Peloton brings fitness classes to TikTok in bigger push for Gen Z

Dive Brief:

• Peloton will develop custom content for TikTok as part of a new agreement with the popular social media app, according to a press release.  
• Videos will appear in a #TikTokFitness Powered by Peloton co-branded hub and feature a selection of live and pre-recorded class clips, original instructor series and collaborations with creators and celebrities. The portal will be grounded in themes from Peloton’s recently introduced “Anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.” brand positioning around accessibility.  
• This is the first time Peloton has produced bespoke content for a social partner that is distributed outside of its owned channels. The move represents an overture to TikTok’s Gen Z-heavy audience as Peloton seeks to reignite growth.

Dive Insight:

Peloton is expanding its reach further beyond its connected fitness ecosystem of bikes and treadmills with the TikTok tie-up. While social media has been a key channel for the brand to grow awareness — and one that has helped propel its charismatic instructors to their own online stardom — Peloton has not previously struck a content deal of this type, where bespoke videos will live in a dedicated, co-branded hub on TikTok versus only on the official Peloton pages.

TikTok carries a wide audience of over 1 billion active users, many of them in the coveted Gen Z cohort. The ByteDance-owned platform has achieved viral success thanks to an addictive algorithm that feeds users a steady stream of curated videos centered around specific interests or hobbies. Peloton is looking to capitalize on the app’s sense of community through a #TikTokFitness hashtag and is timing the rollout to the new year when many people begin fitness journeys as part of their resolutions.

#TikTokFitness Powered by Peloton will include classes that do not require the company’s expensive equipment to participate in and be available in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. The high cost of Peloton’s hardware and a changing subscription strategy have been some of the barriers to new entrants for the brand. 

“We collectively recognize the way people engage with fitness is constantly changing,” said Oli Snoddy, vice president of consumer marketing at Peloton, in a press statement. “Our team is excited to complement TikTok’s already burgeoning fitness content by introducing the magic of Peloton to new audiences, and in completely new ways.”

Other marketers have tried to grow their TikTok footprint by leveraging the platform’s focus on enthusiast groups. Unilever recently sponsored the #CleanTok hashtag, one of the most popular topics on TikTok globally. Similar to Peloton, the packaged good giant’s partnership included the creation of a dedicated #CleanTok content hub to host curated videos and promote brands such as Sunlight, Dirt Is Good and Comfort. 

Peloton’s bigger push into TikTok comes as the marketer continues to wrestle with a post-pandemic comedown that has seen demand for its at-home fitness offerings shrink. Revenue dipped 3% year-over-year in Peloton’s most recent fiscal quarter and executives cautioned about a muted holiday season. 

The company has cycled through marketing executives amid the turmoil, losing CMO Leslie Berland to Verizon in December. Berland, who was not even in the marketing chief role for a year, will be replaced by former Intuit marketer Lauren Weinberg later this month.