DDSTUDIO’s relationship with Hoist Fitness spans 15 years, during which we have worked closely with the CEO and his team on designing distinctive experiences.
We have embedded our expertise at a platform and individual product level, striving for continuity across the Hoist brand.
For the most recent project, the Mi6 Home Gym, we are helping Hoist re-enter the home gym space as a market leader by offering not just unique products and services, but the right ones.
The Strategy
Our initial activity was to look at fundamental consumer patterns for purchasing and using home gyms. Through field research at retail locations with competitive equipment, we saw that couples 35 -55 were viewing gyms at retail stores after conducting online searches. We found that women typically made the buying decision. Often one of the partners had experienced a health scare and knew they needed a lifestyle change, but didn't want to join a gym.
We have seen a movement away from competitive workout towards general personal fitness. We noted the change from “strength,” or body-building, to “toning,” or general healthy activities. The equipment was moving out of the garage and up to the spare room, or even the bedroom.
The Opportunity
There is a vast array of competing activities and products for this group of consumers: health clubs, other work-out equipment, outdoor activities. To bring this piece of equipment into the home, it would have to be appealing to women, ultra-simple to understand and connected so you would be able to view and track your personal activity.
The Process
Our initial workshop brought together the management, marketing and engineering teams in an alignment exercise. We brought the research summary from our sense-making space and engaged participants in a positioning exercise. We exposed them to evolving consumer patterns and helped a group of industry stalwarts become more empathetic to a new consumer profile.
We listed the necessary chang