Peloton and TikTok—An Uphill Climb

1/4/24—Peloton and TikTok have one important thing in common: Voracious fans who consume a ton of content. But I'm not sure that's enough to make the new partnership between Peloton and TikTok a success.

📰 Quick news summary: Peloton is partnering with TikTok for a fitness hub featuring short-form and longer fitness content and partnerships with creators and Peloton instructors. The goal: drive new app downloads and conversions (short-term) and build Peloton's "Anyone. Anywhere. Anytime" branding (long-term).

Here are two reasons why I think this splashy campaign won't work:

1️⃣ The CMO who launched it is gone.

Peloton is trying to move away from its cult-driven positioning with new branding that reboots the brand as something for everyone. That rebranding was led by former CMO Leslie Berland, but she departed for Verizon late last year. The TikTok partnership was surely part of her plan as well, so the fact that she's no longer with the company to see it through puts the launch on already shaky ground.

2️⃣ It puts a huge burden on creators.

TikTok is a terrific place for creator marketing, but this campaign places a huge burden on creators (both Peloton instructors as well as other creator creator partners). Peloton, which is already suffering financially, needs to drive app downloads and conversions, so creators will likely be held to strict metrics goals. It's not going to be easy for a few creators (even ones as popular as Ally Love) to help turn around Peloton's fortunes. Driving app downloads isn't easy.