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Meetings, conference calls, a gruelling travel schedule and a cellphone that rings incessantly – that’s the average day in a senior executive’s life. Given such high-pressure jobs, a ten-lap swim in the pool or a 30-minute evening jog is not just a welcome relief but a prerequisite to endure the physical and mental grind. With the spectre of burnout being a constant threat, most managers are eager to sweat it out in a good health club. The choice of a gym or a health club is not just a function of the equipment or the trainer that a health club has but much more. BusinessToday’s Best Brand survey puts health clubs in the sultanate under the scanner and provides some interesting insights.

A different tune

Horizon springs a surprise emerging as the most popular brand amongst nationals and women. The top three for Omanis is completely different from the overall lineup. Their top three recalled brands are Horizon, InterContinental Muscat and Grand Hyatt. Al Falaj makes it to second place on the survey largely on the strength of expatriates.
This polarisation is largely the result of the location of health clubs. Unlike grocery brands like Nabil or Bahar that are available across the sultanate, a health club requires people to travel some distance. With time being a constraining factor, most executives settle for the nearest health club. As a result, Al Falaj, which is closer to areas dominated by expatriates like CBD, Ruwi and Darsait, gets an overwhelming recall from this group, while Horizon in Ghubra comes out trumps amongst Omanis.

The big picture

A health club is only as good as the hotel that it operates in. So with Sheraton closed for renovation, its health club sees a free fall from No1 in 2006 to No 5 in 2007. If the results are anything to go by, the loyalty quotient of a health club seems to be far less than a grocery brand or a bank. Patrons are quick to shift their membership from one health club to another without batting an eyelid.

Below-the-line magic

Anyone who has shopped at Lulu Hypermarket in Bausher is sure to have heard of Horizon health club. The reason? Its flyers are stuck below one’s car wipers with an irritating regularity. However, the ploy seems to have worked wonders for the brand. Its below-the-line advertising and word-of-mouth publicity helped Horizon to break into the top three.