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Peloton and other Marketing Fails
Peloton and other marketing fails
Peloton has reached new heights of media recognition but not necessarily in the best way. If you’ve been living under a rock, they put out a new ad in which an already trim and fit woman receives a fitness bike from her husband. For some reason, many people have accused the ad of being sexist, akin to giving a woman a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.
Wait a little while...
As property managers, we suggest not adding Peloton’s stationary bikes to your property fitness centers for the time being due to the strong opinions on both sides of the fence. Wait for the clouds to clear and the controversy to settle.
MOBLZ frequently has used Peloton as an example in our “New Amenity” presentations. The bikes have been heavily requested by fitness-minded tenants. We have also talked about alternatives like live person boot camps conducted outside. If you are scared to come anywhere near adding a Peloton, but still want to add a bike, the
NorticTrack S22i
is a great stationary bike for less money.
The Peloton case has shown us the importance of attention to detail when it comes to marketing. Usually when it comes to social media advertising, you need to pay close attention to your wording and imaging to get the correct message across to the right group of people. It’s a whole new world when it comes to video marketing because you have a vast amount of implied and explicit components to filter your customers. In Peloton’s case it was a simple facial expression that shifted the entire feel of a 30 second commercial. All in all, this could have been what they intended, but due to the interviews with
Monica Ruiz
that doesn’t seem like the case.
(In)Famous Marketing Fails
You should always strive to know your market. To this day, one of our favorite marketing snafus is the Chevy Nova. In English, nova implies a bright and shining star. However, in Spanish "nova" is very similar to No va, which means "doesn't go". Not the best terminology to use when naming a car that should take you from point A to point B.
Another example is when Heineken released an ad for a light beer that was implicitly racist. Now, they do make a very light beer, but in the context of their commercial saying, “Sometimes, Lighter Is Better” it was viewed as horribly offensive.
Our last example comes from Gerber Baby Food. When Gerber decided they were going to start selling their baby food in Africa, they didn’t do their homework. In many parts of Africa, where the literacy rate is still low, pictures on the label represent what is in the food. Unfortunately, Gerber didn’t change their distinct packaging which features a cute, smiling baby. Some people thought there were babies in the can. Talk about a disturbing imported product!
It’s in all of our best interests that when you develop a marketing plan for your property, that you have multiple people look at it. This way you can receive feedback to make sure that the correct message is being relayed and that you aren’t looking at it only from your viewpoint. Before you begin your plan, do your research and pay attention to those pesky details. Know your property and know your market. We’d hate to be writing about your failed marketing efforts.
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