members. This means that more than 13 % of Americans are members of a gymnasium, a health center or a packaging club. Australia, a sportsman of sports, has 1,500 companies that generate $ 3 billion in revenue in this modern leisure activity, employing nearly 40,000 people. It is more than three times the number of English, a nation which has twice as many inhabitants. Even with around 1.8 million Australians members of gymnasiums and health centers, or 8.5 % of the population, the market is far from saturated. Consequently, the income of these centers is expected at the bottom of the scale "continue to grow at an average annual rate of 13 %, exceeding global trends. The sector has maintained regular growth, even during the last economic slowdowns. This is reflected in the growth of the global market for exercise and physical conditioning equipment which should grow by 10.5 % by 2015. Centers and clubs represent a local company, and there is no major players in industry hold more than 5 % of the market. One of the reasons why there is no normalization and domination of the market is the diversity of activity that goes from tennis clubs to skating rinks, including swimming pools, sports facilities, spas, weight training, fitness and dance centers. Global turnover is impressive and expanding, the market is guaranteed to penetrate urban circles more. The growing societal concerns concerning obesity and weight loss, as well as the desire to join the team sport led to the creation of some international companies like Gold Gym's International, a channel with more than 600 facilities in the States- United and 30 countries that started in 1965 in Venice in California (United States) in 1965. Gold's Gym is the biggest gymnasium in the world with more than 3 million members. Fitness First and the ardent Lessure Group in Australia are starting to eclipse the traditional leaders of sports facilities such as the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Innovation
Gymnasiums are increasingly venturing into the fields of health and nutrition by introducing cardiovascular surveillance and training facilities and weight loss programs. Some combine physical strength with inner psychological strength and confidence. At the same time, research programs began to convert the huge amount of running, walking and weightlifting into a renewable energy source. The members of Gold's Gym Run have made 23 laps from the world every day, traveled 750 times the United States by bicycle and raised more weight than there is gold at Fort Knox. Currently, most of them arrive at the gymnasium by car, and the machines they use consume energy instead of producing electricity. On the other hand, a key question is what people who are not members of a club can do. Marcia Kilgore, born on a farm, left her native Saskatchewan (Canada) province for New York in the hope of entering Columbia University. She did not finish her studies but became a self -taught esthetician who first successfully treated her acne problem, then launched Bliss in 1996 at the age of 31, a spa concept where treatments were Offered with trendy music, brownies and wine. Following this adventure that she sold to the French fashion group LVMH, Marcia settled in London and began to manufacture her own cosmetics and personal cleaning products under the brand Soap & Glory. While she was sitting in a seminar and wanted to exercise, she wondered if we could conceive shoes that gave work and legs while you walk. She imagined an intermediate sole which acts like a shock absorber, combined with a curved uple which makes the foot float. Marcia then patented the "Microwobbleboard" which was transformed into a series of prototype sandals at South Bank University in London. The shoe activating the muscle increases the time during which the muscles are engaged in each step. A high density heel absorbs up to 22 % more shocks in the lower legs and relieves joint stress; A low density median section creates instability that activates the lower leg muscle up to 11 % more. The toe tip is made of material with an average density that helps maintain speed and pace while improving stability. The 30% increase in the activation of the bottom muscles and the stimulation of the hamstring muscles, combined with the overall pressure load rate, makes it possible to combine fashion, functionality and exercise. Multiple advantages are one of the fundamental characteristics of the blue economy and it is rare to see a simple consumer product adopted from such a broad perspective. Marcia created her business under the Fitflop brand in 2006.
The first cash flow
When the design of the shoe was mentioned in the media, it led to 55,000 visits to the Fitflop website which was designed as a waiting page for ideas since the shoe was not really manufactured. The keen interest, and without a business plan, Marcia has taken action and has ordered 15,000 shoes for Europe and 15,000 for the United States. The shoes became an instant success and quickly the first batch was sold. The idea of shoes with functions of improvement of the body and health was well received by the general public and responded to a latent request of men and women. Fashionable shoes too often terrorize the feet, and healthy shoes like the one that Dr. Scholl invented almost a century ago, correct the weakness of the arch, but seem heavy and solid. These shoes are not ideal to combine with a fashionable dress or costume. In a few years, turnover has gone from tens of thousands to ten million in 2011. The gross turnover of Fitflop shoes reached in 2010 the $ 125 million mark. What if this innovative design and marketing were combined with Guillem Ferrer's shoes concepts (box 63)?
The opportunity
The company is just starting to develop and while Marcia has never claimed that it would compete with sports clubs, it helps to create a new trend for consumer goods. The company has developed in more than 50 countries in 5 years. However, the possibility of offering an additional exercise by walking or even dancing on the beach, could be extended to tone the legs of cyclists, mountaineers and long distance runners. With shoes that cost between $ 50 and 250, Marcia is aimed at a large audience. Marcia then joined culture as she did with the "Manyano Sandal", a summer slipper decorated with hand pearls by women of the Wola Nani cooperative in Cape Town. A symbol of culture in a sandal that at the same time receives a quality label from the American Podiatric Medical Association is innovative. The combination of arts and fashion was already a well -established trend, adding exercise and health made it a combination that represents a new business model. And that's what we are looking for in the blue economy.
