Brigadoon Weekly
September 29, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
Peloton, Antlers, Delete, Innovation, Salvator Mundi
ROSS RANT
How Peloton went from being Porsche to being Honda with one advertisement
Peloton.
Everyone knows the story now.
It's so omnipresent that Peloton was the punchline to two SNL jokes last night and even Ryan Reynolds is using the attention to sell gin.
This situation was bound to happen.
Maybe not with all the jokes, memes, and most certainly future MBA marketing case studies. But once Peloton went public, the company had no choice but to go broad, wide, and average.
Mass revenue generation and shareholders demand going mass market, seeking commoditization, and securing the mushy middle of consumers - hence this ad.
Peloton used to mean fierce, independent, sexy, and aspirational. This new comms effort is all about timorous, dependence, sensible, and apathy.
Hence why this ad is so disappointing, off-the-mark, and brand negative.
It should be no shock that shares dropped as much as 15 percent with the final trading share price removing almost $1.5 billion off the value of the company.
The Financial Times' How To Spend It magazine says: "Yes, they have the sexiest carbon-steel stationary bikes on the planet."
But sexiest is only good enough for 1.4 million members - current company claims on its ridership and engagement.
Founder John Foley's public aim is to reach 50 million people in new markets.
But consider the current market for bike/treadmill owners is believed to 34 million.
So Foley and his team need to acquire 100 percent of this current market and still add 16 million more people.
This move to add so many new customers moves the company from being Porsche to being Honda.
Seth Godin talks about this frequently:
"Marketers must learn to shun the non-believers and only focus on the people at the edges who will be prepared to listen and engage with your product.
“The challenge in marketing a commodity is that you are in a race to the bottom, and the problem with a race to the bottom is that you might win. Even worse you might come in second. If you are a mass marketer your goal is to make something that normal people want to buy. The problem is that normal people are ignoring you because they have chosen to be normal and what it means to be normal is that they are able to ignore you.
"What we should be saying is that we are going to make stuff for people who get us. We have to shun the nonbelievers and say it’s not for you.”
It is not wrong and not without merit to have goals to build a huge brand, have millions of customers globally, and chase billions in market capitalization - it is just that the company you want doesn't mean the market is there.
In 2018, worldwide sales of Porsche cars reached a new record of 256,255 vehicles. Honda, on the other hand, sold nearly 5 million vehicles.
Porsche can't be Porsche by seeking Honda vehicle sales.
- Marc
FIVE TO READ
Rory Sutherland on advertising: Brands are like the antlers on a stag: Since "advertising", once dominated by one or two media, now takes so many more forms... increasingly, brands are judged more on the experiences they deliver than by the promises they make. An iPhone app can now be as much an advertisement as a TV commercial. http://bit.ly/2RwxnwT
Psychologist Carol Dweck: ‘Everyone is a work in progress’: The guru of the ‘growth mindset’ on why your qualities are not set in stone. https://on.ft.com/2E0BFo4
Your brain has a “delete” button–here’s how to use it: This is the fascinating way that your brain makes space to build new and stronger connections so you can learn more. http://bit.ly/2RyA9lo
Why companies do “innovation theater” instead of actual innovation: Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks — new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. If it was a commercial company, it figured out product/market fit; if a government organization, it focused on solution/mission fit. Over time as these organizations got large, they built process. http://bit.ly/2ruCfrw
Tim Harford: ‘Salvator Mundi’ and the limits of certainty: One response to fuzziness is to demand sharpness. But the world defies our attempts to confine it. https://on.ft.com/2P2WkhV
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BRIGADOON EVENTS
Brigadoon Retreat | Sundance
February 23-25, 2020
Brigadoon Remote | Scotland
November 9-13, 2020
Visit thebrigadoon.com/events
EVENT RECAP
The first time
This first Brigadoon Remote | Scotland was not just a service but a transformational journey.
I think people overemphasize the technical aspects of travel and don't appreciate the journey.
A journey is a total experience that begins before you arrive at the destination and lingers long after you depart.
Traveling to the beautiful Scottish countryside, the mythology of the land, breathing the smell of fertile soil and water mixing, and the thrill of trying something completely new.
Brigadoon Remote | Scotland 2019 was a journey, was transformational, and will linger with me for many days.
Here are some pics from Brigadoon Remote | Scotland 2019.
I hope you will consider joining us in 2020.
Brigadoon Remote is something special.
-Marc
BRIGADOON RADIO
Episode 16: What it means to be a Brigadoon participant: Recorded at the lounge inside the Robert Redford Center at Sundance Mountain Resort, Dr. Mark Stellingworth speaks with Paula Ashley during Brigadoon Sundance 2019. Paula is a 2x Brigadoon Sundance participant and the mastermind designer behind the Brigadoon logo and branding. http://bit.ly/356ON7a
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Marc A. Ross is a business strategist and communications advisor working at the intersection of globalization, disruption, and politics. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon.
