In the Zone Fitness Center is a 22,000 square foot multi-sport training facility located in Bath, PA that opened in 2004. It offers memberships, fitness equipment, indoor turf areas, sports camps, and birthday parties. The facility has batting cages, basketball courts, and a snack bar. It aims to serve families in the local area and attract children, teenagers, and adults involved in sports. The marketing plan will focus on promoting the unique aspects of the facility, building community relationships, and attracting new members through various advertising tactics.

1. IN THE ZONE
FITNESS CENTER
Tony Mirabito
Marketing Plan
SMGT 548

2. In the Zone
 Began in 2004 by owner Steve Turpening
 He wanted to create a facility that the whole family could
use and come to rather than opening just an ordinary gym
 In the Zone offers memberships, an indoor turf training
area, fitness center, sports camps, and also holds birthday
parties

3. In the Zone Facility
 22,000 Sq. Ft. Multi-Sport Training Complex
 5 Batting cages
 2 Full length basketball courts
 Fitness Center
 Turf training area
 Snack Bar

4. LOCATION
 BATH, PA
 Population- 2,678
 Male-1,276
 Female-1,402
 Median Age-34.7
 Families-65.3 %
 Average household size- 2.52
 Median household income- $40,825
(MuniNetGuide, 2010)

5. NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
 Bethlehem-Allentown metro area
 Population- 282, 554 (increase 5.80% from 2000)
 Median household income-45,234
 School districts- Bangor, Bethlehem, Easton, Nazareth,
Northampton, Pen Argyl, Saucon Valley, Wilson Area
 Population 3 years and over enrolled in school: 70,501
 Grades 1-12: 44,851
 165 schools
 6th fastest growing county in PA
(PAHomeTownLocator,2010)

6. TARGET MARKET
 Children, Young Adult, Adult
 Children (Male and Female 5-14)
 Youth Athletes
 Local teams
 Public/Private schools
 Traveling and AAU teams
 Children’s birthday parties
 Summer campers

7. TARGET MARKET
 Young Adults (Male and Female 15-18)
 High school athletes
 Individual training
 High school teams
 Local teams:
 Summer campers
 Fitness Enthusiasts

8. TARGET MARKET
 Adults (Male and Female 19-75)
 Parents- the parents of the children that come into the
facility
 Coaches-bringing their teams to the facility
 Recreational Facilitators
 Adult Athletes
 Adults Teams

9. SWOT ANALYSIS
 Strengths  Opportunities
 Multi-Sport Facility  Very populated region with a
 Respected business and owner large target market (schools,
 Growing number or members
businesses, etc.)
and users  No such multi-sport facility in
the surrounding area, including
 Weaknesses
individual trainers
 Lack of marketing or
 Exposure to nearby community
advertising
 Threats
 Lack of awareness to
surrounding communities  Smaller facility/ staff
 Multiple large gym’s in a 20 mile  Economy
radius  Other gyms and fitness centers
in the area

10. COMPETITVE ANALYSIS
 Direct Competition
 Hitter’s Edge
 Multi-sport facility located about 30 miles away
 Substitute Competition
 Surrounding gym’s
 Gold’s Gym, LA Fitness, Snap Fitness, St. Luke’s North
 Surrounding Recreational Facilities’ and Parks’
 Hanover Community Center, YMCA, Bicentennial Park
 Indirect Competition
 Populated Lehigh Valley area with a lot of other forms of entertainment
 Movie theatres, shopping malls, Semi-pro teams, youth and high school
competition

11. FITNESS RESEARCH
 A survey by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention:
 2008 and 2009: 28% of the U.S. population is obese
 2008- 31.9% engaged in physical activity
 2009- 34.7% engaged in physical activity
 Diminished disposable income in 2009 causes consumers
to spend less on exercise- consumers want more bang for
their buck-
 Group exercise- class oriented
 Running- indoor and outdoor
 Basketball
 Tennis
(More Americans Exercising, 2010)

12. FITNESS RESEARCH
 Since 2000, certain fitness activities and competitive
sports have shown significant growth:
 Pilates training- 8,653,000-456.2%
 Elliptical Motion Trainer- 26,521,000-259.8%
 Table Tennis- 19,301,000- 51.8%
 Stationary Cycling (group)- 6,831,000-45.1%
 Tennis- 18,534,000- 42.9%
 Treadmill- 51,418,000- 37.9%
(More Americans Exercising, 2010)

13. FITNESS RESEARCH
 Since 2008, these sports have shown double-digit growth in participation:
 Tennis (41.8%)
 Kickboxing (20.1%)
 Yoga (13.2%)
 Table Tennis (12.2%)
 Most popular sports and fitness activities based on overall participation
(age 6 and above) 2009 rank
 Walking 110,095,000
 Bowling 57,293,000
 Treadmill 51,418,000
 Free weights 45, 934,000
 Running 43,892,000
 Billiards 43,005,000
 Fishing 40,961,000
 Bicycling 40,140,000
 Weight/resistance machines 39,752,000
(More Americans Exercising, 2010)

14. FITNESS RESEARCH
 Leading Team Sports in USA (age 6 and above)
 Basketball 24,007,000
 Soccer 13,837,00
 Baseball 13,691,000
 Touch football 8,959,000
 Slow-pitch softball 8,525,000
(More Americans Exercising, 2010)

15. FITNESS RESEARCH
Table 1. Work-out Participation by Age Group

16. FITNESS RESEARCH
Table 2. Work-out Participation by Age Group (Male)

17. FITNESS RESEARCH
Table 3. Work-out Participation by Age Group (Female)

18. FITNESS RESEARCH
Table 4. Work-out Participation by Household Income

19. OBJECTIVES
 Generate more revenue than the previous year
 Develop brand awareness
 Increase clientele base

20. STRATEGIES
 Promote the In the Zone brand
 Utilize local sponsors
 Enhance community relation efforts
 Increase attendance

21. STRATEGIES
 Develop “outside” the facility programs
 Media plan execution
 Attract new members
 Market the unique multi-sport aspects of the facility

22. TACTICS
 Utilize local sponsors to put signage throughout the facility to
increase revenue
 Reach out to local businesses, restaurants, sports leagues.
 Advertise and market In the Zone through different media channels
 Newspaper
 Morning call:
 Power of 4 package: starting at $550.oo- reaches 329,227 adults in Lehigh,
Northampton and Carbon counties
 MVP Sports Package: reach 71% of male readers and 57% of readers with an
annual income of $50,000
 Express Times: Packages ranging from $53- $183 (4 lines- 5 days, 6 lines -30
days)
 Local radio
 AM: 790 WAEB-Allentown, 1320 WTKZ-ESPN Allentown, 1230 WEEX-ESPN
Easton
 FM:95.1 WZZO- Bethlehem, 96.1 WCTO- Easton, 104.1 WAEB-FM-
Allentown
(HTL, 2010)

23. TACTICS
 Sports Teams, Gyms, Church Bulletins, Etc.
 Iron Pigs Program
 Display tournaments and different events through posters and
brochures at local gyms
 Develop an informative and user friendly website
 Enter.net package: Web hosting as low as $9.95 a month
 Register for camps, pay bills online, order product online, check
schedules, etc.
 Reach out to local schools to inform them of
camps, tournaments, and special events
 Give them team discounts for camps or special events
 Offer speed and agility camps
 Offer individual training

24. TACTICS
 Promotions
 Promotional product give-a ways with logo and name on the
product at different venues and events in the area
 Promote the talent of the trainers and athletes In the Zone
staffs
 Ex-professional NBA player
 D1- softball and football players
 Develop a survey or feedback form
 Online survey of what they liked or didn’t like
 What else customers might enjoy
 Develop a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter
 Customers could be reached by mail or email
 Increase notifications about events and other news

25. TACTICS
 Create more classes and add equipment/sports to appeal
to growing participant audiences
 Group exercise- Pilates, spinning, kickboxing, yoga
 Tennis
 Tables tennis
 Touch football league

26. CREATIVE COMPONENT
 Tagline-
 In the Zone Fitness Center “More than just working out”
 Importance of being able to use all the aspects of the
facility whether it be for individual fitness, training for a
sport, a cool place to have a birthday party or just having
fun playing basketball and using the batting cages

27. REFERENCES