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Massage Envy - Great concept, even better customer proposition
I first discovered Massage Envy this time last year when a friend gave me a 1-hour massage as a Christmas present. Massage is one of those things that almost everyone likes but most only take advantage of rarely. Every time I’ve had a massage I always think to myself that I need to do that more often. Not to mention that the typical massage can get kind of pricey. I used to get massages a couple of times a year at the spa at my gym. It was nice place but the spa was a bit too swanky for my tastes. Massages were about $75 for 50 mins and you could spend another $25-$30 in tips between the therapist, the locker room guy and the waiting room attendant.
Then came Massage Envy. For $59 a month you become a member and your membership includes a 1-hour massage each month. If you want a 90 min massage just pay an extra $18. A luxurious two-hour massage is only $39 more. And additional 1-hour massages during the month are only $39 each for you and/or your guest. Imagine getting a great weekly massage for an average cost of only $44 + tips!
And these aren’t the cookie-cutter massages you might expect. They’re customized to you and your needs. If you prefer deep tissue over a lighter touch … that’s fine. Only have an hour and you really want the therapist to focus on 1 or 2 trouble spots and that’s it … no problem. Prefer deep tissue over a lighter touch … your therapist is happy to accommodate. They’re even starting to offer hot stone massages across their franchise base.
As you’d expect, some therapists are better than others and you should check out a couple before settling on a favorite but all in all I’ve found all the therapists to be quite capable. Facilities are clean with all the amenities you’d expect. It’s quite nice but not too fancy –calming décor, soothing music, comfortable waiting room, but no strolling waiters with trays of complementary champagne while you wait. That’s fine with me.
So right away Massage Envy has a pretty good customer value proposition – an excellent, customized massage, in a very nice atmosphere, at a very competitive price. They’re off to a great start.
But what sets them apart in my mind -- and the thing that convinced me to join in the end – is that your massages roll over, just like AT&T mobile minutes. If you’re like me, there are months where you just can’t make it in or you forget to make an appointment until it’s too late. Well, don’t despair, that $59 wasn’t thrown out the window. If you miss your massage one month (or for several months as I did) those massages roll over to the future. They even let you combine 2 months into 1 massage like I did in December and enjoyed a wonderful 2-hour massage at no additional cost except the therapist’s tip.
So Massage Envy has come up with a no-lose proposition for the customer. It’s no wonder that Massage Envy is one of the fastest growing companies and the #2 top new franchises in the US.
But ....
Massage Envy seems relatively unknown. In my own admittedly unscientific survey -- speaking with friends about it -- almost no one has heard of Massage Envy unless they happen to be a member already. I first heard about them from a friend and to this day have one ever seen 1 advertisement for them 1 time on TV. I have never seen a print ad or a billboard. A new franchise opened up just a couple of miles for home in December and I never received a "Dear Neighbor" postcard letting me know it was available. That seems like a missed opportunity.
Is that good marketing? Perhaps. Maybe Massage Envy has all the customers they can handle today and the kind of word-of-mouth marketing that first got me in the doors is working just fine as a customer acquisition tool. If so then great ... it's an inexpensive piece of the marketing mix and a positive customer referral is usually one of the most effective marketing tools there is. But there are now 10 ME franchises within 15 miles of Seattle and rumors of a competitor coming to market soon. In this economy it's going to be harder to build your customer base for a discretionary service like this and probably even harder to keep the customers you have. It will be more important than ever for them to start building their brand more broadly.
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