Bally Total Fitness saw opportunities to enhance the member and employee experience through mobile technology. They observed members and employees using mobile devices personally but not engaging with Bally. Bally began developing mobile apps for employees to interact with members and the environment, and for members to interact with classes, other members, employees, and the environment. This included apps for finding classes, checking in, viewing schedules, and more. Bally aimed to foster an innovative culture where IT helped drive the business through quick iterations. Their mobile vision focused on context-aware, personalized experiences on any device to augment interactions and foster community.

1. Bally Total Fitness
Technology in Motion

2. Why Mobile at Bally
–Fitness corresponds with freedom, movement and action
–Natural environmental and cultural fit
–Mobile would amplify the experience and environment
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3. Where to Begin
Observations:
• Members
• Already using mobile while working out
• Using social networks to talk about Bally, but not to engage
with Bally
• 10% of web visitors using a mobile device
• Employees
• Interacting with consumers while in motion, but then tethered
for system access and transactions
• Using mobile in personal lives
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4. Culture and Technology
• IT culture needed to change from “order taker” with
long implementation cycles to business driver with
quick turn around times
• Technology needed to become more interactive,
engaging, and supportive of a mobile workforce and
consumer
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5. Fostering IT Innovation
• Formal innovation processes
– Annual IT Innovation Summit
– Embedded IT
– IT Develop Exploration
• Real results
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6. Innovation Process: Annual IT Innovation
Summit
• Annual summit involving all IT personnel
• Innovation focus areas and teams formed
• Research conducted and solutions proposed by cross-
functional teams
• Innovation ideas presented to IT leadership during
multi-day innovation summit
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7. Innovation Process: Embedded IT
• Permanently embedded IT staff
– Provides open communication with all levels of fitness and call
center staff
– First hand observation of technology, business processes and
member communications
• Seasonally embedded IT staff
– Peak season IT staff embedded in fitness centers
– Shared experiences and conversations with fitness center staff
– Post peak season debrief focused on how to improve technology
and processes
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8. Innovation Process: IT Developer
Exploration
• After the annual innovation summit, block time for
developers to explore technology in support of
innovation ideas
• Innovation and exploration bandwidth is built into
resource allocations on project plans
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9. 2011 Real Results
• Results Center
– 2012 Digital Sign Expo APEX Award Bronze Medalist
• Mobile Applications
– Robust mobile vision
– Numerous iPad applications
– Employee facing iPhone applications
– Consumer facing applications in development
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10. 2011 Innovation Projects: Results
Center
Key Innovation:
Large scale interactive video display
based upon Microsoft Kinect
• Show a member what their future self
would look like if they adopt a healthy
lifestyle
• Provide members and potential
members with a library of exercise
videos for major muscle groups
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11. Mobile Technology Vision
• Employees interacting with consumers
• Employees interacting with the environment
• Consumers interacting with the environment
• Consumers interacting with employees
• Consumers interacting with each other
• Work anywhere, on any device
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12. Employee to Consumer
iPad Apps
– Club Tour
– Membership and Personal Training
Presentation
– Membership and Personal Training Sales
– Registered Guests
– Who is in my club
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13. Employee to Environment
iPhone Apps
– Facility Maintenance
– Workout Equipment Maintenance
– Preventative Maintenance
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14. Consumer to Environment
Mobile Web
– Guest pass downloads
– Find a club
– Group Ex Schedules
QR Codes on fitness
equipment for workout tips
or instruction
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15. Consumer to Environment
iPhone/Android App
– Profile maintenance
– Class schedules and details
– Membership ID
– Order a smoothie
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16. Consumer to Environment
WiFi Location Awareness (802.11)
– Automatic check-in
– Post messages to Facebook
– Personalized marketing
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17. Consumer to Employee
iPhone/Android App
– Find a trainer
– Personal trainer interaction
• Fitness advisor
• Nutrition advisor
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18. Consumer to Consumer - Social
• iPhone/Android – design stages
– Find a workout friend
– Self-organizing interactive communities based on workout
preferences
– Gamification - Competition fostering between individuals or
locations
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19. Work Anywhere – On Any Device
• Bally IT is 80% virtual
• Employees can work anywhere
on any device using virtual
desktops – iPad being the most
prevalent
• iPad based executive reporting
• Reduced IT office space by 50%
• Reduced desktop hardware and
software support by 60%
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20. Key Considerations
• User Experience is everything
– Augment the environment
– Foster interaction without feeling intrusive
– Emotions through technology
– Common digital language across technologies
• Security
– Transactional security
– Secure access for consumers
• Vendors
– User experience
– Experience with similar design goals
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21. Enterprise Benefits of Mobile
In locations with new technology:
• Juice Bar sales up 100%
• Member retention up 10%
• Top membership sales in the chain
• Reduced maintenance costs and downtime
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22. Future of Mobile
• Context aware, personalized marketing and services
– How often do I workout and at which location(s)
– Where do I spend time in the location
– What services do I use (PT, Group Ex)
– What products have I purchased
– What people have I 'teamed up with'
• Expansive community and social integration
• Mobile Intercept App using natural
• Private label apps within a container app
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23. Summary
• Observe the world around you
– How are consumers/employees interacting with other
organizations versus your organization
– How are consumers/employees interacting with each other
and can your organization facilitate or participate in the
conversation
• Use technology to amplify your relationship with
consumers
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