Planet Fitness: Vision, Mission and Stakeholders

Background Information

Company Description

Planet Fitness opened their first fitness center in 1992 in Dover, New Hampshire.  They are widely known in the fitness industry.  By 2017, they reached over 10 million members and over a 1000 fitness centers. Fortune Magazine listed Planet Fitness as one of the 100 fastest-growing companies (Planet Fitness Named Among 100 Fastest-Growing Companies, 2020).

In 2015, Planet Fitness, Inc. became a Class A common stock.  The symbol “PLNT” represents Planet Fitness and is used on the New York Stock Exchange (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).  Their stock prices have steadily increased since their start in the stock exchange from $16.59 in 2015 to $68.51 in 2019 (Planet Fitness - Stock Price History | PLNT, 2020).

Planet Fitness creates a welcoming and a non-intimidating environment which enhances their high-quality fitness experience (About PF, 2019).  Their Classic membership has free fitness training, unlimited access to the customers home club, and free Wi-Fi (Buttacavoli, 2020).  The Planet Fitness Black Card membership offers many benefits such as, unlimited access to the customers home club and any other Planet Fitness worldwide; free Wi-Fi; free fitness training; tanning beds; the ability to bring a guest anytime; worldwide travel deal; 50% off drinks; 20% off Reebok products; and the use of massage chairs (Buttacavoli, 2020).  Fitness training is a small group of clients that complete a 30-min express circuit training.  A customized workout plan can also be done with the fitness training.  Planet Fitness offers strength classes such as chest and biceps, PF360 refresh, PF360 Strength, 30-min express circuit, back and triceps, new member orientation,  core, design your own program, and legs and shoulders (About PF, 2019).

Their mission and branding are nationally recognized and have made a great reputation for Planet Fitness.  In 1997, Planet Fitness introduced their philosophy of the “Judgement Free Zone”.   In 2016, they introduced “The World Judges, We Don't. At Planet Fitness, Be Free” (Planet Fitness Evolution, 2020).  This branding strategy had proven to be a great success for Planet Fitness.  “Planet Fitness is one of the fastest-growing and largest franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States” (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).

Planet Fitness has a great deal of strength equipment and cardio that is offered 7 days a week 24 hours a day.  They have a great selection of first-rate, circuit- and weight-training equipment and their famous purple and yellow Planet Fitness-branded cardio.  Their friendly staff trainers offer unlimited fitness instruction to all of their members in small groups through our PE@PF program (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).  Their low membership fees are intended to attract a wide-ranging population, which also includes the occasional gym users (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).  In recent years, they have expanded internationally in Mexico and Canada. 

Planet Fitness needs to stay in touch with the trends of the fitness world.  In order to keep on track, they need to incorporate new services to stay competitive.  Planet Fitness has always focused on cardio and strength training.  Planet Fitness will be able to stay competitive with the addition of aerobic classes such as aerobic dance, aerobic kickboxing, spinning and yoga while continuing their already excellent services.  By adding the aerobic classes, it will produce a new fitness experience while continuing their mission of a non-intimidating environment in a judgement free zone and a different clientele (Buttacavoli, 2020). 

Target stakeholders

According to James Chen, “a Stakeholder is a party that has an interest in a company and can either affect or be affected by the business” (Chen, 2019).  They can be internal or external.  Internal stakeholders are greatly impacted by the outcome of the business and external stakeholders do not have a direct relationship with the company. 

Planet Fitness’ target stakeholders consist of their employees, shareholders, customers, and equipment suppliers.  Planet Fitness, Inc. is involved in the franchise of fitness centers and the operation.  Planet Fitness operates in three segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment (Planet Fitness Inc-Complany Description, 2020).

Employees - As of December 31, 2018, Planet Fitness employed 250 employees at their corporate headquarters and 1,052 employees at their corporate-owned stores (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).  The employees at the franchises that are independently owned and operated are not considered to be employed with the company (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018). 

Shareholders - The shareholderscan consist of employees, mutual fund holders, individual members, and businesses.  Some of the businesses are: The Vanguard Group, Inc; Fidelity Management & Research Co.; TSG Consumer Partner LLC; Wellington Management CO. LLP; Alliance Bernstein LP; BlackRock Fund Advisors; Investec Asset Management Ltd; The Boston Company Asset Management; Copper Rock Capital Partners LLC; and PointState Capital LP  (Planet Fitness, Inc, 2020)

Customers - The customers are very important part in the success of Planet Fitness.   Planet Fitness serves over 10 million members who rely on the high-quality fitness at a low cost.

Equipment suppliers - Planet Fitness purchases their fitness equipment from top suppliers. To maintain a consistent experience across their stores, they require specific equipment and quantities of cardio and strength-training equipment.  Since they order a huge amount of equipment, they are able to negotiate competitive pricing and secure extended warranties from their suppliers (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).

Relationship to the mission, vision, and values of Planet Fitness

Developing relationships with the target stakeholders is extremely important to Planet Fitness in order to continue with their mission, vision and values.  The mission of Planet Fitness is, “to enhance people’s lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment which they call the Judgement Free Zone, where anyone can feel they belong” (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018). 

Planet Fitness is customer oriented and their future goals rely on customer service.  Their competitiveness is primarily based upon the membership value which they are able to offer due to their judgement-free atmosphere, high-quality fitness experience, superior customer service, and significant economies of scale (Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K, 2018).  They rely on feedback from their stakeholders in order to address any issues such as equipment, social, and customer related to help with the success of customer service. 

Works Cited

• About PF. (2019, Nov 13). Retrieved from Planet Fitness: https://www.planetfitness.com/gyms/pensacola-bellview-fl
• About Planet Fitness. (2020, Jan 20). Retrieved from Planet Fitness: https://investor.planetfitness.com/investors/about-planet-fitness/default.aspx
• Buttacavoli (2019). Planet Fitness Business Plan.  Unpublished paper, Southern New Hampshire University.
• Chen, J. (2019, Jun 19). Stakeholder. Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp
• Planet Fitness - Stock Price History | PLNT. (2020, Jan 22). Retrieved from Macrotrends: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PLNT/planet-fitness/stock-price-history
• Planet Fitness Evolution. (2020, Jan 22). Retrieved from Planet Fitness: https://www.planetfitness.com/franchising/franchising-about-planet-fitness
• Planet Fitness Inc-Complany Description. (2020, Jan 22). Retrieved from CNN Business: https://money.cnn.com/quote/profile/profile.html?symb=PLNT
• Planet Fitness Named Among 100 Fastest-Growing Companies. (2020, Jan 22). Retrieved from New Hampshire Business Review 13 Sept. 2019: https://bi-gale-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/global/article/GALE%7CA602366513?u=nhc_main&sid=ebsco
• Planet Fitness, Inc Form 10-K. (2018, Dec 31). Retrieved from United States Securities and Exchange Commission: http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001637207/12fc5eb6-9276-42ef-b849-92cdc6417583.pdf
• Planet Fitness, Inc. (2020, Jan 22). Retrieved from Market Screener: https://www.marketscreener.com/PLANET-FITNESS-INC-23264734/company/