Dara Treseder arrived at Peloton in early 2020. The brand was still reeling from an advertising campaign that landed just a month earlier, which was described by critics as ‘sexist’, ‘offensive’ and ‘dumb’. It saw a slim and visibly wealthy woman gifted a £2000 Peloton bike for Christmas by her husband, which led her to record a year-long video diary of her exercise sessions.
Click here to read the story at thedrum.com.
Discussion Questions:
- What is publicity?
- What is advertising?
- How did Peloton’s 2019 advertising campaign create negative publicity for the brand?
- What is “ad-gate” according to this story?
- Based on information from this story, how did the negative publicity impact Peloton’s bottom line?
- What has the brand’s new CMO approached brand marketing upon her arrival?
- What is leadership?
- Why is leadership important to companies like Peloton?