WeightWatchers 2006 Annual Report Download - page 21

National Accounts and At Work Meetings
We believe there is an increasing demand by companies for services and products that can improve the
health and well-being of their employees. In response, we launched our National Accounts sales and marketing
initiative. We believe our broad range of services and products uniquely positions us to serve this market and
help companies reduce their healthcare costs and improve the well-being of their employees. Our National
Accounts initiative typically leverages a company’s internal communications to promote our services and
products directly to its employees. As part of this strategy, we have built a dedicated national sales and account
management team focused on engaging national clients. This national approach to serving companies
supplements our existing local At Work meeting efforts to target the corporate market.
Public Relations
The focus of our public relations efforts is through our current and former members who have successfully
lost weight on our program. Leaders and successful members engage in local promotions, information
presentations and charity events to promote Weight Watchers and demonstrate the program’s efficacy. We
currently have over 400 trained media “ambassadors” in the United States as part of our grass roots public
relations network.
In addition, we have continued a science-based public relations initiative we launched during the winter diet
season of 2005 to capitalize on Weight Watchers position as the only clinically proven commercial weight
management program. This has included an increased investment in third party scientific research, the launch of
a science center on our website and increased efforts to share our consumer and program insights with leaders in
the scientific and medical communities as well as the general public.
Weight Watchers Magazine
In addition to generating revenues from subscription sales and advertising, Weight Watchers Magazine
reinforces the value of our brand and serves as an important marketing tool to both existing and potential
customers. We offer Weight Watchers magazines in all of our major markets.
Entrepreneurial Management
We run our company in a decentralized and entrepreneurial manner that allows us to develop and test new
ideas on a local basis and then implement the most successful ideas across our network. For example, local
managers in the United Kingdom were responsible for developing our POINTS weight management system. In
addition, many of our meeting products were developed locally and then introduced successfully in other
countries. Local managers have strong incentives to adopt and implement the best practices of other regions and
to continue to develop innovative new plans.
While having strong local leadership has always been a cornerstone of our strategy, we have also been
investing in building our global corporate management team. Our management team plays a critical role in
driving and facilitating the global coordination necessary to optimize our international assets and share best
practices across geographies.
Competition
The weight management market includes self-help weight management regimens and other self-help weight
management products and publications such as books, tapes and magazines; commercial weight management
programs; Internet weight management approaches; dietary supplements and meal replacement products; weight
management services administered by doctors, nutritionists and dieticians; surgical procedures; the
pharmaceutical industry; government agencies and non-profit groups that offer weight management services; and
fitness centers.
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