Be:FIT: On Pioneering The Wellness Festival Movement

Now in its fourth year Be:FIT London has established itself as one of the pioneers of the wellness festival movement.

The brand, a figurehead for London’s wellness industry, has successfully grown a community of thousands of fitness enthusiasts, providing them with the tools they need to live healthier and happier lives. From fitness classes and live cooking demonstrations to talks from industry leaders and educational workshops, Be:FIT London has taken the concept of the wellness festival to the next level.

Founded by Telegraph Events in 2014, Be:FIT London launched with the core objective to change the health and fitness industry’s focus on body image and aesthetics, and instead, encourage its audience to lead a happy and well-rounded lifestyle. Four years later the fitness industry has evolved, and so has Be:FIT.

Flying somewhat under the radar for the first two years, 2016 saw the festival undergo some major changes revolving around its marketing and promotional strategy, this led to Be:FIT London pulling in its largest audience yet, of over 15,000. But despite its growth, the core foundations on which the event was built have remained in place since day one and continue to set it apart from its  competitors.

Beyond the festival, the team behind Be:Fit London have a vision to become a hub for the most well-informed and up to date wellness content & advice, and a platform for women from all walks of life to share, meet, socialise and inspire.

Here the team at Be:FIT London discuss how they pioneered a movement by flipping the traditional exhibition model on its head.

Stick To Your Core Objectives

Chelsea Cox our Sponsorship and Sales Manager, has been with Be:FIT London since its initial launch, and has single handedly grown our incredible portfolio of associated brands, which continues to expand each year.

Her sales process is entirely unique to the industry, only selling at our fixed rate and hand selecting every brand that is involved. This does mean turning away any brands that don’t share Be:FIT London’s principles and core objectives, but it’s this unique strategy that has attracted partnerships with influential brands including Reebok, Protein World, Total Greek Yogurt, Tom Tom, Oatly and Zeo.

Immerse Yourself In The Industry

Another characteristic that sets us apart as an event, is our total immersion in the wellness industry.

With this in mind, in 2015 our Marketing Manager, Rachel Chatham, joined with the aim to restructure the event and ensure that we were positioned as a leader in the market, and a year-round brand rather than an annual festival.

With this vision now at the core of the Be:FIT London brand we decided to launch a monthly series of pop up fitness events and supper clubs in January 2016. Our online community ‘The Fit Pack’, now has over 40,000 members, while our ‘Autumn Challenge’ which launched in September attracted over 1,000 participants.

Having built great relationships with most of our speakers, instructors and ambassadors, as well as our partners, has really helped to boost the success of Be:FIT London. It’s amazing to have so many incredible industry names behind us, people who genuinely believe in the event and the messages that we’re communicating, and those who just want to be a part of it.

Think About The User Experience

Another element that has been really important to the growth of Be:Fit London, has been our constant focus on the user experience, and our ambition to separate our event model from the traditional exhibition model.

The content that we provide entertains our consumers and gives them a unique experience, while the brands involved benefit from a much higher quality of engagement and retail sales as a result.

We pride ourselves on being a festival, not an exhibition, and we were the first event of this kind to enter the London market.

Chelsea’s top tip for running a successful health & wellness festival:

“Stick to your principles and stay true to what you want the event to be. We will never make a deal for commercial purposes. Every new brand we bring on board must add something to the user experience and the event’s atmosphere.”

Rachel’s top tip for running a successful health & wellness festival:

“Live and breathe it. Be:FIT wouldn’t be the event it was today if we didn’t genuinely love being immersed in the health and fitness world 24/7. We know our audience inside out and regularly meet them face to face, so we are always equipped to evolve to meet their needs.”