Fitness player Talwalkars bullish on television commercial

The largest and the oldest player in the fitness industry in India, Talwalkars is confident of retaining and expanding its customer base on the back of a new television commercial (TVC), which it plans to launch in two months, and by venturing into sports merchandising in 6-9 months.

Being the first fitness company in India to go for an IPO in 2010, Talwalkars will also be the first among its competitors to launch a TVC.

“The TVC comes after the success of our recently launched commercial on a pilot basis on Mumbai local channels in January this year. We are working on various topics for the TVC, which will run at the national level focusing on the importance of fitness in life,” Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Limited’s chief financial officer Anant Gawande says.

The TVC will be followed by its venture into sports merchandising, including sports goods, sportswear, sports drinks and health supplements, for which it is in discussions with international brands.

“We want to provide a unique experience to our customers where they can buy T-shirts, accessories and health supplements at the gym. It has already received good response in the US and European countries and we hope the same response from Indian consumers,” he says.

The overall fitness market in India is pegged at Rs 4,500 crore, which is dominated mostly by the unorganised sector with single fitness centres, single gym and small chain of stores. The organised fitness industry is one-third of the unorganised market, pegged at Rs 1,500- Rs 2,000 crore and growing at 20-25 per cent year-on-year.

Gawande says growing health consciousness and the trend of staying fit and healthy are drawing people to gyms and wellness centres. Other factors are rising lifestyle diseases such as, diabetes, hypertension, and also rising disposable income.

“People are coming to gym like never before. The trend is catching on even in smaller towns like Indore, Jodhpur, Jabalpur,” he adds.

Started with a single gym in Mumbai in 1932, Talwalkars now dominates the organised fitness industry with a 15 per cent market share. It has 102 health clubs and one Hi Fi (Healthy India Fit India) gym across 54 cities.

Other players like Gold and FitnessOne have less than five per cent market share with less than 40 gyms each. Chennai-based FitnessOne, which started in 2004, has charted plans to open 100 fitness centres by 2012 from the current 37 in India, according to Arun Kathiresan, director, FitnessOne Group India.