Is media only prevalent in showcasing the daily economics of the country or informing about the Bollywood highlights? As the industry is also well known for providing a platform for all, therefore fitness industry does need a spotlight as well. Year 2018 has seen a paradigm shift in fitness industry news doing the rounds on social media as well as mainstream media. Now Fitness industry coverage or workout related celebrity videos or instructional videos have become an essential part of first page news feeds on e-zines and e-newspapers as well. The trend is changing owing to the more conscious audience and readers online and offline.
A start-up idea which clicked with the masses recently is India’s first fitness media house- bodyandstrength.com. The media house is based out of Delhi but operates pan India and does global coverages as well. It is spearheaded by two directors, Mr. Honey Grover and Ms. Mahi Sachdeva. In this interview the Founder Director Mr. Honey Grover throws light on the role of media in Indian fitness industry and why it is needed a structured and organized approach. Let’s begin this interesting paradigm with a bang!
Q: Mr. Grover, you yourself have been a part of Indian bodybuilding industry, according to you, what is the most popular promotional platform for the Indian Fitness Industry, especially, the bodybuilding athletes, events and brands?
A: There has been no dedicated media to promote Indian bodybuilders and give them a direct connect to the masses. The most popular medium through which athletes promote themselves and share their inspirational or instructional videos is Instagram. But not all of the people are there and game of having a considerable followers can only be authentic when you actually can reach a substantial portion of them with your content. It is evident that followers can be manipulated. The people outside that platform, outside the close group of fitness industry, are the real people who make you popular, who also bring you authentic recognition in the due course of time.
Promotions are important so that brands can see your worth, even if you haven’t been able to win many titles, promotions are important so that your real talent of instructional training can get recognized and you can get relevant assignments because of it.
Q: What made you come up with an idea of a dedicated media for fitness industry? Did it click instantly or it was a designed plan to do a business?
A: Good question indeed! Yes… yes… it did click instantly to me, when I used to participate I could empathize with the struggles of the bodybuilding athletes and wished to do something to promote my own passion for the industry and set up a foundation for effective promotion for them as well. The idea gradually became a designed plan as you said.
It expanded to promoting whole of the fitness industry and athletic sports of India as well. In India, leaving cricket, there is no other sport which has taken an indispensable place in the hearts of Indians. There are a few torchbearers of the athletic sports industry who have done the nation proud in other sports but there are many who are sincerely preparing and doing their best too, who deserve a good promotion so that they also have considerable earning possibilities and can be noticed by influential people and brands to rise further.
Q: That sounds interesting. So bodyandstrength.com is a promotional media? What is the revenue model for your business?
A: Not just a promotional media, it is a registered media company for Indian fitness industry which exclusively covers all the important news from the fitness and sports industry in videos and articles. Other media transmission and revenue models include live streaming, special promotional campaigns for fitness industry brands and customized coverage plan for events as well. Our 360 degree coverage plan and creative team of journalists is our USP. People get entertained, amazed, inspired and informed at the same time while brands and events get promoted strategically.
Q: How do you promote and cover athlete stories, what makes them different?
A: You see… it is not that one article will come and you put it on instagram and then there is no coverage for a long time… we have kept continuous string of coverages (in photos, in articles, in video coverages, in video clip coverages) with us of particular athlete. We make and deliver the content done creatively on regular intervals on the same athlete. Even if we do one video story, it is also done in an article side by side so that it keeps trending and many people view it across the world in different formats. The idea is to keep them in the picture and public memory for a long period of time… have you ever seen radio jingles ruling your mind because of their repetitions. Kind of same thing we do but in different creative formats!
Q: What kind of struggles did you come across in establishing a dedicated fitness media house, a whole new idea in an industry which didn’t have any idea about till now?
A: That’s tricky! Well, it is the same kind of struggle which every business comes across in the beginning but the idea of being promoted gets along with everyone, doesn’t it… so, gradually, all the people connected in the Sports India and Indian fitness industry… have understood the concept and we are shooting extensively, doing articles on them and designing special campaigns for them day in and day out already!
Q: What makes the content different from other articles being covered on fitness and health these days?
A: Our content experts are real time experienced journalists who produce research based content on fitness and not just any random one. We encourage knowledgeable fitness experts, athletes, certified coaches to come aboard as contributing writers and they have written very different and focused articles on some of the very rare topics!
More articles are pouring in with time. From right nutrition to right exercise to how to fight health issues and illnesses to yoga, everything on fitness under the sun is with us. Much like a digital answer-book for all fitness related questions and digital platform for all brands, events, sports, bodybuilding and athletes along with news.
Q: What is your take on the power of media?
A: So, in my opinion it should be the ‘power of responsible media’. It can make you, it can break you. It watches you and hence, can change you to bring a positive growth in your life and career. To bring out the real power of media, you yourself have to be responsible enough towards your sport… towards your responsibilities, towards society, towards your humbleness in dealing with others despite your achievements. Because a good media doesn’t leave you even if you have nothing more to add to your achievements, it makes the people remember you again and again and hence, has the power to not to let you go out of business.
The session with India’s first fitness media house owner was very insightful and the boom in fitness industry has in fact, brought a boom in fitness media power as well. A lot is there to look forward to and there is no end to the possibilities.
