On Growing Brand Affinity- Lessons From Peloton To Implement in Q2

Peloton’s brand is built into their name.

According to Google, “Riders in a Peloton work together, conserve energy, and perform better because of one another”. 

Peloton has quietly disrupted the at-home fitness game while making a bigger name for themselves in an oversaturated market during the pandemic.

How did this happen? Brand affinity.

Brand affinity is the belief from consumers that a brand shares similar values with them. It is your ticket to a loyal and devoted consumer base. Peloton created a community of like-minded individuals who believe in working together as a unit. 

What does it look like when a consumer demonstrates brand affinity? Here are a few scenarios:

• A likelihood that they will stick with a brand or a company.
• A good chance that they will purchase the brand or other brands from the mix offered by a particular company given a free choice situation.
• A high probability that they will make referrals to the company or brand they enjoy.
• They tend to describe high levels of overall customer satisfaction in a particular brand, service, or company.

My belief is that you should always learn from the best, so here are 4 facts about Peloton’s growth strategy that you can implement now.

1. They Go Directly to the Customer

Peloton’s brand is an interesting one because they sell workout equipment directly to their consumers rather than to gyms. 

They have convinced entire groups of people that the best way to work out is with their equipment and in their classes. 

It could be because of their 30-day trial or because people have been stuck inside that they are doing so well now, but what really contributes to their success is their targeted and personal marketing. 

They have created a community looking for on-demand classes and quality equipment and as the name “Peloton” suggests, a group of people to perform better with. 

Previously, fitness companies avoided the direct-to-consumer method, believing that very few individual people would want to buy a treadmill themselves, and opted to sell to gyms instead. 

Peloton has gotten as far as it has because they believe in their products enough to cut out the middleman (gyms) and encourage that same belief in their consumers. 

They continue to create sleek and sexy commercials that cater to their niche, interactive social media campaigns, and quality products. 

They make customers feel like Peloton cares about them specifically. 

HOW CAN YOU APPLY THIS? To implement this strategy, look at your messaging. Is it broad and unexciting, or is it genuine and adding value to the customers reading it? 

The difference between the two is the difference between loyal customers who see themselves as part of the brand and one-time purchasers who price shop.

The Importance of Community

It may seem like the word community comes up repeatedly, but it’s extremely important to building brand affinity. 

Humans are social creatures and tend to look at a face when building an initial connection.

A business or brand does not necessarily have a face that people can relate to and neither did Peloton in the beginning… but they did have community. 

With their app, they have “celebrity” fitness instructors doing live classes and speaking directly to their participants. 

These classes create healthy competition amongst friends in a class and the type of connectivity that comes with sweating and aching in a workout together. 

They remove the need to go to the gym, by bringing the best part of taking classes with other people into the place someone feels most comfortable, their homes. 

People care about how their time is spent and taking the time to go to the gym usually feels like a waste of it. However, Peloton created an app and equipment that essentially solves that problem.

HOW CAN YOU APPLY THIS? If you want to implement this step, you should look at the community you have built. Do you have an email list where you keep subscribers up to date on the changes in your business?

Have you thought about creating "forums" for people to chat as a community? 

Is your LinkedIn presence helping to position you as a trusted industry leader online?

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Establishing strong connections with your audience boosts the likelihood that they will share and spread the word about your brand in a positive way.

Content is Key.

Peloton not only has live classes, but they also have pre-recorded options. Their app is extremely varied. 

They have workouts for their bike, workouts for their treadmill, and workouts without their equipment. 

If a customer goes looking for it, they have access to it. Catering to every possible need may not always be possible, but the effort to do so goes a long way with customers. Ideally, you want whatever your base is looking for to be high quality and easy to find. 

HOW CAN YOU APPLY THIS? Implementing this step is easy. Reach out to your base and ask what they would like to see from your brand.

Partnerships

Enter Beyonce. Now, this is not a suggestion to get Beyonce or someone of her caliber, although if you have the budget, it's well worth it.

This is a suggestion to make meaningful partnerships with those that can increase your brand awareness while also adding to it. 

For Peloton, that person was Beyonce. 

As part of the partnership Peloton and Beyonce will give two-year digital memberships to students at ten historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). 

This is a great way for Peloton to market to its diverse consumer base. 

HOW CAN YOU APPLY THIS? Reach out to people on LinkedIn with large followings who may be able to offer something different to your brand’s marketing. Keep the partnership on brand, but unique for the best results.

Understand What Works for Your Brand and Give Consumers Consistency

A great marketing strategy can only sell a bad product for a limited amount of time. 

For a brand affinity campaign to work, you must consistently deliver work that exceeds your consumer’s expectations. 

At its core, Peloton has given consumers high-end workout equipment, dedicated classes, and fashionable apparel, all meeting or exceeding the expectations of their consumers, and for successful brand adoption, you must do the same. 

Building brand awareness and increasing customer loyalty should be a continuous plan of attack for your company and marketing initiatives. By putting a strong strategy in place, you will be well on your way to being the vendor or employer of choice for a long time to come.

ABOUT DEBORRAH ASHLEY

Deborrah is a LinkedIn Thought Leadership Marketing Strategist and the author of the book InSIDER- How To Leverage LinkedIn To Stand Out As The Industry Leader. 

With over 20 years of brand-building experience, she is obsessed with helping leaders and companies strengthen their brand reputation and authority online. To inquire about working with Deborrah directly, please email [email protected]

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