Stairmaster Franchise Bünda Taps Xivic To Drive Growth With AI

Bünda, a fitness franchise that combines stairmasters with strength training, had two locations when tech consulting firm Xivic took it on as a client last year. It now has 10 and is eyeing 20 by the end of 2024  

Bünda couldn’t have picked a better firm to elevate its digital presence and drive franchise growth than Xivic. 

The fitness brand, founded in 2018, became an industry pioneer after launching the first-ever half stairmaster, half strength training studios. Workouts primarily concentrate on the lower body and seek to eliminate fat via low-impact, high-intensity exercises guided by professional trainers. 

Although the hybrid group fitness franchise enjoyed marginal success for a few years after its conception, it quickly developed into a hot commodity after linking up with Xivic. Bünda had only two locations when Xivic took it on as a client last year, but now has 10 and is eyeing 20 by the end of 2024.   

As a leading technology consulting firm, Xivic has got identifying the right digital strategies, products and services for its fitness clients down to a science. However, the brand’s work with Bünda is perhaps its best success story. 

“Having worked with traditional digital marketing agencies in the past, the Bünda team was shocked to see what we’re doing is even possible,” said Xivic Chief Strategist Bahman Zakeri. “Bünda now believes that this is the future of marketing and growth, helping it more aggressively focus on its expansion plans.” 

The correct usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and other tech tools has been crucial in getting Bünda to where it is today. 

Seeing the Future with AI

Xivic’s predictive analytics have been the central pillar supporting Bünda’s rise. The software reads data, zeroes in on patterns and then after an AI analysis forecasts future consumer behavior. It then offers strategies to help brands move forward based on those findings. 

“In Bünda’s case we tracked purchase patterns,” explained Zakeri. “We ran the models on massive amounts of data and based on that data, we predicted the future. That’s how we’re able to proactively modify a marketing solution, reducing the need for that trial and error in traditional digital marketing. That was the big win. We reduced the costs, got better results and hit the target a whole lot faster.”

The speed at which Xivic operates thanks to predictive analytics is what separates the brand from the pack — driving results in a quarter of the time it takes for most digital agencies. 

“Bünda needed a solution that could help it grow its business very quickly,” said Zakeri. “The traditional digital marketing solutions require lots of time to test and optimize, slowing it down. What we’ve put in place lets it immediately put its focus on finding the next location and the right team to operate those locations.”

“Predictive analytics is definitely not commonplace for digital agencies,” added Zakeri. “We’re in the one percent.”

Digital Strategies Drive Franchise Growth 

AI might not be the answer to every problem for every fitness business, but it’s a highly effective tool for brands with a lot of data. 

“For AI to work, we either need the business to have a vast amount of data or the ability to layer data that we acquire,” Zakeri explained. “That’s the big key. A lot of these businesses don’t understand that if they don’t have data, we can’t do much.”

For fitness brands that don’t have access to large amounts of data for whatever reason, Xivic still deploys its traditional digital marketing approaches. That could be anything from issuing QR code-based workouts to adding vocal biomarker analyses. Doing so helps brands bolster their omnichannel distribution, which can lead to franchise growth like it did with Bünda. 

“We help our clients in various ways, from brand positioning to building omnichannel fitness solutions, and Bunda is one of our most engaged clients,” said Zakeri. “We’ve been helping its brand evolve over the years and build its backend platform to help with its franchising model.” 

According to Zakeri, many smaller boutique fitness brands don’t think they have what it takes to begin franchising, but often, they just need a helping hand on the digital side. 

“Bünda was one of those,” Zakeri said.”There were two or three locations until just last year, then all of a sudden it has 10.”

“Building digital platforms that help communication with franchisees, help budgeting with franchisees, all these are things that we’ve built for Bünda that are not even AI related,” Zakeri said. 

Xivic also helps fitness businesses get the data it takes to successfully leverage all that AI has to offer. 

“Some of these are big, big businesses, but they’re not collecting the data (they need) to have it be utilized, so we help them start,” said Zakeri. “Six months later we come back and then they’ll have enough data accumulated. Now we can run some models.”