And Just Like That… Peloton Leaned into Brand Values and Won
This weekend the highly anticipated Sex and the City Reboot And Just Like That aired on the streaming platform, HBO Max. It was the most viewed series premiere of a new HBO or HBO Max series on the streaming service and saw the most “first views” of any new HBO Max title — meaning the first thing new subscribers watched after signing up. (according to HBO and Deadline.com)
In the premiere “Mr. Big”, Carrie Bradshaw’s longtime love and husband, appears to be a Peloton evangelist. He teases about his “date” with his instructor several times and looks forward to his 1000th ride. (Anyone who is familiar with Peloton subscribers knows the type.) At first it appears to be a huge plug for the fitness brand, but takes an unexpected turn late in the episode when Big hops off his bike and has a deadly heart attack immediately after.
While Peloton knew of the significant product placement, they did not know about the grim plot twist and were just as shocked as the general public. The blindsided brand took a big PR hit that even impacted it’s stock. According to NBC and Insider, “Peloton's stock prices dropped 11.3% alone on Thursday, marking the company's lowest point in 19 months.”
It is in challenging times like this that brand leaders are faced with hard choices. How a company acts when faced with adversity is a true reflection of who they are and what they stand for. Peloton could have come back with force at HBO, suing or spouting a combative tweet. They could have hidden and taken the hit without saying a word and continued “business as usual”. Instead, the Monday following the premiere, Peloton released a satirical video ad called “He’s Alive” where Chris North (the actor who plays Mr. Big) is seen alive and well cozied up on the couch with his Peloton instructor. A comedic voiceover performed by Ryan Reynolds stating the benefits of regular cycling closes the scene.
The ad was embraced with love and humor by Peloton and AJLK fans alike. Peloton’s ability to lean into a conversation that was already happening and capitalize on it was nothing short of genius. They saw a “bad PR moment” as an opportunity to capitalize on a large audience, one that falls right in their target and focused on changing the narrative with humor.
Peloton’s confident and witty reaction inspired us to investigate their company beliefs. It was clear they leaned into their brand values “Operate with a bias for action” and “Empower teams of smart creatives”. They acted quickly (creating the high-profile ad in just a weekend) and trusted their partner marketing firm to innovate a fresh and funny response.
When we practice our brand values on a daily basis and with smaller issues, we are able to respond to the bigger ones with grace, ease, and consistency. It’s clear their values are baked into the company’s operations based on how quickly they pulled together a quality campaign.
Peloton stock is back on the rise, and more importantly, their customers (current and prospective) know more about how they show up. The company chose to take their challenge head-on, responding swiftly and openly when they could have easily ignored all the noise.
What do you think about their response? Do you like how Peloton is handling this situation? We’d love to hear your thoughts!