Weight & Health Management Industry Trends

Brand ExtensionsMany weight loss firms continually add to their portfolio of products and services to extend their brands and maximize revenue. The Weight Watchers brand, for example, has extended beyond meetings and products sold at meetings to include Internet subscriptions and product sales, magazines, and licensed products sold in retail channels and through third-party publications. Consumers spent over $3 billion worldwide on Weight Watchers' products and services in a recent year.

Self-Help

Self-help books and tapes have long been competitive to for-fee weight reduction services, which are countering with online self-help for members. Online self-help includes nutrition and exercise information, individual menu planning and recipes, and support groups. Maintaining customer privacy is important for support groups and self-help tools, which often require members to share personal data, including weight, height, food cravings, lifestyle choices, and problems that trigger excessive or improper eating habits.

Celebrity Spokespersons

In addition to using success stories from typical customers, in recent years major industry companies have increasingly relied on celebrity spokespersons and endorsements. Jenny Craig famously selected Kirstie Alley for a reality-show-like ad campaign that tracked the star's weight loss progress and success, culminating in a bikini-clad appearance on a TV talk show. A celebrity spokesperson is effective when the person maintains a public persona favored by the weight loss company's targeted customers.

Frequent Program UpdatesBecause weight reduction services firms rely on new, current, and returning members, companies continually update and market their offerings to appear fresh and new. Some companies modify programs as often as every year or two. Companies typically promote updated diet plans with new, catchy names and claims of being easier to use. Updated programs are entice consumers to join for the first time, continue membership, or rejoin.

Online Business Models

The Internet is dramatically changing the business model for weight reduction services firms, affecting customer contact, overhead costs, and pricing. The earlier business model relied on memberships with in-person meetings and support, but the newer model typically includes paid subscriptions to online content with remote support via the Internet or phone. When online competitors entered the market, they established lower pricing for the industry: online business models have lower overhead and higher margins than the in-person, meeting-focused model. Some companies operate solely online or in-person, while others combine the approaches.