Peloton – SVA Client Project

Branding

THE CHALLENGE
By combining technology with beautiful product design Peloton revolutionized the fitness category by reinventing the stationary bike with world-class instructors and building a passionate community of devoted customers. Having struggled to become a holistic fitness brand, Peloton was looking to future proof the brand by defining a unique value proposition that elevates Peloton amidst increasing competition by evolving its perception from solely a bike to a brand.

THE OPPORTUNITY
To establish a brand positioning that supports Peloton’s desire to diversify and differentiate from bike to a brand.

THE PROCESS
Research, Competitive Analysis, Framing the problem, Brand Audit, Defining the audience, Insight generation, Brand positioning, and Client Presentation.

Role
Brand Strategist and Art Director

Team
SVA Masters in Branding
Advisors:
The Nucleus Group, Elizabeth Talerman, Gena Cuba, Ryan Beickert, Miguele Issa and Shazeeda Bhola.
Team members:
Charmie Shah, Clare Albers, Gabriella Bartelle, Katherine Burke, Roberta Cajado, Anabella Chiou, Namita Deliwala, Talia Evan, Ericka Garcia, Ling Hsu, Bronwyn Hunt, Rory McKinnon, Ria Knapp, Maria Manuela, Jason Park, Gelsomina Picariello, Malavika Rao, Devanshi Shah, Michael Shirey, Theresa Brondholt Sorensen, Dylan Taylor, Sakhi Todi, Emily Verselis, Fangjie Wang, Yunke Xiao, and Sophia Yuan.

PHASE I – BRAND IMMERSION
We looked at culture to investigate themes and categories adjacent to fitness, like Adrenaline, Celebrity, and Community. We dove deep and cast wide nets to reel back insights, the kind that feels unexpected – but give a shiver of recognition. We then fashioned each of our findings into a question for the brand, like:

PHASE 2 – AUDIENCE IMMERSION
Next, we began to closely understand the audience mindsets. This involved conversations – lots of them. We held 25+ interviews with people of all stripes and fitness levels – from the fanatic to the couldn’t-be-bothered, and had the honor of hearing their real stories — from the physical to the emotional.

Though their experiences varied, the one thing that they had in common was a drive for personal progress, and hence, we called the Peloton Community…


PHASE 3 – APPLICATION STRATEGY
Our final stage invited us to ask, what does pursuing evolution look like in products, community, and content offerings. How does it live 2, 3, or even 10 years from now? We translated our findings about the brand and audience into reality through 3 lenses:

  1. Community Forward
  2. Untethered
  3. Whole Life

COMMUNITY FORWARD
How Peloton can lean further into its community development to differentiate.

MEMBER CLUBS
An in-real-life community to compliment the strong digital one it’s already built, which invites the brand to think about how it helps its audience pursue their evolution in all ways, considering evolution isn’t just about fitness. This member club would promote holistic growth – from working space to events, health classes, and more.

UNTETHERED
How Peloton can create more engagement by actually disconnecting from devices and connecting in real life.

UNTETHERED GETAWAYS
Bootcamps and retreats offered by Peloton, available to individuals, businesses, or even universities. This incorporated our insights
around people’s increasing need for shared activities and experiences.

PELOTON ROADSHOW
Peloton has made a name for itself by making its content available to people around the world digitally – but what if Peloton went to the people? A roadshow in which Peloton’s beloved instructors go from city to city, building buzz around events that might feel more like a concert than a fitness class, all the more to build magnetism.


WHOLE LIFE
How Peloton could offer a seamless ecosystem that touches whole lives, making it difficult to imagine daily life without it.

PELOTON ECOSYSTEM
And finally, we thought beyond the limits of bikes and treadmills to imagine a brand ecosystem, built around emerging technology, that could help us pursue evolution in every area of daily life and wellness, from food to media to sleep.



By doing an intensive study on the brand, we believe that our proposed strategies and executions — whether realizable tomorrow or in the years to come — ultimately demonstrates the potential of Peloton to move beyond the bike, to a greater and more active presence in people’s lives, and ultimately become the household brand not just in your members’ fitness but in their entire wellness journey.