Challenger to Watch 2017: The Body Coach
An antidote to the clean eating movement.
In just three years, Joe Wicks – or The Body Coach as he’s more widely known – has rocketed from an unknown fitness fanatic to a celebrity in the health and fitness space. At a time when the market was saturated with yet more ever-changing fads such as superfoods and clean eating, Joe went smartly against the conventions by injecting realism into the category.
The Body Coach proposition is far-removed from the wholesome, green and extreme lifestyle that wellness experts such as Ella Woodward (Deliciously Ella) promote, and instead is more synonymous with Jamie Oliver's campaign for healthy eating. However, what is missing within Jamie's offering, a fitness element, The Body Coach capitalises on, and has played a key role in his quick rise to fame.
He has built the brand in a holistic manner by grounding his empire around the ‘Lean in 15’ meals, high intensity workouts (HIIT) and the 90 day shift, shape and sustain plan (SSS). A combination allowing his clients to live and eat a balanced, healthy and normal life, while also ultimately losing weight.
His ‘real and human’ personality led approach has come to be symbolic of the brand and is permeated throughout all of his communications. His charm and enthusiasm is given the perfect platform in his use of social media - live Facebook streams of his HIIT exercises coupled with quick, un-glamourised cooking videos make his approach to exercise and food look easy and enjoyable. The sheer size of his online following on Facebook (2.3M) and Instagram (1.7M) proves his appeal to his target audience.
The Body Coach has experienced exponential results in a relatively short space of time; the business brings in £1m a month and ‘Lean in 15’ was the best-selling non-fiction book of 2016, selling 900,000 copies. This year, he's also endeavouring to venture across the pond and grow his American audience. It may be a tough ride, given that the US market is already highly crowded, and in many ways ahead of the UK, in the wellness space. But we are betting that his refreshingly ‘real’ approach could prove as successful there, as it is here.
