Taking a loss | New program sparks membership jump at Weight Watchers of Maine
Photo/Tim Greenway
Jackie Conn, general manager of Weight Watchers of Maine, expects big results from a new weight-loss program launched in November
Jackie Conn rarely needs a calendar to know the time of year. As general manager of Weight Watchers of Maine Inc., she can tell by the periodic bumps in her membership ranks what season is fast approaching.
“We have very clear diet seasons,” she says. “The biggest is the first of the year for sheer numbers of new or rejoining members. Then as we get closer to bathing suit season, there’s another bump. Typically we peak membership around May. Then through the summer it dips to the lowest point, which is generally in August, and then there’s another increase in September when people are thinking of new beginnings and getting back on track after the summer. It dwindles again through the holidays, then you hit New Year’s resolutions again.”
This year, she expects numbers to soar given the release of a new weight control program, Points Plus, launched just after Thanksgiving. It expands on the original Points program, which assigns a numerical value to individual foods that participants track toward a daily goal to ensure healthy eating and weight loss. The Points Plus program revamps some of those food values, incorporating new science that assesses whether a particular food satisfies longer and burns more calories as it is digested, resulting in more options in the highly coveted “zero” points category.
“The response has been amazing. Where we would normally have about 2,800 paid members going into the first diet season, we have more than 4,200,” she says, noting Weight Watchers of Maine gave away more than 7,000 calculators at a cost of $113,000 to help people track points during the November launch. “I think this program has legs. By May, I expect 6,500 to 7,000 members coming weekly.”
Conn welcomes the growth, although managing a statewide program that relies on seven full-time staff and an army of 300 part-time session leaders can be a challenge. Except for the three Weight Watchers centers in South Portland, Auburn and Bangor, the program rents or leases space for weekly check-ins and support meetings in churches, schools and other scattered venues. In addition, Conn brings Weight Watchers programs onsite to about 100 businesses that offer them to their employees. “We’re pretty far flung, and that can be a real challenge,” she says.
After sputtering through the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Weight Watchers of Maine gained some momentum when the first Points program made its debut in the mid-90s — about the time Conn assumed the general manager role. Since then, the company has continued to grow, reporting a record 21% increase in profits in 2009 over 2008. (Although an independent franchise, Weight Watchers of Maine honors a request from Weight Watchers International not to disclose revenues, says Conn.)
“We did a lot of things differently that year. We shook up our marketing and got a lot of unsolicited third-party endorsements, which pays off huge,” she says. “It was a bad economy, so we looked at places where we were wasting money and trimmed some operating costs. We really rose to the challenge.”
Once the numbers are finalized, Conn expects profits will be up in 2010 about 7% over 2009, respectable numbers, but they would have been higher if not for some unexpected facilities expenses, she says. Despite rising operating costs, Conn doesn’t expect the $12-a-week membership fee — set in 2000 — to change. Members, such as Conn, who reach and maintain their weight goals can become lifetime members for free. “I really have a passion for what I do,” she says. “Thank goodness I was a fat girl once. It brought me to Weight Watchers.”
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