The End Or A New Beginning For The Health Club Industry ? Whether Its Good Or Bad All Depends On How You Look At It

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"Change" the term is now cliche. I've touched on the topic of radical change in the fitness and health club industry since 2008, over 3 years actually. My recent post about "Digital Darwinism" and its implications to the health club and fitness business, calls for people to take notice as to what is really going on. Brian Solis , whom I credit with defining the term "Digital Darwinism", defines it as "the evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than our ability to adapt."

Imagine this: At the current rate, over 70% of all Fortune 1000 companies in existence in 2003 will be gone by 2013. This according to Forbes Magazine. Do you think health club or fitness businesses will experience less turnover ? I don't.

So what does Digital Darwinism really mean ? Its survival of the fittest. If you follow technology closely, you'll admit that the degree of advancing technological change is unprecedented and nearly unimaginable. As this technology creeps into our lives and consumers begin to use it, fundamental behaviors start to change and that's when disruption takes hold. I won't even touch upon changes being brought on by globalism or shifting demographics. My hypothesis is that how people manage their health, and how they engage in fitness is shifting at a rate that is largely going unnoticed. Who will survive when many organizations wake up to late to react to this change ? Think I'm being overly dramatic ? I don't. Watch the video from Brian Solis below. How consumers ultimately manage their health and fitness is going through a seminal change just as it has in other industries. Are you prepared for the implications ? The end is rapidly approaching for many in the fitness and health club business but a new beginning is also emerging for others especially those that can adapt. Whether its good or bad depends on how you look at it. Tell me Bryan O'Rourke, do you think the health club and fitness industries are going through disruptive change and how ?

About the author Bryan O’Rourke:

Bryan O’Rourke is a health club industry expert, technologist, financier, shareholder and executive in several fitness and health club business service companies. He is also a partner in The Health Club For Women and Chairman of the Medical Fitness Association’s Education Committee. To learn more contact Bryan here today .

What Digital Darwinism Means To The Health Club Industry

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Going through my morning content over tea I came across this from Brian Solis:

“Digital Darwinism is the evolution of consumer behavior when society & technology evolve faster than your ability to embrace it.”

I love Brian, but what do you ask is he talking about ? I think I know.

Conveying to leaders in the health club industry, or leaders from many businesses and industries for that matter, that: 1) change is coming very fast and 2) the future will entail new business models and ways of doing things that will be very different from the past, often falls on deaf ears. While its lonely being the voice of a revolution amidst the monarchy, what Brian Solis is saying is true and Digital Darwinism is an important concept to explore. Here's why.

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